HFA Dean's Newsletter, October 2026
Dear HFA Community,
October offers many opportunities to connect across HFA and to see our scholarship, teaching, and creative work in conversation with the world around us. From new faculty books and performances to discussions about artificial intelligence, food, and democracy, this month’s activities reflect the breadth of inquiry in our college.
Homecoming also invites us to reconnect with alumni and help students imagine the possibilities ahead. I hope you will join in the Alumni Mix & Mingle on October 8. Our Humanities at Work programs in Boston and Washington, D.C. , offer additional opportunities for students to connect their education with professional experience.
As several college funding and award deadlines approach, I encourage you to apply, nominate colleagues and students, and help us recognize the work taking place throughout HFA.
Thank you for the care, curiosity, and commitment you bring to our community. I look forward to the conversations this month will bring.
Be well,
Maria del Guadalupe (Lupe) Davidson
Dean, College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Updates and Initiatives
Funding and Awards: October Deadlines
A reminder to explore HFA’s expanded funding and recognition opportunities:
- October 30: Nominations for the HFA Dean’s Fellowship Program, Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award, Global Engagement Award, Joye Bowman Social Justice Award, Outstanding Staff Award, and Outstanding Graduate Student Award.
Additional support for research and creative work is available throughout the year. Please review eligibility requirements and share relevant opportunities with colleagues and graduate students.
Explore All Opportunities, Deadlines, and Eligibility Requirements
Peace Tables: Food, Culture, Community, Climate
The HFA Peace Tables event series brings people from our community together through shared meals and conversations about the role of food in facilitating cross-cultural dialogue and reciprocal understanding. The series begins October 15 with Malcolm Sen exploring rice, food insecurity, and sustainability over a shared meal prepared and presented by UMass Dining Chef Anthony Jung.
The series continues November 4 with Aviva Ben-Ur and Nahla Khalil discussing “Shared Foods and Culinary Traditions of the Middle East” and concludes November 19 with Darra Goldstein’s capstone lecture, “Food as a Catalyst for Tolerance and Peace.
AI in HFA: Creating Space for Critical Engagement
As a Chancellor’s Leadership Fellow in the HFA Dean’s Office, Julia Feldhaus is developing programming that invites faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates into critical conversation about artificial intelligence and its implications for teaching and learning.
The work begins with weekly Assessment Clinics, Thursdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in South College, Room W471. Faculty and graduate students are welcome to drop in with assignments they are rethinking, classroom challenges related to AI, or broader questions about teaching.
Later in the year, faculty will have the opportunity to share how they use AI in their teaching, research, and administrative work, and how they lead critical conversations with students about why not to rely on AI. A panel of undergraduate students is also planned, where students will share how they use AI for meaningful learning and how they see it potentially hindering or harming their learning. The project will also work on clearer messaging about the values and lasting humanistic skills that HFA gives its students. AI poses real challenges to our disciplines, but it also creates an opening to show, clearly and strategically, what the humanities and fine arts have to offer right now.
Julia welcomes your ideas and questions at jfeldhaus [at] umass [dot] edu (subject: ) (jfeldhaus[at]umass[dot]edu).
Humanities at Work
LEAD Program: Boston, Spring 2027
Please encourage students to explore these opportunities to connect their HFA education with professional experience.
Students interested in the arts, culture, and creative industries can spend spring 2027 living at UMass Amherst's Charles River Campus in Newton while completing a 6–9 credit internship with a museum, cultural institution, or creative organization in Greater Boston.
Applications are due October 10 for priority consideration, with rolling review through October 31. Applying early increases the chances of placement in a preferred internship.
Questions? Contact program director Gülru Çakmak at gcakmak [at] umass [dot] edu.
HFA in Washington, D.C.: Fall 2027
A joint initiative with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences expands the SBS in DC program to HFA students. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, the semester-long experience combines an internship with academic coursework, professional development, alumni mentorship, and career-readiness programming.
Participants earn 15 UMass residential credits and live at The Washington Center. HFA will provide a stipend for participating HFA students.
Applications for fall 2027 are open through October 12, 2026. Please share this opportunity with interested students. Contact Philippe Baillargeon at baillargeon [at] llc [dot] umass [dot] edu for more information or to arrange a class visit.
News and Recognition
Anthony Tuck Named Inaugural Caroline H. Horvitz Professor
Anthony Tuck has been appointed the inaugural Caroline H. Horvitz Professor in Mediterranean Archaeology. A $1.5 million gift from Jeffrey Horvitz established the professorship in memory of his daughter Caroline, a former lecturer in the Department of Classics. The appointment honors her legacy and supports scholarship and mentorship in a field she loved.
Feinberg Series Explores Oligarchy and Resistance
The 2026–27 Feinberg Series, "Escape from Oligarchy: The History and Future of Rule by the Rich," brings scholars, students, and community members together to explore the historical roots of concentrated power and movements for equity and democracy.
Gilles Vonsattel Takes on All 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas
Professor of Piano Gilles Vonsattel is performing all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas in a multiyear series spanning venues in New York and California. He will also bring the music to campus through free concerts at Bezanson Recital Hall, including performances October 22 and 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Four New Books Showcase HFA Historical Scholarship
New books by Brian Bunk, Heidi V. Scott, Samuel J. Redman, and Sigrid Schmalzer explore soccer, Andean mining and mapmaking, Native American peace medals, and knowledge production during China's Great Leap Forward. Schmalzer co-edited her volume with Christine Ho of the Department of History of Art and Architecture, with contributions from UMass doctoral students.
Art and Myth Meet in Medusa's Bestiary
Artist in Residence Lauren Levato Coyne draws on mythology and early natural history to imagine an ecosystem emerging from Medusa's body in a new exhibition at the Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies.
Alumni Spotlight
Telling Stories That Matter
English alumna Elizabeth Román '06, executive editor of news at NEPM, amplifies the stories of communities of color across western Massachusetts and mentors the next generation of journalists
Events
For more upcoming events, visit the UMass Events Calendar.