THE ARTS

In February 2023, Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Voice and Opera Jason Max Ferdinand D.M.A. ’15 and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers performed with Coldplay on “Saturday Night Live.”

Through a partnership with the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society (SCMS), National Orchestral Institute + Festival fellows performed with musical instruments from their 400-yearold Stradivarius collection, including violins, violas and cellos. School of Music Lecturer and Artistic Director of SCMS Ken Slowik arranged the opportunity.

Arts For All

The Clarice debuted the monthly Jazz Jam series, which invites students, faculty, staff, College Park residents and anyone with an ear for musical improvisation to bring their instrument—or just their appreciation for the genre—to The Hall CP. The venue was also the site of the inaugural College Park Jazz Fest featuring music, food and drinks and local vendors.

The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library acquired a new collection of D.C. punk images from photographer Don Hamerman The nearly 200 images add to the library’s D.C. punk collection helmed by John Davis ’99, an archive of photos, fan zines, concert fliers, recordings and more that tell the story of the most frenetic side of D.C.’s music scene in the 1970s and ’80s.

The David C. Driskell Center presented “Telling Our Story: Community Conversations with Our Artists” featuring the selections of 30 guest curators—all art appreciators but not experts—who each chose a few favorite pieces from the center’s vault for display, and wrote letters to the artists explaining what spoke to them about the work.

UMD’s Arts for All initiative partners the arts with the sciences, technology and other disciplines to develop new and reimagined curricular and experiential offerings that nurture different ways of thinking to spark dialogue, understanding, problem-solving and action. It bolsters a campuswide culture of creativity and innovation, making Maryland a national leader in leveraging the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to collaboratively address grand challenges. And it seeks to build partnerships that foster creative and scholarly excellence between the campus and the community.

The UMD School of Music’s Maryland Opera Studio (MOS) was named a first-place winner in the National Opera Association 2021–22 Opera Production Competition for its production of John Musto and Mark Campbell’s “Later the Same Evening” in Spring 2022. MOS collaborated with the UMD Symphony Orchestra, the UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, as well as production staff in The Clarice, for a final result that judges praised for its professional quality across all areas.

Music legend Dionne Warwick discussed her storied career and commitment to social justice as part of the 2022-23 Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series. It was ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan’s first Dean’s Lecture Series.

Assistant Professor of Art Brandon J. Donahue-Shipp and UMD men’s basketball players led nearly 30 children in a project at the Robert C. Marshall Recreation Center to create 14 painted artworks utilizing basketballs as inspiration. The project was supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Terrapin Community Music School (TCMS) based out of the School of Music, begins this fall with weekly programs. It builds on the success of the Hatchling Community Music Program, launched by the SOM last year to provide caregivers with ways to interact musically with their children. TCMS will also offer sophomores and juniors from Prince George’s County Public Schools low-cost, high-quality weekly one-on-one lessons, musicianship classes and group coaching.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the UMD School of Music launched a groundbreaking partnership focused on community engagement programming, unique educational opportunities for students and the commissioning of new orchestral music. It marks a significant investment in the cultural and civic landscape of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the future of orchestral performance.

A new minor in digital storytelling and poetics debuting this fall in the Department of English will empower students from a range of academic backgrounds to make and tell stories in digital and new media spaces.

As part of an effort to expand its reach into the community, the UMD Art Gallery loaned seven works from its permanent collection to the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, the former Congressional Black Caucus chair. The gallery continues to curate a rotating wall space at the Washington, D.C., coffee shop Lost Sock Roasters.

The Clarvit Studio and Courtyard for Research in Art and Design is a new indoor-outdoor space in the Parren J. Mitchell ArtSociology Building that expands opportunities for the College of Arts and Humanities to showcase work. Thanks to the generous support of Nancy ’78 and Chuck Clarvit, the space features cutting-edge technology, updated facilities and a 25-by-30-foot screen.

DEAN’S OFFICE

Dean

Stephanie Shonekan

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research

Trevor Parry-Giles

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Graduate

Education and Strategic Initiatives

GerShun Avilez

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Undergraduate Education

Audran Downing

Assistant Dean of Development

Laura Brown

Assistant Dean of Technology, Administration and Staff Equity

For FY23, the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) provided more than $680,000 in support of The Clarice’s performing arts programs that reach across campus and our local community. In addition to a grant awarded through their Grants for Organizations program, this year, MSAC’s support included a special round of Arts Relief funding, approved by the State of Maryland, with the aim of providing increased economic stability as the arts sector continued to navigate the effects of the COVID pandemic.

Bequests Make an Impact in History and Art

Jean Farrell’s in memoriam tribute to her late husband Richard Farrell will fund education and research for graduate students in the Department of History continuing his legacy of inspiring and supporting students. Richard, a beloved associate professor of history, taught at UMD for almost 30 years.

Paula Santen ’58 discovered her love of art and design while pursuing a degree in home economics at the University of Maryland. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science, she went on to enjoy a varied and adventurous career—first as an interior designer and eventually in numerous retail management roles across the country. Santen has been a dedicated supporter of art students at the University of Maryland for many years, providing valuable resources for need-based scholarships. Recently, she committed to bequeath an additional $1,250,000 to establish three endowed funds for undergraduate and graduate art students, ensuring that “generations of future students will be able to pursue their educational passions with a reduced financial burden.” Santen said she loves to learn about the amazing work of UMD art students and enjoys receiving notes and letters from those she’s supported. “I’m sure they’ll all go on to do absolutely wonderful things,” she said, “and that is very rewarding.”

Departments

American Studies CHAIR

Psyche WilliamsForson

Art CHAIR

Brandon Morse

Art History and Archaeology (ARTH)

CHAIR

Karin Zitzewitz

Classics CHAIR

Eric Adler

Communication CHAIR

Shawn Parry-Giles

English

CHAIR

Amanda Bailey

Harriet Tubman

Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

CHAIR

Neda Atanasoski

History

CHAIR

Ahmet T. Karamustafa

CENTERS

Center for East Asian Studies (SLLC)

Kathleen Cavanaugh

Assistant Dean for Marketing and Communications

Kelly Blake

Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration

Julie Wright

Director of Arts for All

Craig Kier

Director of Facilities

Lori Owen

DIRECTOR

Minglang Zhou

Center for Global Migration Studies (History)

DIRECTOR

Colleen Woods

Center for Health and Risk Communication (Communication)

DIRECTOR

Xiaoli Nan

Center for Literary and Comparative Studies (English)

CO-DIRECTORS

Karen Nelson

Sangeeta Ray

The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies (JWST)

DIRECTOR

Maxine “Max” Grossman

Linguistics

CHAIR

William Idsardi

Philosophy CHAIR

Samuel J. Kerstein

School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC)

DIRECTOR

Mary Ellen Scullen

School of Music

DIRECTOR

Gregory E. Miller

School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS)

DIRECTOR

Maura Keefe

Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity

DIRECTOR

Ruth Zambrana

David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora

DIRECTOR

Jordana Moore Saggese

Herman Maril Gallery (Art)

GALLERY ADVISER Cy Keener

The Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies (JWST)

DIRECTOR

For the most up-to-date information, please visit arhu.umd.edu

Mark and Heather Rosenker Center for Political Communication & Civic Leadership (Communication)

DIRECTOR

Shawn Parry-Giles

Ilai Saltzman

Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center

DIRECTOR

Isabella Alcañiz

Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities

DIRECTOR

Trevor Muñoz

Maryland Language Science Center

DIRECTOR

Yi Ting Huang

Maya Brin Institute for New Performance (TDPS)

CO- DIRECTORS

Sam Crawford

Kendra Portier

Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture (ARTH)

DIRECTOR

Quint Gregory

Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies (History)

DIRECTOR

Karin Rosemblatt

National Foreign Language Center

LEAD DIRECTOR

Connie DiJohnson

Roshan Institute for Persian Studies (SLLC)

DIRECTOR, ROSHAN INSTITUTE CHAIR IN PERSIAN STUDIES

Fatemeh Keshavarz

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Terrence “Terry” Dwyer University of Maryland Art Gallery

DIRECTOR

Taras Matla