Mon Oct 12
Assistant professor Michael Muhammad Knight has recently written a new book, published by the University of North Carolina Press. Titled Muhammad’s Body: Baraka Networks and the Prophetic Assemblage, the book conceives a different understanding of the Prophet Muhammad’s body as it relates to the construction of prophetic masculinity and authority. Changing representations of the Prophet’s body…
Fri Oct 9
In honor of Come Out With Pride on October 10, Martha Brenckle writes about The LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida as they celebrate their fifteenth anniversary on the same day. The LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida serves to preserve and present the history of our community and its rich heritage. Founded in 2005 as the “GLBT History Project”…
Wed Oct 7
Established by the United Nations and first celebrated in 2012, International Day of the Girl (Oct. 11) promotes the empowerment of young girls around the world, while also advocating for the attainment of their basic human rights, like education and bodily autonomy. “Adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not…
Wed Oct 7
The killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, coupled with the Black Lives Matter protests that have swept across the world in its wake, have led many white people to question — some for the first time — their role and complicity in structural racism in the United States. Books such as Robin…
Tue Oct 6
UCF School of Visual Arts and Design faculty and alumni are exhibiting their work at the Maitland Art Center as part of the New Works: An Artist-in-Action Group Exhibition which will be on view from October 9, 2020 – January 17, 2021. The Artists-in-Action program at the Maitland Art Center grants studio space to Central Florida-based artists each year. The 2019-2021…
Wed Sep 30
You’ve heard the idea before: The higher the risk, the greater the reward. You’re familiar with those people in your personal and professional life whom you would call risk-takers, the ones who casually skydive on a Sunday afternoon and post their death-defying pictures on their social media feeds. You might also know a few people…
Tue Sep 29
Joo Kim, associate professor of studio art, has been honored with the 2020 FAEA Higher Education Art Educator of the Year Award. Kim also received the Art Educator of the Year Award in 2011 and is the only UCF faculty member to have received these awards to date. Each year, the FAEA recognizes individuals within the…
Mon Sep 28
Philosophy faculty Cyrus Zargar and Christy Flanagan-Feddon have created a new Interfaith Dialogue certificate for undergraduate students. They envision the skills and knowledge gained through this certificate program to be relevant to those interested in the liberal arts and humanities, as well as professions such as medicine, business, education, social work, and technology. The goal of the…
Mon Sep 28
Orlando’s own Flying Horse Big Band celebrates the legacy of Ray Charles. On their 7th album, The Flying Horse Big Band, joined by a host of distinguished guest artists, stands on the shoulders of genius. Ray Charles spent his formative years in Florida and went on to forge a long, successful career unique and stunning musical interpretations.…
Thu Sep 24
Black Lives Matters (BLM) has been portrayed by its detractors as many things: Marxist, radical, anti-American. Added to this growing list of charges is that it is either irreligious or doing religion wrong. In late July, for instance, conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan tweeted that BLM was “incompatible” with Christianity. He isn’t alone in that belief. Despite receiving the backing of…
Thu Sep 24
A new humanities course, Latinx Cultural Expressions, examines the relationship between Latinx identity formation, the arts, and epochs of social change and political engagement in the U.S. The course, developed by Karina Cespedes, PhD, and Stacey DiLiberto, PhD, allows students of Hispanic and Latinx descent to see themselves reflected in the curriculum and provides an additional opportunity…
Thu Sep 24
Orlando Sentinel arts writer Matthew J. Palm took a look into the ways that Orlando’s art museums and galleries have sought out greater inclusivity as their exhibits highlight justice and equality this season. With discussions around these exhibitions and their associated artists’ and curators’ perspectives, the article features the latest exhibition at the UCF Art Gallery and features artist Omari…
Wed Sep 23
Although there are more than 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, UCF associate professor Keri Watson believes the prison system remains largely invisible to the majority of Americans. She intends to change that with the first UCF Art Gallery exhibition of the 2020-21 academic year, Illuminating the Darkness: Our Carceral Landscape. The exhibition, which is available…
Wed Sep 23
UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright honored three women faculty today with the university’s Women of Distinction Award. This year, the awardees were honored via Zoom and were given $1,000 in professional development funding. Applicants were asked their impact through the innovative ways they have engaged their students. The 2020 winners are: Cheryl Briggs, School of…
Mon Sep 21
Distinguished author Martha S. Jones will be the keynote speaker at the 2020 Jerrell Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture. This year’s lecture will take place virtually on Monday, October 12 from 6pm-7:30pm and focuses on “The Right to Vote: Women and Race in the 1920 Election.“ Jones is a professor of history and the…
Fri Sep 18
Two students from the College of Arts and Humanities are working with Limbitless Solutions as interns to design, promote and produce new 3D printed prosthetic arms this year. Both students work directly with Limitless Solutions’ Art Director and School of Visual Arts and Design Associate Professor of Emerging Media, Matt Dombrowski ’05 ’08MFA on the design team. Remy Marasa is studying sculpture through…
Thu Sep 17
UCF Professor Stephen Fiore has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study how faculty from many disciplines work together in an effort to better prepare future researchers for the teamwork needed to solve some of the world’s most complicated challenges. Convergence science — or a merging of ideas, approaches and technologies from widely…
Wed Sep 16
Of the many things that I thought about during a pandemic — from fear of contracting the illness to instability as an employee to broader societal concerns — my mind kept returning to what our thoughts and actions reflected about our Culture. As T.S. Eliot states with such melancholy in his poem Ash Wednesday — “Because these wings…
Wed Sep 16
UCF History Professor Luis MartÃnez-Fernández marks his debut as a nationally syndicated columnist this week, only one of a handful of self-identified Latinos who have their syndicated work published in mainstream media outlets. There are about a dozen or so, if you include alternative press. Creators Syndicate released his first few columns late Tuesday, which…
Mon Sep 14
Rosti Vana, PhD is the newest faculty member to join Modern Languages and Literatures, as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics. As a first-generation graduate from Arizona State University, he specializes in sociolinguistics, where he studies U.S. Spanish in heritage speaker communities. Additionally, he has a strong background in heritage language education, qualitative research,…