Arts and Letters News

Applications open for first “cohort hire” in university history

Six new faculty members will join the college as a cohort and work broadly across areas of racial and social justice, minority cultures and critical race studies. 

Honoring the Histories

Through internships with the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, JMU students have forged deep connections with Harrisonburg’s Black community and history.

Defending the air

U.S. Army air defense artillery officer Amanda Del Re (’06, ’06M) is an expert on high-impact leadership.

‘¡Conectémonos!’

Language learning still translates in an online setting.

Alumni board unifies college

The Liberal Arts Alumni Board has evolved into the first college-wide alumni board in Arts and Letters history.

College welcomes new professors to JMU

Meet the eight new professors who joined the College of Arts and Letters this fall.

JMU poet is finalist for Library of Virginia Literary Award

Lauren Alleyne is one of three finalists in the poetry category for the Library of Virginia’s 23rd Annual Literary Awards.

English professor awarded fellowship at The British Library

English professor Katey Castellano was awarded a visiting fellowship at the British Library’s Eccles Centre for American Studies, where she will track the influence of the Black British writer Robert Wedderburn.

Spanish lecturer named college Faculty Diversity Liaison

Founder of the Madison Hispanic Caucus Karina Kline-Gabel will begin serving the college as the first Faculty Diversity Liaison.

English professor secures NEH grant to teach on printing and the book during the Reformation

Since arriving at JMU in 2007, English professor Mark Rankin has received over one million dollars in external research funding.

Doors open for first recipient of the Opportunity Fund

A rising freshman from Springfield, VA is the first recipient of the Arts and Letters Opportunity Fund.

Impacting the world

Beginning in 2021, two alumnae will begin teaching and conducting research abroad through the Fulbright Program.

COVID-19 in Perspective: Course covers the disease, and much more

Students enrolled in a special course are learning about COVID-19 from experts in chemistry; health; history; philosophy; and writing, rhetoric & technical communication.

'Genuine team player' receives Staff Recognition Award

Each year, the College of Arts and Letters honors one exceptional staff member with the Staff Recognition Award.

Guiding the growth

A History professor described as a “force of nature” in the classroom has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Roberts Endowment for Faculty Excellence Award.

CAL MPA Public Service Awards

Pablo Cuevas, Shannon Porter, Rebecca Joyce, and Kathrine Chiu are the recipients of this years Public Service Awards from James Madison University’s College of Arts and Letters.

Real people. Real stories. One community.

For a final course project, students produced a podcast that elevates the oral histories of immigrants living in the Shenandoah Valley.

Class of 2020 outstanding students named

Each year, departments choose exemplary students, based on a variety of criteria, for the honor of Outstanding Student of the Year.

A photo essay from an empty campus

Carrie Chang (’20) shares her first-person introspection through a before-and-after treatment of campus imagery.

More than a resume

During his senior year at JMU, Matt DeMartis ('06) launched his career in TV through an unlikely internship with the NBC Olympics.

‘Fast and Furious’

Two teams of JMU X-Labs students produced a computer application designed to assess and test decision-making among NATO officers.

Clarifying the information

Allison Capley ('16) is volunteering with the COVID-19 Ask a Scientist project to answer pressing questions about the novel coronavirus.

Rocket man

Raphael Perrino ('07, '09M) finds his technical communication background fits the rocket industry.

Making government work

Alumnus Dan Richardson ('12) will begin clerking for the United States Supreme Court for the 2020 term.

Award-winning JMU professor researches girlhoods

Professor of communication studies Sharon Mazzarella researches the way adults "talk" about young people, particularly girls.

Celebrate, Educate, Preserve

The Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation's first academic center devoted to black poetry, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.