UW-Madison College of Letters & Science

You'll have to move quickly to visit the Botany Garden and Greenhouse and catch the impressive 15-foot death bloom of an Agave victoriae-reginae plant. The plant, which is nearly 30 years old, is expected to remain alive until next week.

15-foot ‘death bloom’ draws visitors to UW-Madison greenhouse Agave plants, also called a century plant, bloom once before they die.

Recently, the Public Tech Media Lab, led by Associate Professor of Journalism Tomás Dodds, hosted a bootcamp training at Morgridge Hall to teach journalists, academic staff and students how use the wide array of open source investigation (OSINT) tools to conduct online investigations, verify data and tell stories.

“The data that you need for your investigation is very likely out there, because we’re living in a world in which everything is basically datafied," says Guillen Torres, an open-source specialist at the Investigations Lab at the University of California, Berkeley Human Rights Center. "If you have enough access to this stuff, you can just gather that data and exploit it for learning about the world for justice and accountability.”

Investigating in the Open-Source Landscape The Public Tech Media Lab hosts a boot camp training for open-source investigation techniques.

Later next month, the UW-Madison Department of Chemistry is hosting the 29th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) for the first time in half a century. It's the largest gathering of chemistry educators in the world, and the conference will feature three honorary symposia recognizing UW–Madison faculty whose work has shaped chemistry education nationally and internationally: Bassam Shakhashiri, Cathy Middlecamp, and John Moore.

Learn more about the conference here: https://chem.wisc.edu/2026/05/28/uw-madison-to-host-largest-gathering-of-chemistry-educators-in-the-world/

Flummoxed by the world of online dating and relationships? Spend a few minutes with Catalina Toma, a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Communication Arts whose research specialty is online communication in dating and the impact of social media on human well-being, and it all just might start to make sense.

“The study of computer-mediated communication has really ballooned, as it should, because it’s now used in organizations. It’s used by politicians. It affects societies and the democratic process," she says. "I have a tiny sliver of the pie that’s really about human connection and human interaction.”

The Upside of Online Relationships | On Wisconsin UW professor Catalina Toma reveals the unexpected benefits of social media and dating apps.

Congratulations to Grace Benish, Zoe Kukla, Amitabha Shatdal and Niha Patankar, the four spring graduates who received the 2026 Dean's Prize. Each recipient received $1,500, and was honored for embodying the breadth and depth of a liberal arts education.

Meet the 2026 Dean’s Prize Recipients These spring graduates were honored for how their undergraduate careers showcased the depth of a liberal arts education.

Let’s learn about the ocean! Assistant Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Hannah Zanowski kicks off day three of the Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR) STAR Bootcamp, a summer camp training program in astrobiology and origins research topics for graduate students.

We're super proud of the many L&S graduates who have gone on to make a serious impact in the environmental space. Meet three of them: A restoration ecologist who is restoring Wisconsin's prairies, an environmental reporter covering climate change and a lobbyist who advocates for wildlife conservation.

L&S Alumni Who are Green Lights Environmental stewardship comes in many forms. From reporting on thawing permafrost in the Arctic to restoring prairies in Wisconsin to lobbying politicians for change, these L&S alumni are showcasing how to make a difference.

Our monthly Sift & Winnow e-newsletter doesn't just keep our alums updated on all the cool things happening at the College. Sometimes, it creates important connections, as it did in helping Meg Bortin ('71) connect with Michael Braun (’06, MA’11, PhD’13), who helped her realize the dream of publishing her first novel.

Badgers Helping Badgers: The Journey to Getting a Novel Published Reading the College of Letters & Science’s monthly newsletter connected Meg Bortin with a UW–Madison alumnus who helped her get her first novel published.

Kristin Eschenfelder, our new interim Dean, will co-chair the working group that will guide this initiative. We're excited to see where it goes.

UW–Madison designates 2026 as the ‘Year of AI Readiness and Competency’ The effort, which supports a number of campus priorities, will focus on a people-centered approach to guide thoughtful use of artificial intelligence on campus.

Writing for the Can We Still Govern? Substack, Mike Wagner, professor of journalism and the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea, discusses recent research by his Center for Communication and Civic Renewal that shows three-quarters of Americans oppose government pressure on TV networks to cancel shows that satirize the powerful.

Colbert, courage and capitulation New data show bipartisan opposition to government leaning on TV networks and universities