Faith Otchere Ph.D. ’25 Discusses her ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship
Otchere is working at the Rhode Island nonprofit Sojourner House.
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- 11/13 A Raisin in the Sun
- 11/13 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Garrick Ohlsson Plays Brahms
- 11/15 A Raisin in the Sun
- 11/16 Douglass Dialogues: Are Human Rights Dead? Or, Were They Ever Alive?
- 11/18 A Raisin in the Sun
- 11/18 The Rape of Lucretia: Maryland Opera Studio
- 11/19 Visiting Artist Lecture Series Presents Coco Fusco
- 11/19 The Rape of Lucretia: Maryland Opera Studio
- 11/19 A Raisin in the Sun
- 11/21 A Raisin in the Sun
- 11/21 The Rape of Lucretia: Maryland Opera Studio
- 11/22 The Rape of Lucretia: Maryland Opera Studio
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Curious about Loretta Ross? In this video from the MacArthur Foundation, the 2022 MacArthur Fellow traces the history of reproductive justice and its roots in Black women’s activism. It’s a movement she helped build, and next week she’s coming to campus.
“There are such things in the world as human rights. They rest upon no conventional foundation, but are eternal, universal and indestructible.” Frederick Douglass, “Composite Nation,” 1867
Douglass Dialogues continues with a timely question: Are human rights dead? Or were they ever alive? History shows us that human dignity has always been contested, and even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights hasn’t stopped atrocities. So what do human rights mean today as a concept, a universal aspiration and a political project?
Ross is a scholar, an activist and a professor at Smith College. She also founded SisterSong, a women of color reproductive justice collective that defines reproductive justice as a human right. She’ll be joining us virtually for a conversation with UMD’s Karin Rosemblatt (History) and Ampson Hagan (Anthropology), with Erin Mosely (History) moderating. Together they’ll explore whether human rights are truly universal, especially for women and communities in the Global South.
📅 Monday, Nov. 16
🕛 Noon-1:30 p.m.
📍 McKeldin Library, Room 6137 (Special Events Room)
Register at the link in our bio. To request disability accommodations, email douglass-center@umd.edu at least one week before the event.
Follow us for more timely events and conversations from across the arts and humanities at UMD.
Weekend Wins! Here’s who in ARHU is making headlines this week.
Juliette Leeth, '27 English and Maxine Poe-Jensen, '27 English and classical languages and literatures, were named 2026-27 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholars, one of the university’s top undergraduate honors. The program also recognizes the teachers and faculty mentors who shaped them, so shoutout to Justin Lohr and Randy Ontiveros in English.
Raff Viglianti, senior research software developer at MITH, and his collaborators won the 2026 Richard Deswarte Prize in Digital History for “ApertureScience.com: A Critical Edition.” Raff also runs <desc> lab: the Digital Editing and Scholarly Communication Lab, an internship course where undergrads contribute to digital humanities research. Spring ‘27 applications for the internship course open soon, and the winning team gives a public Zoom talk Dec. 1 at 9 a.m. ET.
Faith Otchere, Ph.D. ‘25 communication, is putting her humanities training to work as an ACLS Leading Edge Fellow. She’s now the strategic communications and research director at Sojourner House, using storytelling and research to amplify survivors’ voices. Read her conversation about the fellowship at the link in our bio.
Close reading, critical editing, strong storytelling and deep curiosity turn into real-world impact.
Congrats to all!
Associate Dean Trevor Parry-Giles caught up with Ganga Dhanesh, associate professor of communication, on a walk across campus to talk about her new book on corporate social responsibility communication.
Dhanesh brings Stoic philosophy to the question of how organizations can talk about their values in a way that is honest and holds up under scrutiny. The book also includes a chapter on how companies can approach communicating about their use of artificial intelligence responsibly. It is written for students heading into public relations and corporate communications, practitioners already in the field and anyone tired of empty buzzwords.
Dhanesh was also recently accepted into the Arthur W. Page Society as an Educator member. The Page Society is the premier global professional association for senior strategic communication leaders.
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