, director of research development for the arts and humanities in the and the (A&S), has been recognized with the 2026 Innovation Award from the (NORDP).

The award recognizes professionals who advance research development through partnerships, new tools and techniques or the creation and sharing of knowledge that produces demonstrable results. Workman and her NORDP colleague, Allison DeVries of Chapman University, received the award in recognition of the evolution of the (CASSH) affinity group, which they founded in 2022. The group, which has grown to more than 150 NORDP members across the country, helps them marshal and create collective resources and share best practices, case studies and challenges in support of faculty in the humanities, creative arts and social sciences areas.

鈥淚鈥檓 honored to receive this award and proud to have had a part in bringing the CASSH group together four years ago when it seemed rare to have a designated arts and humanities research development staff member housed in an R1 institution,鈥� Workman says. The group has gained momentum 鈥渂ecause higher education recognizes the value of this support nationwide as integral to the national research landscape and vital to an individual institution鈥檚 research ecosystem,鈥� she says.

Workman came to 性视界 in 2019 and built a dedicated arts and humanities research development infrastructure from scratch. She now connects with more than 200 faculty across eight schools and colleges and partners with and several University-affiliated arts organizations.

Beyond campus, she is part of the , an 11-university consortium for collaborative research, teaching and programming. She co-leads its HF4 Corridor Futures and Initiatives working group with program manager Aimee Germain to offer professional development opportunities for faculty.

Impact on Faculty and Funding

Prior to Workman鈥檚 arrival, scholars navigated grant funding alone or through informal networks, often missing critical opportunities, says , senior director of research development in the Office of Research, who co-nominated Workman for the award.

She says Workman has contributed to faculty winning prestigious awards, including summer stipends, a and a grant. Workman has also supported a fellowship, an digital justice grant and several successful applications.

In 2025, Workman supported 64 grant proposals seeking $44 million in funding. She recently helped nine arts faculty and five organizations secure awards, making 性视界 the only university in the state to receive multiple awards in that cycle, Chianese says.

, professor of women’s and gender studies and director of the 性视界 University Humanities Center and the Central New York Humanities Corridor, says Workman鈥檚 Corridor support has deepened scholarly community across the region and has had significant impact on 性视界 faculty success.

“Sarah has been instrumental in several prestigious Mellon awards, including our first and ensuing New Directions fellowships and many other highly competitive awards and grants,” says May, who co-nominated Workman for the award. 鈥淢any of these awards have been substantial enough to transform individual career trajectories and drive transformational work at the University and in听 wider communities locally and nationally.” May says faculty frequently remark about how much they enjoy collaborating with Workman and appreciate her support.

, assistant professor of music history and cultures in A&S, credits Workman with helping her secure a , a first for 性视界 among 200 competing institutions. “I am deeply grateful for her thoughtful engagement with my research and for helping make its relevance accessible to a broader interdisciplinary readership,” Pe帽ate says.

, associate professor in women鈥檚 and gender studies in A&S, says Workman’s guidance “proved instrumental in shaping two grant proposals into competitive, fundable projects. Her careful feedback led to key revisions that directly contributed to securing a major award from a private funder. In a context of shrinking funding, Sarah’s leadership has been indispensable for the success of humanities’ interdisciplinary, social justice-centered research.”

While Workman focuses on the arts and humanities, the Office of Research supports faculty across disciplines through a broader research development team. Researchers across campus partner with team members on proposal development, funding searches, cohort writing programs for competitive federal awards and strategic guidance on funding opportunities. Faculty interested in support for their projects can learn more about .

The School of Architecture has announced that architect is the Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2026鈥�27. Sola will succeed current fellow, Tiffany Xu and become the eleventh fellow in the program鈥檚 history.

The Boghosian Fellowship at the School of Architecture鈥攅stablished in early 2015 in memory of Harry der Boghosian 鈥�54 by his sister Paula der Boghosian 鈥�64鈥攊s a year-long residency designed to give emerging independent creatives the opportunity to spend a year developing a body of design research based on an area of interest while teaching at the School of Architecture.

Fellows play a significant role at the school by enhancing student instruction and faculty discourse, while supporting both research and the development of research-related curriculum relevant to architectural education and practice.

As the 2026鈥�27 Harry der Boghosian Fellow, Sola will develop a year-long body of design research centered on time, finitude, maintenance and architecture鈥檚 relation to absence. His investigation will examine how architecture enters duration, how it persists through maintenance and transformation and how buildings might anticipate their own disappearance as part of their conception.

Drawing from a reading of absence against essence, the fellowship will ask how architecture can be understood through exposure, use, alteration and withdrawal, allowing form to register an awareness of its own lifespan. The research is informed by construction cultures in which adaptation and transformation often take precedence over permanence, and where continuity is secured through ongoing modification.

During the fall semester, Sola will teach a seminar focused on maintenance as a cultural, spatial and expressive practice. The course will examine repair, replacement, weathering, material aging and protocols of intervention as forces that reshape existing structures and sustain them over time. Students will consider how these operations can become drivers of architectural expression and use, positioning maintenance as a generative design framework.

In the spring, Sola will lead a studio and companion seminar organized around the design and production of a single field object. Developed at one-to-one scale and deployed either in Latin America or the United States, the object will operate as a built research instrument, testing how architecture can register environmental force, logistical conditions, civic use and temporal change through direct construction.

Investigating ‘Geometries of Tendency’

Sola鈥檚 year-long investigation will connect seminar, studio and built work through a sustained investigation into what he describes as 鈥済eometries of tendency,鈥� where form emerges through pressures, inclinations, durations and the productive incompletion of architecture over time.

鈥淢oving between research and deployment, the year will test architecture as protocol, artifact and field condition at once, seeking precision through measured engagement with finitude, withdrawal, territories and the cultural life of construction,鈥� says Sola.

Like the ten previous Boghosian Fellows, Sola will work closely not only with faculty and students at the School of Architecture but will also explore interdisciplinary collaborations within the University and its various centers and colleges, while also anchoring fieldwork to nearby landscapes such as Onondaga Lake and Green Lakes State Park.

鈥淲e are thrilled to welcome Dennis Sola as the next Harry der Boghosian Fellow,鈥� says School of Architecture Dean Michael Speaks. 鈥淗is work challenges conventional ideas of permanence in architecture and will offer our students an extraordinary opportunity to engage questions of construction, adaptation and change through both research and making.鈥�

Prior to joining 性视界 Architecture, Sola co-founded and led 脥dem, a former Quito-based architectural practice whose residential work unfolded across the Andean highlands and rainforests of Ecuador, while its cultural and infrastructural projects engaged Quito and other territories. These projects shaped a practice attentive to logistics, construction protocols, material duration, environmental exposure and the temporal life of buildings. Sola鈥檚 work has been featured internationally and exhibited.

Sola earned his architecture degree from the Pontificia Universidad Cat贸lica del Ecuador and holds a master鈥檚 in architecture II from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The Boghosian Fellowship has helped the School of Architecture attract the best and the brightest emerging professors. Previous fellows include Maya Alam (2016鈥�17), Linda Zhang (2017鈥�18), James Leng (2018鈥�19), Benjamin Vanmuysen (2019鈥�20), Liang Wang (2020鈥�21), Leen Katrib (2021鈥�22), Lily Chishan Wong (2022鈥�23), Christina Chi Zhang (2023鈥�24), Erin Cuevas (2024鈥�25) and Tiffany Xu (2026鈥�27).

To learn more about the Harry der Boghosian Fellowship, visit the .

With an extraordinary and unique gift valued at more than $1.2 million, the School of Design in the is likely to become a travel destination for fashion researchers, haute couture designers and sewing enthusiasts worldwide. The school has received thousands of stunning designer garments, books, patterns and accessories that once belonged to an iconic figure in the fashion industry: Claire B. Shaeffer.

Shaeffer鈥檚 career path, from aspiring circus performer to couture expert and educator, is fascinating. Her relationship with 性视界 University is equally intriguing, given that it began when she was 80 years old after she reached out to a professor who shared her passion 鈥渇or reading garments,鈥� including every stitch, hem and buttonhole.

鈥淐laire was all about delving one layer deeper to understand and show how each garment was constructed,鈥� says Jeffrey Mayer, professor of fashion design and coordinator for the fashion design program. Shaeffer reached out to Mayer after seeing a book he co-authored, 鈥淰intage Details: A Fashion Sourcebook,鈥� which documents 160 garments found within the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection at 性视界 University.

Shaeffer was impressed by the detailed photography, from hems to buttons. She told Mayer she wanted her next book to have similar photography. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what fascinated Claire, how things were created,鈥� Mayer says. 鈥淪he went down rabbit holes to understand every detail of design.鈥�

A Collection of Garments, Patterns and Books

Shaeffer鈥檚 relationship with Mayer blossomed, and when she began to think seriously of where she might want her collection of more than 2,500 garments, patterns and books to end up after her lifetime, she chose 性视界 University, a teaching institution where students could learn from the study of each garment and pattern.

Shaeffer began her own studies in fashion design in the early 1960s after initially exploring the idea of circus performance. Proficient in acrobatics, she enrolled in the circus curriculum at Florida State University after high school. Her broad shoulders and slight build made it difficult to find clothes that fit, so she began to sew her own wardrobe. After realizing that basic patterns just wouldn鈥檛 fit her frame, she switched her academic interests and professional pursuits, turning a fascination with detail into a distinguished career.

Throughout her life, Shaeffer collected examples of haute couture and designer ready-to-wear and studied others in museum collections, design workrooms and factories. She excelled at the analysis of garment construction details and sewing techniques.

Shaeffer taught classes at the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, gave workshops, wrote dozens of magazine articles and books, developed instructional videos, had her own , and created the Claire Shaeffer Custom Couture Collection of patterns for Vogue Patterns. She received the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Sewing Guild Sewing Hall of Fame Award.

A Dedication to Precision

Mayer was a former designer of women鈥檚 wear himself and a specialist in 20th-century fashion and construction techniques. He knew of Shaeffer鈥檚 history and stature, but never foresaw working so closely with this icon of industry. Given his personal history, though, it seemed destined. Mayer was the son of a seamstress.

鈥淚 would sneak into my mother鈥檚 room and, at the age of 6, I would start cutting out patterns,鈥� Mayer says. When his mother saw him so engaged with very pointy scissors, she told him: 鈥業f you鈥檙e going to do this, you鈥檙e going to do this right.鈥欌��

Similarly, Shaeffer taught countless students of fashion how to do things right and came to believe that 性视界 University鈥檚 program was similarly dedicated.

Before her passing in January 2025, she had shipped close to 1,000 pieces from her collection to the school. Afterward, Mayer and Kirsten Schoonmaker, fashion design collections manager, flew out to Palm Springs and worked with Shaeffer鈥檚 sons to pack up another 1,500 pieces.

The gift perfectly matched the mission of the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and Research Center: 鈥溾�o provide the University and broader community with access to exemplary garments and accessories that reflect high standards of craftsmanship, design and stylistic significance. With a sustained focus on the object itself and its material, structural, and aesthetic integrity the collections advance the preservation, study and interpretation of these works.鈥�

Pieces of History

Among the many works that will be available for study is a Chanel suit recognized around the world and a part of American history. It is the 鈥渢win鈥� of the suit worn by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

There are dozens of Chanel pieces in the collection, along with pieces by many other iconic designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Givenchy and McQueen, and such American designers as Adrian, Norman Norell, James Galanos, Geoffrey Beene and Bill Blass.

鈥淭his collection is a unique gem,鈥� says Michael Tick, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. 鈥淚ts value is truly priceless. I had the pleasure to visit with Claire and her late husband many times in Palm Springs. More than once I expressed to them how excited our students and visitors to the collection will be to learn from her extensive body of work.鈥�

Mayer says that Shaeffer received offers from other academic institutions to house pieces of her collection, but 性视界 University was the one place willing to keep her collection together, including all the clothes, patterns, books and even handbags from her personal closet. That willingness means generations of students will be the beneficiaries of an extraordinary woman鈥檚 talents, determination and dedication.

鈥淥ur students don鈥檛 just design, they learn to actually make things, from concept to garment,鈥� says Mayer. 鈥淲e fall into that 鈥榤aker space鈥� in our approach and we are honoring Claire鈥檚 commitment to detail, process, research and design.鈥�

From insightful conversations to shared reflections on meaningful work, the听听(EHN) Community Showcase offered a powerful reminder of what鈥檚 possible when people come together in collaboration.

The event brought together faculty, students and staff from the University with community partners to celebrate projects that address local and regional needs and opportunities through research, teaching and creative work.

The third annual showcase featured panel discussions and table presentations highlighting dozens of initiatives connected to EHN, housed in the (A&S). Collectively, the showcased work represented collaborations across more than 50 departments from nine schools and colleges at 性视界 University, and partnerships with more than 75 community-based organizations.

Projects ranged from arts- and storytelling-based initiatives to STEM research and educational programs focused on community empowerment, environmental sustainability and cultural preservation.

鈥淭his is an annual event where we showcase all of the projects, courses and community engagement happening all across the city and region,鈥� says Mary-Jo Robinson, program manager for the EHN. 鈥淭he hope is to demonstrate the incredible work that鈥檚 being done, broaden exposure to these projects and help strengthen connections between partners.鈥�

The event featured panel discussions, allowing speakers to share lessons learned, reflect on challenges and discuss opportunities to sustain and grow their work. Panels focused on EHN鈥檚听听补苍诲听 initiatives, the new听, sustained long-term partnerships and听.

The showcase underscored the continued growth of EHN since its founding in 2020 by听, Dean鈥檚 Professor of Community Engagement and associate professor of writing and rhetoric in A&S. Today, EHN supports more than 350 collaborators from across the University and works with dozens of community partners locally and nationally, from neighborhood-based organizations in 性视界 like the Northside Learning Center to the nation鈥檚 preeminent cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

鈥淭he EHN approaches the humanities not as a bounded academic domain, but as a set of practices that span disciplines and permeate everyday life鈥攁cross ages, institutions, cultures and communities,鈥� says Nordquist. 鈥淭he work of the EHN is to recognize, support and connect these practices so that we can collectively respond to the demands of the present while sustaining long traditions of reflection, inquiry, creativity and learning.鈥�

Robinson emphasized that the event is as much about relationship-building as it is about visibility. 鈥淓HN exists to support this work and to help make connections,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen people come together in a space like this, it creates new possibilities for collaboration and helps ensure that community-engaged work remains central to the University鈥檚 mission.鈥�

Free and open to the public, the Community Showcase welcomed attendees of all ages and backgrounds, reinforcing EHN鈥檚 commitment to accessibility and mutual exchange. As the network continues to grow, the annual showcase remains a key moment to reflect on the impact of community-engaged scholarship in Central New York.

Projects and courses represented at the event included: The Refugee Assistants Program鈥檚 Artisan Pathways, Black Women’s Art Ecosystems, Black/Arab Relationalities Initiative (BARI), CODE鈭HIFT, Deaf New Americans CODA Tutoring Program, Documenting the Haudenosaunee Influence on American Democracy (EHN Engaged Course), Environmental Storytelling Series CNY, Geography of Memory: Unsettling Stories (EHN Engaged Course), Hear Together, La Casita, Advanced Methods for Language Teaching (EHN Engaged Course), ME/WE Art Therapy Lab and Studio, Mindfully Growing, Narratio, Native America and the World: The Haudenosaunee (EHN Engaged Course), Natural Science Explorers Program, NOON, Not in the Books, Indigenous Values Initiative, Poetry and Environmental Justice (EHN Engaged Course), Project Mend, Public Scholarship Certificate Program, Safeguarding 性视界 Communities, Southside Connections/Southside Stories, Stories of Indigenous Dispossession Across the Americas (EHN Engaged Course), Teens with a Movie Camera, Traveling Teaching (EHN Engaged Course), Visualizing Care and Resisting Gentrification, We/Re-do Shakespeare (EHN Engaged Course) and Write Out.

The first time Carrie Mae Weems H鈥�17 came to 性视界, she was an emerging artist with a restless curiosity and a camera. That was in the early 1980s, when 鈥攖he internationally recognized artist residency program on the 性视界 University campus鈥攊nvited her to come and work. She did not yet know that the city, and the University, would shape her life in ways she could not have anticipated, including meeting her husband, photographer and Light Work director Jeffrey Hoone.

Nearly 45 years later, Weems has come full circle. Appointed in January 2020 as the University’s inaugural artist in residence, Weems spent six years weaving herself into the fabric of the institution she had first encountered as a young artist. She is now concluding that tenure, leaving behind a legacy as layered and far-reaching as the bodies of work that have made her one of the most celebrated artists of her generation.

鈥淐arrie Mae Weems鈥� work has long challenged the world to see with greater honesty and imagination, and she brought that same spirit to 性视界 University. Her presence here has strengthened our academic community in meaningful ways,鈥� says Candace Campbell Jackson, senior vice president and chief of staff to Chancellor Emeritus Kent Syverud. 鈥淲e thank her for her leadership, her artistry and the lasting imprint she has made on this campus. Carrie has defined possibilities for what the artist in residency can be, and for this we are truly grateful.鈥�

A Legendary Career

Over four decades, Weems has built a practice that spans photography, text, audio, video, installation and performance. Her series 鈥淔rom Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried鈥� repurposed 36 appropriated images from the 19th and 20th centuries to interrogate the relationship between African American subjects and photographic history. Her 鈥淜itchen Table Series鈥� turned domestic space into a stage for intimate, complex narratives of Black womanhood.

The institutions that hold her work read like a map of the world’s great museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery of Canada, among many others. In 2014, she became the first African American woman to receive a solo retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, a milestone she noted had arrived “really late in the day.” Rather than simply presenting her exhibition, she transformed the Guggenheim’s auditorium into a five-day convening of artists, thinkers and performers

Her honors include the 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2023 Hasselblad Award, the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship, the BZ Cultural Prize and the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts. In October 2024, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. presented her with the National Medal of Arts at a White House ceremony, the highest honor the United States government bestows upon artists. She was the first African American female visual artist to receive it. Weems has installed a permanent work that will be featured in the Barack Obama Presidential Library, opening to the public in Chicago on June 19.

Yet for all the accolades, some of Weems’ most telling work during her 性视界 residency happened in studios, classrooms and conference rooms.

Mentorship Flowing in Both Directions

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, Weems went to her studio. She designed posters, billboards and campaigns that honored frontline workers. What began as a response to the situation in 性视界 became a national effort, eventually spreading worldwide. Shopping bags carrying text that she composed were distributed at food banks. Buttons, masks and murals went out by the thousands. Students were at the center of the work, packaging materials, designing alongside her and earning wages she insisted upon.

That insistence on reciprocity, on the idea that mentorship flows in both directions, threads through everything she did at the University. She founded the Institute of Sound and Style, a rigorous workshop for teenagers in 性视界 struggling against the weight of community violence.

Graduate students served as her assistants on the project, and she was candid about what she received in return. “As much as I found that I was helping them,” she said, “they were helping me as much as I was helping them. I’m not simply the giver. I’m also the receiver.”

In April 2024, she traveled to Florence to deliver a public lecture鈥�”Resistance as an Act of Love”鈥攖o students enrolled in the , reviewing the work of studio arts students there. She then brought eight of those students to Venice for the Black Portraitures conference, held in concert with the Venice Biennale.

Her “Monumental Concerns” convenings, which she organized through the University and were held at the Museum of Modern Art, drew hundreds of scholars, artists and thinkers into conversation about monuments, memory and contested public space.

Engaging Deeply

鈥淭hrough her residency, Carrie Mae Weems has created opportunities for 性视界 University to engage deeply with some of the most pressing cultural conversations of our time,鈥� says Miranda Traudt, the University鈥檚 assistant听provost for strategic initiatives and director of arts. 鈥淏y bringing together artists, scholars and communities, she has helped make this campus a hub for dialogue that shapes contemporary art and culture.鈥�

At the celebration marking the close of her residency, held March 16 at Light Work, Campbell Jackson reflected on what it had meant to work alongside her. “You’ve shown us how essential creativity is to the strategic future of this institution,” she said, “and to our broader society.”

Weems herself was characteristically humble. “I never think that I’m doing anything that is important,” she said. “I just feel that I need to work at things that matter to me, that uplift me, that inspire me, that carry me.”

In an age when artificial intelligence can generate content instantly, the human ability to write with clarity, originality and critical insight has become more essential than ever.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) have ample opportunity to strengthen their writing through a rich landscape of publications and digital platforms. Aurantium, Broadly Textual, Intertext and Mend are among the outlets where students build strong portfolios, sharpen their professional communication skills and engage in experiential learning that prepares them for careers in writing, publishing, media and advocacy.

Aurantium: Making Philosophy Accessible and Alive

Like its namesake, 听(the Latin word for orange) is vibrant, inviting and full of fresh perspective. Founded in 2023, this student-led undergraduate philosophy journal was created to invite curiosity, creativity and conversation across disciplines. Supported by the and the Philosophy Club, the journal publishes two issues each year: one focused on the 性视界 University and SUNY ESF community and another open to contributors worldwide.

Essays, reflections, creative writing and artwork all find a home in Aurantium, making it a space where philosophy is explored not as an abstract exercise, but as a living, interdisciplinary practice.

For editor-in-chief Brielle Brzytwa 鈥�28, discovering philosophy was anything but immediate. 鈥淚n high school it felt abstract, inaccessible and frustratingly stuffy,鈥� she recalls. It wasn鈥檛 until college that philosophy began to feel meaningful, and that transformation shaped her vision for Aurantium. 鈥淧hilosophy doesn鈥檛 have to be confined to dense texts or exclusive academic spaces,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t can鈥攁nd should鈥攊nvite curiosity and conversation.鈥�

As editor-in-chief, Brzytwa has made accessibility a guiding principle. She describes the journal as a place where ideas are not only preserved but 鈥渟hared, challenged and reimagined,鈥� with an emphasis on amplifying a range of undergraduate voices.

Broadly Textual: Building Community Through Public Scholarship

For graduate students eager to share their ideas beyond the boundaries of academic journals, 听offers an inviting and meaningful platform. Overseen by William P. Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professor , the online publication highlights graduate student work designed for public audiences, featuring literary and cultural commentary, , and thoughtful explorations of digital media and identity. With its focus on a broad variety of subject matter, the publication encourages students to see scholarship as both collaborative and accessible.

Co-editor Elena Selthun first encountered Broadly Textual as a contributor during their first year of graduate study and quickly recognized its value. They describe the experience as 鈥渓ow-pressure and supportive,鈥� an ideal introduction to publishing. Equally important, Selthun was drawn to the publication鈥檚 commitment to public humanities. 鈥淭he public-facing nature of the blog allows graduate students to apply what we learn beyond academia,鈥� they say.

For fellow co-editor Meg Healy, the appeal initially lay in skill-building and community engagement. Over time, she gained a deeper appreciation for the publication鈥檚 role in demystifying the publishing process. 鈥淭here is a strong incentive to publish while in graduate school, but that can be daunting,鈥� Healy says.

Both editors emphasize the sense of connection the publication fosters. Selthun points out that graduate research can often feel siloed, and “Broadly Textual” helps bring students across departments into conversation.

Intertext: Celebrating Writing Across WRT Courses

For more than three decades, has celebrated writing by undergraduate students in the (WRT), and community partners. In April 2026, editors and contributors gathered to mark the release of the journal鈥檚 .

Reflecting on their involvement, editors Jules Vinarub and Kairo Rushing wrote in the introduction to the 2026 issue, 鈥淭his publication relies on the willingness of 性视界 University students to be vulnerable enough to let their truth be on display鈥攕haring themselves with you, allowing you to hear and see their stories.鈥�

Throughout the year, students met with publishing professionals and authors like Rand Timmerman, member of the at 性视界 University, whose essay about a is published in the 2026 issue along with a .

Any student who has taken a WRT course can submit their work to “Intertext,” and submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. Students interested in joining the editorial team can enroll in WRT 340: Advanced Editing Studio. For more information, contact Professor Patrick W. Berry.

Mend: Amplifying Voices, Honoring Stories and Creating Purpose

听is an annual publication started by , WRT associate professor, and is dedicated to celebrating the lives and creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, as well as individuals impacted by the criminal legal system. Featuring fiction, poetry and nonfiction on a wide range of topics, the publication offers contributors the freedom to explore personal experience while centering dignity, creativity and voice.

Editor Drew Murphy 鈥�26, who is majoring in writing and rhetoric, and in psychology in A&S, first encountered Mend as a junior through an Engaged Humanities course, WRT 413: Rhetoric and Ethics after Prison, taught by Berry. Guest visits from formerly incarcerated writers involved with Mend left a lasting impression.

鈥淭heir stories represented a powerful intersection of my two majors, writing and rhetoric and psychology,鈥� Murphy says, describing the experience as one that immediately sparked curiosity on both personal and professional levels. When Murphy learned about internship opportunities with , the decision felt natural.

鈥淭he opportunity to work with impacted individuals while contributing to a publication that shares their stories has been meaningful for both my academic studies and future career ambitions,鈥� she explains.

As Murphy prepares for graduate study in social work, she credits Mend with deepening her belief that thoughtful writing can contribute to meaningful change.

Susan Wright 鈥�26 took her first class at 性视界 University in the fall of 1987, the same year she started working in the registrar鈥檚 office. Working full-time, she wasn鈥檛 able to take a class every semester, but credit by credit, balancing her job and personal life, she continued to forge ahead, earning an associate degree in 1998.

She immediately set her sights on her next degree鈥攁 bachelor鈥檚. Through the decades, after her work was done in the registrar鈥檚 office, she鈥檇 turn her attention to the class she was taking.

At Sunday鈥檚 Commencement, 28 years after she started working toward the degree, Wright听 graduated with magna cum laude honors, earning a bachelor鈥檚 in liberal studies and a minor in linguistics. She was also awarded the Nancy C. Gelling Award from the . The award is presented to the commuter, part-time graduate with the highest overall grade point average. It honors students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement while balancing the challenges of being part-time, commuter students.

Wright, 72, says she鈥檚 still floored by receiving the award.

鈥淚’m like me, really? I’ve just been plodding away,鈥� she says.

Pursuing Her Interests, One Credit at a Time

Wright worked in the registrar鈥檚 office until her retirement in 2021. Once she wasn鈥檛 working full-time, she was able to take classes during the day, which she says 鈥渕ade a big difference.鈥�

鈥淎 couple semesters, I took two because I could, because I couldn’t decide between which one I liked better,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o I did them both, and they just kind of snowballed, and here I am at the end.鈥�

Working in the registrar鈥檚 office through the years was rewarding. She enjoyed helping people across the University.

鈥淭he nice thing about being a student, as well as being staff, is you get to see both sides of it,鈥� Wright says. 鈥淵ou know how things are going in the classroom, as well as the things that need to be done in order to get that person to the classroom.鈥�Her first job in the registrar鈥檚 office was working as a frontline staff member, fielding questions from students who came into the office. This was long before MySlice or Self-Service.

鈥淵ou waited to talk to one of us, and we worked with you to try and figure out what the problem was and how to help and how to hopefully send someone away with a solution,鈥� she says.

Being a part-time student throughout her time in the office, she says, added another helpful layer in assisting the students who came in. Later, as her roles changed and grew, she went on to do more managing and building processes behind the scenes and working with the curriculum committee in the University Senate.

Wright says there were many times over the years when she couldn鈥檛 pursue her own classes, when there was too much going on with work or her personal life.

鈥淭hat’s why it’s taken so long,鈥� she says.

She was drawn to liberal studies because she loved that she had access to a broad spectrum of disciplines.

It led her to taking a few classes in criminal justice and a few in geography, which she wasn鈥檛 expecting to enjoy as much as she did. Over the years, the feeling was the same, that craving to learn more and more skills.

鈥淚 have very eclectic tastes, so I’m like, 鈥極h, a little of this, a little of that, how about some more of that? How about some more of that?鈥欌�� Wright says. 鈥淎nd it was nice to be able to do that and have that be a degree program.鈥�

Never Give Up

Wright says she hopes others considering pursuing a degree part-time take this lesson from her journey: don鈥檛 give up. Take it semester by semester, and if you need to take a break because of other things going on in your life, that鈥檚 OK.

She says not to let the fact that it might take time slow you down, just keep plugging away.

鈥淟ife will intervene, and you just kind of let life do its thing, and then you get back to it,鈥� she says.

Wright also recommends taking a look at what鈥檚 going on in your life and asking if you can put in the work needed for a class. If the answer is yes, go for it. If not, wait until the next time the class is offered, or look for another the next semester. She says to make sure you know the requirements for the degree you鈥檙e interested in, look at the course catalogue and consider whether the classes meet at times you can attend.

鈥淲hen I started, everything was on campus, in-person,鈥� she says.

These days there are a lot more offerings for online classes and programs available to students who are working full-time and pursuing a degree part-time, she says.

鈥淩eally the thing is, don’t give up, keep going,鈥� Wright says.

The University has been such a big part of her life as a staff member and student over the decades that Wright says she plans to keep supporting the campus as best she can. For now, she plans to embrace her free time in retirement as a graduate of the University.

鈥淚’m just going to enjoy my retirement, and then figure out what else I can learn?鈥� she says. 鈥淭here’s learning opportunities out there and honing some skills that I already have.鈥�

The in the College of Arts and Sciences observed Dalit History Month again this April with a two-part program featuring Chinnaiah Jangam, associate professor of history at Carleton University in Ottawa. Hosted on April 14 and 15, the program included a workshop and a public lecture exploring the history and present of Dalit communities in North America.

Dalit History Month was established by civil rights activists, inspired by Black History Month, to commemorate the intellectual legacy, activism and lives of caste-oppressed people, communities historically labeled 鈥渦ntouchables.鈥�

Caste, a form of structural oppression originating in ancient India, divides people into categories at birth, and members of Dalit communities continue to face discrimination and violence both in South Asia and across the diaspora. The term 鈥淒alit,鈥� meaning 鈥渂roken鈥� or 鈥渙ppressed,鈥� was adopted as an act of political self-identification.

On April 14, Jangam led the Anti-Caste Methodologies workshop for graduate students and faculty in Sims Hall. The workshop explored approaches for writing history from anti-caste and critical-caste perspectives capable of countering dominant narratives.

A day later, Jangam delivered his public lecture, “Dalit Diaspora and Anti-Caste Movements in North America,” at Watson Theater. He examined what it means to be a Dalit in North America and argued that the Dalit diaspora on the continent is as old as that of the Savarna (dominant-caste Hindu) diaspora.

Drawing on stories of survival and resistance, he highlighted Dalit-led community mobilizations and social equity movements in the United States and Canada, and showed how intersectional solidarity is reshaping diaspora identity politics.

Jangam is the author of “Dalits and the Making of Modern India” and translator of “Gabbilam (Bat): A Dalit Epic,” which received the Association for Asian Studies A.K. Ramanujan Prize for Translation in 2024. He co-founded the South Asia Dalit Adivasi Network (SADAN) in Canada, whose advocacy led the Toronto District School Board and the Ontario Human Rights Commission to address caste discrimination.

The events were organized by faculty members and of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, with co-sponsorship from the Humanities Center, South Asia Center, LGBTQ Studies, History, CODE^SHIFT, English, Social Science Ph.D. program, Engaged Humanities Network, Feminist Pedagogy Collective, the Dean’s Office and the College of Arts and Sciences.

senior Abbey Fitzpatrick spent last summer doing archival research in Hollywood. This spring, she brought those findings to a lectern in the University鈥檚 at the 5th Annual CHRONOS Undergraduate History Conference.

Fitzpatrick鈥檚 research took her to Los Angeles, where history department funding supported archival work at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Warner Bros. archives. Her faculty advisor, professor of history Andrew Cohen, had encouraged her to find a topic with personal resonance and pointed her toward California history.

鈥淚t really complemented what I learned in CHRONOS in a real-world way,鈥� Fitzpatrick says.

Hers was one of eight student presentations at the April 3 conference, which drew five 性视界 undergraduates alongside students from New York University, Columbia University and Rochester Institute of Technology鈥攁 reflection of the journal鈥檚 expanding reputation beyond 性视界.

鈥淐HRONOS had been thinking of opening our conference to students from other universities for a while,鈥� says Junko Takeda, professor and chair of history and CHRONOS faculty advisor. 鈥淏ut this year, they were able to plan ahead of schedule, reach out to undergraduate directors at multiple universities across the eastern seaboard, send out calls for papers and select a number of external speakers.鈥�

Now in its 21st year of publication, CHRONOS is one of just a few active student-run, undergraduate historical research journals in the country, and one of the only to host a conference. In addition to widening participation beyond 性视界 students, CHRONOS leaders also started to develop a new podcast series.

Fitzpatrick, a history and political science major from Pacific Grove, California, joined CHRONOS as a first-year student and remained deeply engaged for all four years.

That support is a hallmark of CHRONOS鈥檚 close ties to Maxwell鈥檚 history department.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so ingrained in the history department, and it allows us to connect with professors in a way that a lot of other clubs don鈥檛 have,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really awesome opportunity to be able to publish your research and get feedback from other students and professors.鈥�

Fitzpatrick says her CHRONOS experience made her a stronger reader, writer and researcher.

At the conference, she moderated a panel discussion exploring the theme 鈥淚ntersections: Gender, Sexuality and the Discipline of History,鈥� featuring Albrecht Diem, Carol Faulkner, graduate student Victoria Vidler and undergraduate students Gillian Reed and Ella Burke. Diem is a professor of history who specializes in medieval history, while Faulkner, a professor who specializes in 19th-century American history, gender, women and social movements, is also senior associate dean for academic affairs at Maxwell.

The Range of Research Presented

Student research presented at the conference ranged from a deep dive into the life of Mary Queen of Scots to the politics of abortion in late Cold War Brazil. Several presentations reflected a similar focus on primary-source and archival research鈥攚ork that students credited in large part to their access to Maxwell faculty with deep experience in those areas.

Jorge A. Morales, a senior studying history and anthropology and a CHRONOS editorial board member, presented findings drawn from slave registries and municipal documents from Caguas, Puerto Rico, in the years before the island abolished slavery in 1873. Morales shared that his family ties to Puerto Rico have made his work deeply personal.

鈥淕rowing up in the continental U.S. but still spending a good amount of time visiting family on the island, has made me increasingly interested in understanding how Puerto Rico鈥檚 national and cultural identity formed,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he roles of slavery and enslaved individuals have often been overlooked.鈥�

Morales says interior regions like Caguas have received less scholarly attention than other parts of Puerto Rico. His research aims to help fill that gap.

Like Fitzpatrick, Morales says CHRONOS provided research and editorial experience as well as a strong network of peers.

鈥淚 found a community of people who were just as passionate and curious as I was, and I felt like I finally belonged somewhere on campus,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥淓very CHRONOS publication is special because it represents not just the work of authors and editors, but of peers and colleagues who come together to learn and to connect that knowledge with the public in a way that fosters curiosity.鈥�

Andrew Cole, a senior studying history and philosophy, presented his research on a foundational monastic text. His work analyzed John Cassian鈥檚 “Institutes” through a lens closer to literary criticism鈥攁n approach he developed after taking a class with Diem.

Cole was among the students who helped revive CHRONOS after the pandemic.

鈥淎t the time, CHRONOS had been in hibernation since before COVID; it was a lot of work to get it up and running but well worth the effort,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he editorial board is a close-knit community. CHRONOS is unique in that it offers an excellent learning opportunity for both editors and writers鈥攚e are dedicated to turning good research papers into excellent, approachable essays.鈥�

The conference presentations included PowerPoint demonstrations and lively question-and-answer sessions in which students praised one another for their research and asked in-depth questions about their research findings. History faculty watched on, clearly gratified.

Takeda provided closing remarks, reflecting on what the students had accomplished.

鈥淚 can say without a doubt that my weekly interactions with the CHRONOS board have shown how much our students have developed important critical leadership skills,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s writers, researchers and presenters, you have told difficult stories. 鈥ou鈥檝e explained complexity.鈥�

The conference was held at a moment of transition for CHRONOS. Several members of the current editorial board are graduating seniors鈥攁mong them Fitzpatrick, Morales and Cole鈥攅ach preparing to carry the habits of mind CHRONOS instilled into whatever comes next.

Morales says his time with the journal has shaped what he hopes to build in the future.

鈥淢y work on CHRONOS has definitely shown me the value of intellectual community,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t has made me committed to trying to build up a similar sense of academic community between undergraduate and graduate students and faculty at the institutions that I end up studying and hopefully working at in the future.鈥�

Story by Mikayla Melo

Students filled the jury box inside the Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom in the 鈥榮 Dineen Hall earlier this semester, sketchbooks out, to capture live arguments during a session of the U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals hosted on the 性视界 campus.

For the students, six of them seniors majoring in illustration in the , it was their first experience serving as courtroom sketch artists for a legal proceeding.

, assistant teaching professor in VPA, says the collaboration with the College of Law on Feb. 27 was just the latest opportunity he鈥檚 sought out for illustration students to introduce them to different types of live drawing activities. Once the collaboration with the College of Law was arranged, he encouraged juniors and seniors he teaches to participate.

鈥淲hen you’re an illustration major, there’s a lot of fields that you can enter into,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, for me, courtroom sketching is something they can do if they want to or just live sketching. But I think for them, it gets them practicing their craft.鈥�

The networking opportunity is also a big piece of the experience, he says.

鈥淚t gets them talking, and it gets them to really engage with other people outside of the art world, gets them to have an audience see their work,鈥� Ladd says.

The collaboration was such a success that VPA students were invited back again to act as courtroom artists for another law school event. Five of the students who participated in February鈥檚 event told 性视界 University Today they were drawn to participating to practice their skills and explore the role as a profession.

Below, they share more about the experience:

What was it like?

Juli Muldoon 鈥�26: I enjoy drawing from life and capturing people’s expressions. I figured a courtroom would be an interesting place to do so, and I was right!

Emma Lee 鈥�26: It was interesting seeing how formal the event was and the interactions between the judges and participants. It was somewhat stressful at first not knowing how long each person would be at the podium or how long I would have to capture them. As the proceeding went on I got more of an understanding of how long each person would be at the podium and got more comfortable with my materials. I was able to focus more on drawing portraits of people, which I enjoyed the most.

Rene Vetter 鈥�26: It was very nerve-wracking, especially since the proceeding was related to the military. Everyone was dressed up and in uniform, so I felt out of place with my drawing board and pens. When the court clerk called us all to rise as the judges walked in, the reality of the situation hit me. It was stressful to have so many eyes watching you and curious about how you are drawing them.

Brynne Baird 鈥�26: Everyone was welcoming and enthusiastic about having all of us there. They let us sit in the jury box, so we were able to see faces and expressions clearer. It is just like in the movies!

Julia English 鈥�26: The courtroom was very professional. At first, I was nervous and intimidated, but eventually I felt like I was a part of the trial. I almost felt like I was watching a movie.

What was the best part of participating?

Muldoon: Getting to show everyone my drawings at the end of the proceeding. Getting positive reactions to my work keeps me motivated to create.

Lee: Almost everyone who participated came up to us to see what we drew. They were all super excited and interested in what we had made. They said the whole time they had been curious what they were going to look like. Many of them had never been drawn before, so it was fun to see their reactions to our sketches.

Vetter: Getting to show the participants my drawings. I usually do more humorous drawings, so I would show them my portrait and they would laugh really hard. I was nervous to show the judges my drawings of them, as I didn’t want them to take offense, but they ended up loving them.

Baird: Being able to practice real observational drawing in a realistic context.

English: Everyone reacting to our drawings. Everyone was so kind and took pictures of our art.

What was the most challenging part?

Muldoon: Probably working under pressure. Drawing moving subjects is already a challenge, and working while people watch you can be stressful.

Lee: Wanting to draw as much as possible and capture as much as possible, while also not getting tired of constantly drawing. As the proceeding went on, I got more comfortable.

Vetter: The time was limited, and I wanted to make sure to capture as many participants as possible. There were also a few times where a participant would only have a limited time in front of the judges on the main floor. I never knew if I would have five minutes or 15 to draw a subject, and once they left the floor, it was more difficult to get a good look at them.

Baird: Usually we are in a classroom with a model that gives us dynamic poses for several minutes at a time. But in a courtroom, people move around, which makes it challenging to draw specific poses.

English: At first, I struggled to draw while watching the trial. Once I got used to it, my nerves went away.

Did this change or impact the way you think about your own illustrations or career path?听

Muldoon: I hadn’t considered court sketching as a career, but this opportunity has definitely made me interested. I would love to do more court work in the future.

Lee: It definitely made me more interested in pursuing courtroom sketching as a career. It was also encouraging hearing how excited everyone was about the sketches and seeing their reactions.

Vetter: Definitely yes. I had so much fun that I am hoping to be able to do it again. It was also rewarding to share my artwork with people outside of creative spheres. It is easy to get caught up in creative competitiveness when I am only surrounded with other creatives, but I forget people outside of that are even more impressed by my work. It was a good reminder of my own appreciation for illustration and art in a busy time in my academic career.

Baird: I have other ideas of where I would like my career path to go, but if an opportunity like this comes along again where I could do this full time I would love to do it!

English: I would consider working as a courtroom sketch artist professionally if provided the chance!

Think of the last film or play you saw. Were you riveted to your seat, following the action unfolding in front of you? When the lights came up, did the story and characters stay with you, offering a new way of thinking about something?

Storytelling鈥攐n the page or on the stage鈥攈as long connected people across circumstance, time and place, bridging divides and building understanding.

Few writers have sustained that power more enduringly than William Shakespeare. From the stage to the classroom, his plays continue to be reimagined in ways that speak to the present moment鈥攁 process explored by , University Professor, the William L. Safire Professor of Modern Letters, a professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences and a leading scholar of Shakespeare and early modern literature.

She recently co-edited “Shakespeare and the Poetics and Politics of Relevance: Gender, Race, Ecology” (2024) and discusses why Shakespeare still matters today.

Steam rose from bowls of homemade soup as students settled into their seats in the . A presentation on winter traditions in Turkey sparked conversation, drawing murmurs of recognition and a few nostalgic smiles.

When the slideshow ended, attendees gathered in small groups for a matching game connecting landmarks, customs and historical moments. Those more familiar with the traditions offered hints while others brought fresh curiosity to each pairing.

For an hour, 性视界 felt a little closer to Istanbul.

The gathering was part of the Maxwell School’s Culture and Conversation Tables, a series hosted by the Moynihan Institute that brings students and community members together to explore languages and cultures from around the world.

Held about once a month, each table takes a slightly different approach, from language-intensive practice sessions to film screenings and themed cultural presentations. All serve a shared purpose: building community while advancing Maxwell鈥檚 mission of exposing students to a wide range of perspectives and preparing them for an increasingly interconnected world.

Moynihan is home to Maxwell’s seven regional centers, focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, East Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and South Asia. Located on the third floor of Eggers Hall, the institute supports teaching, research and programming that prepares students to engage with the world’s most pressing challenges. The Culture and Conversation Tables are a natural extension of that work.

鈥淭he tables are one of the most accessible ways we connect students to the world beyond the classroom,鈥� says , director of Moynihan and professor of political science. 鈥淲hether someone is preparing for fieldwork abroad, practicing a language they’re studying or simply curious about a part of the world they haven鈥檛 encountered before, these gatherings offer something genuinely valuable.鈥�

Much of the tables鈥� day-to-day coordination falls to George Tsaoussis Carter, event specialist, and , regional programs manager for Asia. 鈥淲hat stands out most is the enthusiasm students bring to these tables, both the ones who help organize them and the ones who show up to learn,鈥� says Baxter. 鈥淭hey leave with more than vocabulary or cultural trivia. They gain a broader sense of the world and a genuine connection to people from very different backgrounds.鈥�

Baxter is also impressed by the care and commitment of table hosts, which, on the Asia side, include faculty such as , and Tomoko Walker from the , as well as graduate students and, on occasion, highly motivated undergraduates.

Originally known as Language Tables, the program was renamed to reflect its broader emphasis on culture, conversation and connection, according to , associate director of the Moynihan Institute.

Over the years, the institute has hosted tables in more than 20 languages, many supported by U.S. Department of Education grants aimed at strengthening international and language education. Currently, 16 tables are offered, spanning languages from Arabic and Hindi-Urdu to Chinese, French and Tamil. For most of the tables, the institute partners with faculty and instructors in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences

The tables have at times reflected the urgency of world events. For instance, visiting scholar Tetiana Hranchak hosted a Ukrainian table that drew strong attendance from students across the University, some directly impacted by the war with Russia. Hranchak, who fled her home in Kyiv after the invasion, joined the Maxwell community through the Scholars at Risk program, which supports academics displaced by conflict and persecution.

The tables also give international students a place to hear their native language and share traditions from home. Open to all 性视界 University students, not just those in Maxwell programs, the tables invite anyone across campus to engage with new regions, customs and perspectives.

Story by Mikyala Melo

There鈥檚 a lot of research underway about how climate affects agriculture, examining how heat waves reduce crop yields, among other impacts.

But there is some thinking among researchers that the crops also affect the local climate to some extent. Vegetation transpires water, acting as a pump that pulls the moisture from the ground, making the air surrounding it a little more humid, effectively altering the heat index or felt temperature.

Exactly what that impact on the local climate might be is one of the questions , assistant professor of geography and the environment in the , is seeking to understand with his current research.

鈥淯ltimately metrics like the heat index are most important for human heat exposure,鈥� he says.

Examining the influence of crops on local climate isn鈥檛 a new pursuit for him. A few years ago, he published a paper that aimed to estimate the amount of cooling corn crops caused around them.

鈥淭hey reduce basically the amount of heat waves that occur, which is a positive for the crops,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd so effectively, the crops are modifying the climate in a way that is actually helping the crops grow.鈥�

Coffel was awarded a $582,000 grant from the National Science Foundation in 2023 to support his research on agriculture as a driver of climate extremes. With co-investigator Justin Mankin from Dartmouth College, Coffel is the principal investigator for the three-year project, titled Quantifying Agriculture as a Driver of Regional Climate Extremes.

One of the questions he鈥檚 pursuing under the NSF grant is examining how crops, namely the staples of midwest agriculture corn and soy, affect humidity.

鈥淲e want to try to say how much do crops affect the climate around them, and how much does that affect the crops themselves,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o do the crops really make it cooler in a way that reduces the chance of there being heat waves? We think this is probably true. And then also, does that mean the human impacts of heat are reduced? Or are they increased? And that depends on the humidity.鈥�

Below, Coffel shares more about his research with 性视界 University Today.

Renowned filmmaker Ron Howard recently spent an afternoon with students in the and the (VPA), offering an inside look at his latest film project and the creative decision-making that shapes work at the highest levels of Hollywood.听

Howard, one of the industry鈥檚 most respected directors, was joined by producer Bill Connor 鈥�89 and Doug Wilkinson G鈥�87, both alumni of 性视界 University. Together, they engaged film听and drama听students in a discussion about storytelling and the realities of bringing a major motion picture from concept to completion.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 always a pleasure to welcome alums back to campus, and this time around it was a double pleasure. We had not one but two of them accompany Ron Howard鈥攐ne of Hollywood鈥檚 most well-known directors鈥攖o come and speak with our Newhouse and VPA students,鈥� says , professor and graduate program director of the Department of Television, Radio and Film in the Newhouse School.听

During the visit, Howard听screened听his most recent project, inviting students into the filmmaking process at a stage rarely accessible outside the professional world.听

鈥淗oward asked our students what they thought and answered their questions with real candor,” says , professor of film and chair of the Department of Film and Media Arts in VPA. “Seeing an unfinished film and talking directly with the director, producer and editor about choices they’re still making is something you can’t replicate in a classroom. That’s what so special about being at 性视界.鈥澨�

For students aspiring to careers in film and media, the visit offered a unique opportunity to bridge theory and practice and connected classroom learning with firsthand perspectives from some of the industry鈥檚 most accomplished professionals.