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FACILITIES

The College of Arts and Humanities is spread across 12 buildings that offer many opportunities to enhance the vibrant creative and cultural life of the college, the university and the greater community. 

Inspirations for Creativity & Discovery

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

One of the nation's largest, most advanced university performing arts complexes, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center connects artists and community through performances, festivals, residencies and dialogues that raise questions about who we are, what we believe and how we shape the world. Each season features artists from diverse cultures around the world, as well as the creative works of students and faculty from the School of Music and the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Through all of its work, this integrated arts center invites people into the creative process to promote learning, growth, exploration and community. 

David C. Driskell Center (Cole Student Activities Building)

The David C. Driskell Center provides an intellectual home for artists and scholars to study the visual arts and culture of African Americans the African diaspora. The center, the only of its kind at an American research university, presents a variety of events including art exhibitions, symposiums, lectures and dialogues. The college's Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity is also inside the Cole Student Activities Building. Built in 1955 and originally named Cole Field House, it hosted the intercollegiate athletic events of the university from 1955 until 2002, when games began to be held at the Comcast Center. It was named in honor of the chairman of the Board of Regents Judge William Cole, Jr., 1944-1956.

Francis Scott Key Hall

Francis Scott Key Hall houses the Department of History and the College of Arts and Humanities Dean's Office staff. Named after the "Star-Spangled Banner" author, this building was built from 1932 until 1940.

H.J. Patterson

The remodeled H.J. Patterson hosts 10 cultural and language offices and is home to the college's Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies, the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, Arabic and Persian Flagship Programs, the Latin American Studies Center and the Maryland Language Science Center. It was originally built in 1934 and named in honor of Henry Holzapfel, Jr., the chairman of the Board of Regents from 1941 to 1943.

Hornbake Library

The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) is housed on the ground floor of Hornbake Library. Hornbake is home to Special Collections and University Archives, reading room, exhibition gallery, the Katherine Anne Porter Room, and study space for students. The building was originally constructed in 1972 as a separate undergraduate library and was named in 1980 for R. Lee Hornbake, the former Academic Vice President of the University of Maryland.

Jiménez Hall

Jiménez Hall houses the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and was built in 1962. It was named after Juan Ramon Jiménez, a Spanish poet, Nobel Prize winner, and a professor of Spanish literature and composition.

Marie Mount Hall

Marie Mount Hall is home to the Department of Linguistics, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Studies Program and the Department of Classics. The building was named after the Dean of the College of Home Economics, M. Marie Mount.

Tawes Hall

Formerly a performing arts venue, Tawes Hall was recently transformed into a state-of-the-art facility and home of the Department of English and the Department of American Studies, Tawes was named after the 1958-1966 governor of Maryland, J. Millard Tawes. Ulrich Recital Hall honors Homer Ulrich, former chairman of the School of Music.

Skinner Building

The Department of Communication and the Department of Philosophy are both in the Skinner Building, which was named after W.W. Skinner, chairman of the Board of Regents, who served from 1935 to 1941.

Taliaferro Hall (Pronounced Tolliver)

The Department of History is in Taliaferro Hall. It was built between 1894 and 1896, dedicated in 1908, and named in honor of Thomas Hardy Taliaferro, Dean of the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building

The Department of Art, Department of Art History and Archaeology and the Art Gallery are in the Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building. The building was renamed in 2015 for the late Congressman, civil rights leader and first African American to obtain a graduate degree from the university.

Woods Hall

The Department of Women’s Studies is housed in Woods Hall. It was named after Albert F. Woods, president of the University of Maryland from 1917 to 1926.