Dear Fellow Artists, Humanists, Colleagues, and Friends,
All of us in the College of Arts and Humanities hope that you and yours are doing well!
At this moment in time, there is no doubt that the arts and humanities allow us to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world. Our faculty and students have continued this spring semester to grapple with the question of what it means to be human in their mostly virtual classes. As this newsletter attests, our College’s students and alumni are pursuing their dreams in a wide variety of fields and giving back to the community through their creativity and empathy for others. In addition, our College is enjoying new prominence through the celebration of the 25th anniversary of our M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing and the appointment of Dr. Veena Howard to our new Endowed Chair in Jain and Hindu Dharma.
Our alumni and friends have also been vital to the success of our students and programs, as it is through your support that we are inspired to create art and envision a peaceful, prosperous, and just society guided by humanistic values. The Arts and Humanities Advisory Board members deserve special thanks for guiding our College through this challenging year and for supporting our first ever Arts in Motion Showcase Week, culminating in Arts in Motion, through which we celebrated scholarships awardees, departmental Students of Distinction, and the two Dean’s Medalists: Caleb Charles, an undergraduate in Philosophy, and Harrison Martin, who will be earning his M.A. in English. All of these students have thrived thanks to our donors’ generous support.
Imagine, as former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera writes, how wonderful it will be when we all can “gather in a flourishing way” again on campus. Until then, please join us in celebrating the College’s creative gifts by supporting our disciplines. We hope you enjoy this issue of the College of Arts and Humanities newsletter!
Sincerely,
Dean Honora Chapman
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 