STUDENT EXCELLENCE

Students in the College of Arts and Humanities bring a range of backgrounds, interests and experiences to the classroom and larger campus community. Last year, 10 ARHU students won national scholarships and awards. Over 200 ARHU students studied abroad. Our graduates find success in jobs and graduate education (96% placement rate), and our alumni are making waves as artists, entrepreneurs, diplomats, archivists, journalists, entertainers, scholars, educators, lawyers, doctors and more. Here are some of the highlights from the 2022–23 academic year:

UNDERGRADUATE:

GRADUATE:

Studio art major Jeanette Bolden ’22 coled the design process for the official 2022 Hispanic Heritage Month poster for Prince George’s County, teaching middle and high school students from across the county the principles and techniques of screenprinting to create the piece.

Paulina Leder ’23, who graduated with a dual degree in history and German with a triple major in French, was named one of the University of Maryland’s Undergraduate Researchers of the Year for 2023

Alumni Spotlight

Arabic Flagship students Amaya Moody ’23, Luke Hanno ’23, Robert Hedberg ’23 and Gillian Boline ’23 (left to right) were accepted into the Arabic Flagship Program Capstone Year with an advanced rating in Arabic to study in Meknes, Morocco, during the 2023-24 academic year. All four students are also recipients of the prestigious Boren Scholarship

Nine graduate students in the Department of Art History and Archaeology (Maura Callahan, Ashley Cope Montia Daniels, Joohee Kim Caroline Kipp Cléa Massiani, Magdelena Mastrandrea, Dominic Pearson and Gabrielle Robinson-Tillenburg) developed and curated the David C. Driskell Center’s exhibition “RINGGOLD | SAAR: Meeting on the Matrix,” with support from Professor of American Art Jordana Moore Saggese and Driskell Center staff. The exhibition brought together print works by renowned Black women artists Faith Ringgold and Betye Saar for the first time, juxtaposing their different ways of approaching the Black experience in the United States. It received widespread recognition, with Forbes crediting the graduate students for “achieving what some never do in a lifetime.”

Poet Shara McCallum MFA ‘96, English, was named a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow The fellowship will support McCallum as she travels to Jamaica to work with contemporary visual artists to inspire her next poetry collection, which centers on the technique of “ekphrasis,” a vivid form of descriptive writing in response to visual art.

Asma Naeem Ph.D. ’10, art history, was named the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art She is the first person of color to lead the museum and oversees its collection of more than 97,000 objects and an annual operating budget of $23 million.

Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History Caroline Angle Maguire received the 2023-24 American Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women It covers one year of living expenses while writing her dissertation.

Maryland Opera Studio (MOS) student Lawrence Barasa M.M. ’23, voice performance, won first place in the 2023 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition which supports “the most promising young professionals in the field of opera.” MOS alumni Öznur Tülüoğlu M.M. ’21 and School of Music Admissions Specialist Véronique Filloux M.M. ’18 were finalists in the competition.

Tomeka Reid ’00, music, a jazz cellist and composer, was awarded a 2022 MacArthur Foundation fellowship, known as the “genius grant.” Reid is known for her unorthodox approach, incorporating musical elements from the African diaspora as well as unexpected items like pencils or clips to transform the sound of her instrument.

Rehan Staton ’18, history, raised $70,000 for janitors and other workers while attending Harvard Law School The former sanitation worker’s story was covered by publications including The Washington Post, Good Morning America, People Magazine and CBS News.