It’s December 14.

The New Year is 17 days away.

Here’s what else is in focus.

Focal point: A new Department of Black Studies

If you didn’t attend Meliora Weekend earlier this fall, you missed President Sarah Mangelsdorf making this announcement:

“Today, the University of Rochester joins the community of institutions that embrace Black life, Black culture, and Black issues as very serious subjects of academic study. This is an important and necessary step as we work toward being a global research university of the future.”

This marked the formal beginning of the Department of Black Studies in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at Rochester, which will work in close collaboration with the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies.

One of the main reasons to be excited by the news is that the department will be able to hire faculty dedicated to carrying out its mission and focusing on the study and research of issues central to the Frederick Douglass Institute. Before, faculty working with the institute had primary appointments in other departments.

Check out what University leaders had to say about it. Black studies at Rochester

Zooming in

Giving you a closer look at some news that might be of interest.

On gospel music. Is it losing its Black roots? That straightforward question resides at the center of research being conducted by musicologist Cory Hunter ʼ06E. Hunter, an assistant professor of musicology at the Eastman School of Music and music in the Arthur Satz Department of Music, argues that contemporary gospel was rooted in the existential concerns of the African American community. At one time, gospel singers used their songs to deliver social critiques or inspire activism, but Hunter has found that has been replaced by a “theology of racial oneness,” which seeks to set aside racial associations to focus on faith. “White message, Black sound”

On bird feathers. You’ve no doubt heard “Birds of a feather flock together.” And you’ve no doubt seen evidence of that in the wild. But it gets really specific—at least for tanagers. Maria Castaño, a third-year PhD student in the lab of Al Uy, a professor of biology, is collecting and analyzing DNA sequences on two subspecies of tanagers with different colored feathers on their rump areas. Those that have yellow rump feathers live in Colombia’s lowlands, while those with red rump feathers live in the mountains. And that’s just the beginning. The tanager is the word

News Flash

It’s common for our faculty members to have their perspectives or work published in national media. Here are a couple of examples:

“Stagflation is just what the economy needs” by Narayana Kochelakota, the Lionel W. McKenzie Professor of Economics (Washington Post)

“How long until all life on Earth dies?” by Adam Frank, the Helen F. & Fred H. Gowen Professor of Physics and Astronomy (Big Think)

In the Spotlight

Our faculty members are regularly recognized for their professional contributions to research, scholarship, education, and community engagement. We’re recognizing that recognition here.

Nadine Grimm, an assistant professor of linguistics, received the 2023 Bloomfield Book Award from the Linguistic Society of America.

Aaron Hughes, the Philip S. Bernstein Chair of Jewish Studies and the Deans Professor of the Humanities, was awarded the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in North American Studies at Carleton University.

Rose Kennedy, an assistant professor of chemistry, was named a 2022 Packard Fellow by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Find more information on these faculty members’ achievements. We also need to acknowledge…

Matt BaileyShea, a professor of music, won the Society of Music Theory’s 2022 Wallace Berry Award for his book Lines and Lyrics: An Introduction to Poetry and Song.

Get the details on this recognition.

Quick View

Here’s a glance at some other noteworthy School of Arts & Sciences stories you might have missed.

War. A new book from Bette London, a professor of English, explores the evolution and resonance of World War I remembrance rituals.

China. Rochester expert John Osburg says the reappointment of Xi Jinping will make China’s future more unpredictable than usual.

Data. Ajay Anand, deputy director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science, developed a capstone course offering hands-on experiences with real data.

Politics. Josh Shapiro ʼ95 was a political science major while at Rochester and now he’s Pennsylvania’s newly elected governor.

A Final Note

Happy holidays to you and yours! See you in 2023!