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American Studies

After a Life-Changing Accident, Brian Cooperman ’26 Found a New Path Through American Studies

The graduating senior focused his honors thesis on disability access and is planning for a future in advocacy law.

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College of Arts and Humanities, English

Sydney Mitchell ’26 Reflects on Her Storytelling Journey at Maryland

From reading poetry on stage to researching the region’s jazz scene, the English major explored storytelling through writing, music and research.

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The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

What Can Science Fiction Teach Us About AI?

Alexis Lothian developed the 300-level course “Artificial Intelligence Otherwise” with support from a seed grant from the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland.

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What interests you?

learning about...

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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.

Research Highlights

New Scholarship from The College of Arts and Humanities

Explore Our Research

Happening at ARHU

As tomatoes begin piling up at farmers markets and ripening in backyard gardens, Anny Gaul invites readers to look more closely at a familiar fruit. For Gaul, assistant professor of Arabic in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and author of “Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato,” the tomato offers a lens for exploring the relationship between food, place and community in modern Egypt. Though native to the Americas, by the end of the 20th century the tomato had become a staple of Egyptian cuisine—shaping kitchens and ideas of identity and belonging along the way. Published in 2025 (@uc_press), the book has earned widespread recognition. It was recently named a 2026 James Beard Media Award nominee in the Reference, History and Scholarship category. It also won Best Culinary History Book at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2025 and was shortlisted for the Nach Waxman Prize for Food & Drink Scholarship. Gaul also runs a cooking blog called “Cooking With Gaul.” In a recent conversation, Gaul talked about what tomatoes can reveal about Egypt’s culinary history, how this everyday ingredient became the center of her research and what she is cooking this summer. Read the conversation at the link in our bio.
"A radical sense of empathy has prepared me for this world." 💙 Hear from 14 of our recent graduates on the value of their education in the arts and humanities — and how they plan to give back! Congratulations, Class of 2026! 🎓 Video link in bio. Thanks to Ada, William, Brian, N'deye, Julianne, Sofia, Oscar, Tula, Billy, Elena, Rachel, Trinitee, Benno and LeeAnn for sharing their perspectives on why the arts and humanities matter. #UMDgrad #ArtsandHumanities #ExpansiveEmpathy #Classof2026 @terparthistory @wgssumd @umdenglish @umdclassics @umd_amst @umdsllc @umdcommdept @umd_tdps @terpsmusic
What an incredible week celebrating our ARHU graduates! Thank you to everyone who attended the ARHU undergraduate and graduate ceremonies and supported our remarkable students. In the words of Dean Stephanie Shonekan, we hope you “carry forward the values of this college—the college with a heart. That you cultivate empathy, embrace creativity and pursue meaningful futures. And that, in all that you do, you lead with love and yes, follow your dreams.” Congratulations, ARHU graduates! Check out the photo galleries from the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies at our link in bio. 📷: Taneen Momeni and Lisa Helfert

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