RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP & CREATIVITY

THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION IS HOME TO 4,000+

masterpieces of impressionism, modernism and contemporary art

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

ARHU faculty maintain close relationships and hold leadership positions with:

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication: Elizabeth L. Toth, president

Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Julie Greene, president

Association of Departments of English: Kent Cartwright, president

Archaeological Institute of America, Washington, D.C. chapter: Jorge J. Bravo III, president

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

>> LOOKING FORWARD UMD’s new partnership with Washington, D.C.’s renowned Phillips Collection will provide new opportunities to collaborate on joint courses, fellowships and cultural events. It also establishes the University of Maryland Center for Art and Knowledge at The Phillips Collection.

In partnership with the Library of Congress, the Roshan Institute for Persian Studies commissioned the exhibition “A Thousand Years of the Persian Book,” presenting to the region the rich artistic and literary history of Persian culture.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center partnered with MilkBoy to announce “MilkBoy+Art House,” a community-minded performing arts venue that will feature artists from The Clarice’s Artist Partner Programs, emerging student talent and local art makers from the greater College Park community.

The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies partnered with the Big Ten Theatre Consortium to commission and produce original plays that highlight the work of female playwrights and serve as effective tools for teaching. The first play, “Good Kids,” inspired by a notorious rape case in Steubenville, Ohio, debuted at UMD’s The Clarice.

SCHOLARSHIP

Jonathan Auerbach, professor of English, was named a 2014-15 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher for outstanding scholarly contributions to American literature and film and for demonstrated excellence in teaching.

Associate Professor Valentine Hacquard and Professor Jeffrey Lidz in linguistics were awarded a three-year NSF grant for their project “Acquiring the semantics and pragmatics of attitude verbs,” which helps understand the connection between language and mind development.

Michelle Rowley, associate professor of women’s studies, received a RASA for her project, “Queering Home: Caribbean Explorations of Un/Be/Longing,” which explores the ways that Caribbean women with non-conforming sexual expression structure their livelihoods, social networks, sense of community and use of public space for survival.

Francisco Barrenechea, associate professor of classics, was awarded a fellowship at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies to write his book, “New Gods, New Devotions: Religious Experiences in Aristophanes’ Wealth.”

Julie Greene, professor of history and co-director of the Center for the History of the New America, received a RASA to support her project, “Movable Empire: Labor, Migration, and the Making of United States Global Power, 1885-1934,” which examines the ways labor migration across the Caribbean, Hawaii and the Philippines remade the Americas.

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

Linda Mabbs, professor of voice and opera, was awarded the Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize for extensive work as artistic director for “Art of Argento: A Celebration of Composer Dominick Argento’s Work” at The Clarice and for her title role in the opera, “Miss Havisham’s Fire.”

Shannon Collis, assistant professor of art, partnered with VisArts at Rockville to install “Recent Works,” an interactive environment that explores ways in which digital technologies impact human perception of audio and visual stimuli.

>> LOOKING FORWARD Jim Thorpe, associate professor of graphic design, curated the poster exhibition, “Questioning the Bomb: History and Non-Proliferation,” at the UMD Art Gallery. The exhibit commemorated the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and advocated global relinquishment of weapons of mass destruction.

TEACHING

The Maya Brin Residency program hosted prominent Russian-American journalist and LGBT activist Masha Gessen to engage students and faculty in a discussion of her latest book, “The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy,” about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. She also presented the public lecture, “Putin’s War Against the West.”

Randy Ontiveros, associate professor of English, was awarded the 2015 University System of Maryland Regents Faculty Award for excellence in teaching. His focus is U.S. Latino literature and culture, comparative ethnic studies, women’s studies and American literature.

Robyn Muncy, professor of history, mined the National Archives and other collections to develop “New Deal: Reimagining America.” This course explored the New Deal as a creative set of experiments to make America more democratic and egalitarian.

Bernard Cooperman, associate professor of history and director of the Miller Center for Historical Studies, taught “Practicing Tolerance in a Religious Society: The Church and the Jews in Italy” via the Coursera worldwide platform. The course explored religious tolerance by examining two millennia of Jewish history in Rome, the center of the Catholic world.