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Rhyme & Reason

Making Sense of the World Through the Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland

Rhyme & Reason

The Rhyme & Reason podcast features provocative and timely discussions with some of the most compelling leaders in the arts and humanities at UMD. In this inaugural season, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan interviews faculty guests who are taking on pressing issues and topics related to race, equity and justice. You’ll hear from scholars studying diverse topics including indigenous feminist philosophy; race and immigration; Asian American, Latinx and Afro-diasporic cultures; the history of antisemitism; and more!

Episode 6: Understanding Political Rhetoric through an International Lens with Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour

Rhyme and Reason Podcast Fordjour

In Episode 6, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, assistant professor in ARHU’s Department of Communication who is a scholar of international political communication. They discuss his path from Ghana to the University of Maryland, the role social media plays in contemporary politics and the political landscape in Africa, including how political leaders construct their public image during governance, elections and crises.

Episode 5: Excavating the Modern History of the Middle East with Peter Wien

Rhyme and Reason Podcast Wien

In Episode 5, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Peter Wien, a Professor in ARHU’s Department of History. They discuss Wien’s scholarship, beginning at the University of Bonn Germany, on the history of the Modern Middle East and Arab Nationalism and what context this knowledge provides for the current rise in Islamophobia and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Episode 4: Discussing the History of Nazism and Antisemitism with Jeffrey Herf

Rhyme and Reason Podcast Herf

In Episode 4, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Jeffrey Herf, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus from ARHU’s Department of History. They discuss Herf’s path to becoming a leading scholar on modern Germany, the history of antisemitism in pre-modern and modern history and the creation of Israel as a Jewish state forged in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust, and what people should understand about that history to have a context for the current rise in antisemitism and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Episode 3: Advancing Immigrant Rights and Urban Equity with Nancy Mirabal

Nancy Mirabal, a gray haired, Latina wearing glasses stands next to Stephanie Shonekan, a Black woman with dreadlocks

ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Nancy Mirabal, associate professor of American studies, who directs the Latino/a Studies program. Their conversation centers on the Chicano and Latinx communities in the United States and Mirabal’s role as the director of the Community Fellows Program for the Urban Equity Collaborative, a project funded by the UMD Grand Challenges initiative that engages community organizers as partners to respond to and develop solutions to urban displacement and dispossession.

Episode 2: Exploring Global Migration, Food and Ethnic Identity with Madeline Hsu

Madeline Y. Hsu and Stephanie Shonekan

ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Madeline HsuCenter for Global Migration Studies Director and professor of history, in a conversation about the historical and contemporary causes of migration, challenges facing immigrants to the U.S. today and a new project focused on the rich culinary histories of the ethnic and immigrant communities in the D.C. metro region. Before joining the faculty at UMD, Hsu was at UT Austin where she led the development of the Teach Immigration History website, a curriculum guide for teaching about immigration laws and their implications for different groups throughout history.

Episode 1: Talking Indigenous Futures with Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner

Talking Indigenous Futures with Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner

ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, a proud first-generation descendant of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, who is of both Luiseño (Payómkawichum) and Cupeño (Kupangaxwichem) descent. Shelbi is an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at University of Maryland, College Park. The discussion centers on indigenous identity and language, as well as Shelbi’s vision for the Indigenous Futures Lab that she established to serve as a hub of indigenous feminist research and evaluation.

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Starting this Sunday, Kai Dambach ’13 will compete in the 25th World Transplant Games, a weeklong event featuring 2,500 organ transplant recipients and donors competing in 17 sports, in Dresden, Germany. With the goal of raising awareness of lifesaving transplantation, Dambach, who’s had three kidney transplants, will take the field and court for his fourth Games in basketball, squash, shot put, discus, ball throw and pétanque, a bocce-like game. Dambach, who studied broadcast journalism and Germanic studies, said, “Every single one of those people who’s competing out there, they’re not supposed to be alive today…The miracles of modern medicine are just profound, and we’re living proof of that. It’s a beautiful thing that we all come together, and we can share in the gift of life.” To cheer Dambach on, visit @2025worldtransplantgames and read the full Maryland Today story at the link in our bio.
Two English majors spent three weeks in Rome and Bologna on @umdeducationabroad’s “Food Writing in Italy” course taught by Principal Lecturers Peter Grybauskas and Catherine Bayly. Grace Marshall ’26 and John Parmach ’26 share their experiences being immersed in Italian food and culture while fulfilling their professional writing requirement: “Everywhere in Italy has such quality ingredients. Every red sauce paired with Italian pasta is so simple and delicious. In Rome, though, I took to one without it: spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino (garlic, olive oil, and chili peppers). Derived from cucina povera, or poor cooking, this dish can be made quickly with pantry staples and is considered ‘the Italian midnight snack.’ It is incredible that each dish served in Italy is held to a standard. For example, heavy cream doesn't really exist (pasta water combined with cheese does the trick for that creaminess), and there are no preservatives in food or sulfates in wine. I will find myself missing the Italian diet forever. Buon Appetito!” - Grace “Unsurprisingly, the best dish I had in Bologna was lasagna bolognese. The sauce was flavorful but not overwhelming, and the pasta that made up the lasagna was just incredible. The ingredients everywhere in Italy are so fresh and well-sourced that the simple foods like pasta become highlights of each dish they’re in. However, learning more about Italian cuisine may also result in some heartbreak (it certainly did for me) when you realize that certain ‘Italian’ staples like chicken parmesan and fettuccine alfredo don’t actually exist in Italy. Our final assignments included reviewing a restaurant of our choice in Rome, and writing a recipe to learn more about Italian culture.” - John
Ten years ago, a new musical changed Broadway forever. In honor of the anniversary of Hamilton's debut, we're revisiting this article about UMD history professor Richard Bell, an expert in the American Revolution, who shares what the musical gets right—and wrong—about our founding fathers. Link in profile! #Hamilten #UMD #History #HamiltonMusical #LinManuelMiranda