RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP & CREATIVITY

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

ARHU faculty maintain close relationships and hold leadership positions with:

Society of Early Americanists: Richard Bell, fellow

Latino/a Studies Association: Ana Patricia Rodríguez, president

Royal Historical Society: Philip Resnik, fellow

Big Ten Band Directors Association: Mike Votta, presidentelect

Society for Music Theory: Dora Hanninen, president

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Drawn by UMD’s vibrant arts and humanities community, academic strength in creative writing and location near Washington, D.C., the Association for Writers and Writing Programs will move to the university’s Discovery District.

The Roshan Institute for Persian Studies is partnering with Kent State University, the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Minnesota to digitize the national archives of Afghanistan.

The National Orchestral Institute + Festival, which brings together aspiring orchestral musicians from across the country, launched a partnership with Wolf Trap Opera to provide joint performance and learning opportunities for students. Linda Aldoory, professor of communication, is an expert in health communication and underserved health populations. She will be the college’s new associate dean for research and programming.

SCHOLARSHIP

Shawn Parry-Giles, professor of communication, has been researching Hillary Clinton’s speeches and memoirs to understand public perceptions of Clinton during the recent U.S. presidential election.

Hosted by the National Library of Medicine and curated by Associate Professor of American Studies Psyche Williams-Forson, “Fire & Freedom: Food & Enslavement in Early America” examined how colonial Europeans in the Chesapeake region relied on indentured servants, Native Americans and African slave labor for life-saving knowledge of food and farming.

Professor of Philosophy Samuel Kerstein delved into everything from medical literature to behavioral economics to explore ethical issues surrounding kidney transplantation, including racial disparities among organ recipients and the possibility of paying donors. Lee Konstantinou, assistant professor of English, has written about popular culture as both a fiction writer and a scholar. His current project, “The Cartoon Art: Comics in the Age of Mass High Culture,” examines how comics are becoming a more respectable subject of study.

Funded by a $300,000 grant from the New Zealand government, Professor of Second Language Acquisition Robert DeKeyser is collaborating with colleagues at the University of Auckland on how to learn a second language unconsciously.

Xiaoli Nan, associate professor of communication, is researching how to use real-time data on traffic, public transit and the weather to encourage people to make more efficient and empowering choices that reduce energy use and meet their transportation needs.

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

James Harding, professor of theatre and performance studies, won the 2017 Outstanding Article Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for his research about the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quáng Đúc’s politically-charged self-immolation in 1963. Harding’s research examines the relationships between performance and extreme nonviolent activism.

Presented by the University of Maryland Art Gallery and curated by Ann Prentice Wagner Ph.D. ’06 art and archaeology, “Herman Maril: The Strong Forms of Our Experience” exhibition featured over eight works, including drawings, watercolors and acrylic paintings on paper and prints.

Shannon Collis, assistant professor of printmaking and digital media, was a semi-finalist for the 2017 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. Her installations and interactive environments explore how digital technologies can transform perceptions of audio and visual stimuli.

Larissa Dedova, professor of piano, released a two-CD set of the complete solo piano works of Maurice Ravel.

William Robin, assistant professor of musicology and ethnomusicology, received a 2017 Research Communicator Impact Award from the UMD Division of Research in the op-ed category for his piece about Colin Kaepernick and the “Star-Spangled Banner” in The New Yorker.

Daniel Conway, professor of theatre design and production, won a 2017 Helen Hayes Award for his outstanding set design for “Hand to God” at Studio Theatre. This is the fourth time Conway has received the award.

“Willie Cole: On Site,” an exhibition at the David C. Driskell Center, presented a selection of the artist’s work from 2006-16 and featured a large, sculptural blossom made entirely of recycled shoes.

TEACHING

Associate Professor of History Richard Bell is the recipient of the 2017 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. In his teaching and research, Bell uses narratives of everyday people to help students and readers connect with history.

In Assistant Professor of History Chantel Rodriguez’s immensely popular course, “Zombies, Fear and Contagion,” students discuss how zombies throughout history are often a metaphor for social and political fears. During the 2016-17 academic year, course waitlists topped 800 students.

The Writing Programs in the Department of English received the 2016-17 Writing Program Certificate of Excellence from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Collectively, the Writing Programs are leaders in not only traditional writing and critical inquiry, but also integrating digital and online tools into learning, teaching and instructor training.

Lyra Hilliard, senior lecturer in English, received the 2016-17 Professional Track Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Office of Faculty Affairs and the Provost.