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Douglass Center

In the Footsteps of Freedom: Kenneth B. Morris Works to Honor Legacy of Ancestors Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington

Morris is the inaugural speaker for the Douglass Center’s Lessons in Leadership series.

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College of Arts and Humanities

ARHU 2023-24 Year in Review

This annual publication celebrates the remarkable achievements of our faculty, staff, students and alumni.

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English

UMD Grad Jason Reynolds Awarded MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’

Popular author of YA, children’s books about kids of color to receive $800K.

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College of Arts and Humanities

‘Mobile-izing’ a New Generation to the Ballot Box

Campus pop-up helps register new voters and take the angst out of Election Day.

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What interests you?

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Whatever your interests and aspirations, ARHU is committed to providing the knowledge, skills and opportunities all our students need to write their own stories and chart their own paths.

"In ARHU, you’re learning about how people interact with the world and each other. My goal is to build things that people are going to use. Just technology knowledge can only go so far. You have to understand how people are going to use them to be truly successful."

Ozzie Fallick '14, Software Engineer, Google
Linguistics

"Cross-cultural communication is one of the most important skills that I learned at ARHU, and I use it to engage and inform the community in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean about our events, exchanges and any other information that supports our key policy priorities in the region. ARHU gave me the tools to understand why in diplomacy, it’s as much about what you say as how you say it."

Krystle Norman '08, Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State
Spanish and Portuguese

"I had always loved art, but I never knew you could make a career out of it until I studied abroad in Rome. There, I took a full course load of art courses and learned all about the factors of being an art professional. It was life-changing. Now I feel lucky that I’m doing something that I’m so passionate about."

Laura Sheridan Raiffe '09, Regional Account Manager, Christie's Fine Arts
Art History and Archaeology

"One of the most important things I got out of my ARHU experience is my ability to parse arguments, think critically and see multiple sides of an issue. Being in law school, it’s important to do that—it’s a skill I use every day. Not a class goes by, not a case gets read that this skill doesn’t come into play."

AJ Clayborne '13, Student, Harvard Law School
English

GRAND CHALLENGES

DEMAND FEARLESS IDEAS

The research and creative works of our faculty, students and alumni are setting the agenda for transformative dialogue about the value of the arts and the humanities in the world today.

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New Scholarship from The College of Arts and Humanities

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Happening at ARHU

How can art spark timely discussions on democracy, identity and civic life? Students at UMD @carillon_communities are engaging with an “art and conversation deck” created by the University of Michigan Museum of Art (@ummamuseum) and 10 partner university museums—including @umdartgallery. Featuring 12 artworks from university collections and 16 prompts, the deck invites dialogue on critical topics like politics, community and personal beliefs. UMD’s contribution is “Psychic Friends (Malcolm X)” by @patrick_martinez_studio. Inspired by the style of street-level commercial signage, the piece incorporates phrases from Malcolm X’s teachings. It currently hangs outside the UMD Art Gallery. Prompt A: What story about the USA does this image tell? How does this story intersect with your beliefs about what it means to be an American? Prompt B: What values of the USA does the image question or critique? What values does it promote? Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments!
Repost from @terpsvote • Happy Election Day, Terps! 🗳️🐢 The polls in Maryland are open until 8:00pm. If you’re voting today, make sure you have a plan of when you’ll go to your polling place! Today is your last chance to make your voice heard! If you need Election Day support, you can find our team in the Stamp lobby. You can also DM us, email us, or reach us through the live chat on the TerpsVote website! #terpsvote #electionday #universityofmaryland @umd.lcsl @thestampumd @terrapinlife @univofmaryland @mdi_umd
The inaugural installment of the Lessons in Leadership series hosted by the Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through The Humanities featured Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington descendant and nonprofit leader, Kenneth Morris. Morris talked about the power of courage, critical thinking, resilience and perseverance in Douglass’ life, and how these qualities can help leaders work to end systems of exploitation and oppression. “History lives in all of us,” he said.

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