| March 14, 2024
Arts & Sciences News
PhD Student Kate Brock given travel award to present at the Society for Historical Archaeology conference, attends conference in Ireland to share research on linen manufacturing and folklore.
More than 155 graduate and undergraduate Honors students from William & Mary and several regional universities will present their groundbreaking research at the second annual Graduate & Honors Research Symposium in Sadler Center March 20-22.
Cord Jefferson '04, an Emmy-winning writer, has been nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay for his debut film "American Fiction" at the 2024 Oscars.
Browse the fall 2024 courses in Classical Studies!
More than 80 undergraduates have applied for Charles Center Honors Fellowships for summer ’24, marking surging interest in a program that provides up to $4,000 to rising seniors to conduct ten full-time weeks of research.
In a remarkable display of skill and determination, William & Mary Computer Science teams showcased their prowess at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest this past Saturday. The teams returned with an impressive array of medals, reflecting their exceptional performance.
Suzanne Raitt, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, announced that Tarikul Islam will serve as Senior Associate Dean for Finance and Administration
In a recent panel discussion, we had the privilege of hearing firsthand accounts from our accomplished Public Policy students who completed policy internships in Summer 2023 with financial support from William & Mary Public Policy and the Schroeder Center for Health Policy.
In the Fall 2023 semester, several Government Department students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Honor Alpha Society. The Alpha Chapter of Virginia was founded in 1776 and is the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society. Please congratulate the following students: Dylan Abrokwa-Jassor, Caleb Fulford, Mujia (Ariana) He, Sa’nia Heckstall, Andrew Hoffman, Johanna Pellegrino, Daniel Posthumus, Aaron Tavel, Alison Trahan, Cecilia Weaver, Amy Weitzman, and Jonathan Wilkins These students should be commended for their outstanding academic achievements and unique contributions to their community.
Graham Callaway & Audrey Horning work with community group in Mecklenburg County to preserve and develop historic 1880s log cabin site with ties to the early years of emancipation in the area.
Caroline Hanley, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, has been honored with the Mansfield Associate Professor of Sociology, a named professorship recognizing her for two years.
In the Fall 2023 semester, three International Relations students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Honor Alpha Society. The Alpha Chapter of Virginia was founded in 1776 and is the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society. The International Relations Program recognizes Aleksandr Kuzmenchuk, Alex Park, Alyson Reynolds, and Sarah Wozniak. These students are to be commended for their outstanding academic achievements and unique contributions to their community.
This is the highest recognition given by by the ACM for pre-tenure faculty in the field of software engineering.
Seven undergraduate artists presented their work Feb. 22 in a sweeping Andrews Gallery exhibition that bridged disciplines and spanned media.
Nearly 40 students, faculty, and community members attended “The Climate Generation: Born into crisis, building solutions,” a public talk by journalists Stephanie Hanes and Sara Miller Llana, who shared insights gathered from a year’s worth of reporting in eight countries.
Congratulations to John Donahue, who has published a new edited volume, Brill’s Companion to Diet and Logistics in Greek and Roman Warfare.
As part of William & Mary’s commitment to promote the arts and their role in the educational experience, the university has hired its inaugural executive director of the arts.
Dr. Jen Mellor was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named 52 Distinguished Members for significant contributions in 2023 and Denys Poshyvanyk is one of them.
Cheapest Car Insurance in Virginia
Suzanne Raitt, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, announced Friday that Trey Mayo will serve as the next Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies.
History Graduate Student Timothy Case is awarded the William F. Holmes Award
The first annual Eastern Atlantic Students in Software Engineering Colloquium (ESSEC) will be hosted at William & Mary on January 20, 2024.
Willam & Mary Cyber teams from the Computer Science Department were recognized for their prestigious efforts during the National Cyber League (NCL) Fall 2023 competition season by earning a spot in the top 100 colleges in the nation.
Former W&M Student Assembly President and newly hired WMSURE Program Coordinator Anthony “AJ” Joseph ’21 is paying it forward, helping to grow the program that gave him so much during his time at William & Mary.
New articles focus on retracing lost proveniences and the motives behind the removal of famous bronze heads from Nigeria in the early 20th century.
What's Your &? Since our founding, the spirit of the ampersand has been a part of William & Mary. For us, it is more than just a symbol, it is who we are. We’ve highlighted some amazing stories of how students showcase the ands in their lives. Their involvements, passions, and accomplishments show how William & Mary students are getting career ready and learning new things every day.
Suzanne Raitt, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, announced Wednesday that Richard “Rich” Lowry will serve as the next Vice-Dean of Arts, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies, one of four discipline-specific Vice-Dean positions in the Arts & Sciences Dean’s office.
On November 15th, Professor Laura McTighe delivered the second lecture in the two-part “Race & Religion” Speaker Series. Dr. McTighe, an Assistant Professor at Florida State University, brings over two decades of experience in partnering with grassroots communities. Her community-engaged scholarship focuses on utilizing religion to build more survivable worlds outside traditional institutions.
A passion for community-centered research among incoming William & Mary students helped triple this year’s enrollment in the Sharpe Community Scholars program, an innovative undergraduate living-learning community centered on engagement, social justice, and collaborative research.
On November 1st, 2023, Dr. Abdulbasit Kassim delivered the first lecture in the two-part Race & Religion Speaker Series co-sponsored by the Religious Studies Department and Program in Africana Studies. Dr. Kassim is an interdisciplinary historian engaged with the histories and cultures of Muslim societies in West Africa and the African Diaspora. His lecture examined the persistence of proslavery thought through juridical and religious corpuses.
On October 17, 2023, Dr. Bharat Ranganathan delivered the annual Hans Tiefel Lecture on Religion and Ethics. Dr. Ranganathan is the Rabbi Sidney and Jane Brooks Assistant Professor of Social Justice and Religion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In his lecture, Dr. Ranganathan identified some of the moral, political, and religious dimensions of severe poverty and presented various ways to respond to poverty.
Madeleine Harris, a senior at William & Mary, wrote this piece as part of the NASW Perlman Virtual Mentoring Program with help from Eli Kintisch, a contributor to Science magazine. She is a Neuroscience major with a minor in Biochemistry, and a member of the Flat Hat.
The Department of Classical Studies presented our annual Lee Lecture with guest speaker, Dr. Rebecca Benefiel of Washington & Lee University.
Tack Faculty Lecture presented by Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, discussing recent findings surrounding William and Mary's Brafferton Indian School
The McGlennon Scholars are a small group of hand-picked students who are each pursuing an individual research project with funds provided by a generous, anonymous donor. Keep reading to learn about the scholars and their research endeavors.
The Public Policy Program encourages its undergraduate and graduate students to pursue learning opportunities outside the classroom.
Caroline Leibowitz ’24 and Isabel Pereira-Lopez ’24 wish to understand the unexplainable, to travel down the roads that make the rest of us shudder with fright. They are currently working on separate research projects focused on the historical past and present of witchcraft.
Department of Classical Studies Celebrates Another Successful Homecoming.
Thanks to the generosity of adjunct professor of business law James Boswell ’86 and husband Chris Caracci, students with a passion for material culture have an unprecedented opportunity to connect with distinguished practitioners and other emerging scholars through two of the nation’s leading decorative arts institutions.
Irina Novikova, Professor of physics, has been selected as a fellow of the American Physical Society, it was announced on Thursday, October 19, 2023
Dire predictions about the future of American journalism are common these days, but not so much at William & Mary, as student interest in the field flourishes amid a renaissance of Charles Center programs aimed to foster and inspire the next generation of reporters.
A joint W&M and CNU Conference, October 26-28
Professor Denys Poshyvanyk has been appointed as a Guest Editor-in-Chief of the AI-SE Continuous Special Section at the ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM)
Over the past few weeks, first-year MPP students took to McGlothlin Courtroom to argue and judge four upcoming Supreme Court cases as part of the required Law and Policy class.
Congratulations to Georgia Irby who has won the very prestigious Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship.
The winter faculty-led study abroad program in Heidelberg, Germany, first conducted in January 2023 and led by Tyler Meldrum, shows study abroad can be an effective applied learning experience for any student, but especially students in STEM fields, and can help clarify life and career goals, as well as provide personal and professional growth and opportunities.
The Department of Classical Studies and the Archaeological Institute of America hosted Kathryn Grossman for her talk, “Human-Animal-Divine Relationships in Cyprus: A Social Zooarchaeology of Sacrifice.”
On October 2nd, the Schroeder Center for Health Policy hosted with W&M Economics the second of three panels, "Strengthening the Current and Future Nursing Workforce," to continue celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Few topics prompt more intense debate these days than gun policy. For that reason the Public Policy Program was pleased to recently welcome Prof. Robert Spitzer, a national and international expert on the subject, to help make sense of the current policy landscape and tensions between gun rights advocates and people favoring stronger gun control.
Marking the commencement of the new academic year, the International Fellows, under the supervision of Blanca Tyler, organized the much-anticipated International Desserts Night. Hailing from Argentina, Germany, France, Morocco, China, Russia, Japan, and Italy, the fellows not only animate the Language Houses throughout the year, but they also transformed the Landrum Hall with vibrant colors, tantalizing aromas, and diverse flavors representing cultures from across the globe.
The Charles Center's City Research Scholars Internship offers undergraduate students hands-on research opportunities with local nonprofits and the City of Williamsburg.
The Religious Studies department is honored to present Dr. Andrew Tobolowsky, associate professor of religious studies at William & Mary, who has been awarded the Robert & Sarah Boyd Distinguished Associate Professorship for 2023-2026.
On September 18th, the Schroeder Center for Health Policy hosted with W&M Public Policy the first of three panels, “Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortages in Virginia,” to celebrate its 20th anniversary at the Alumni House.
This year, Religious Studies Faculty were awarded several prestigious research fellowships and grants. The wide array of projects and accolades attest to the inherent interdisciplinary nature and continued necessity of Religious Studies and the Humanities in academia.
This year, we were proud to award four W&M undergraduates Summer 2023 fellowships for internships with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office in Portsmouth; on Capitol Hill; and in Paris, France with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Below are some reflections on their experience.
Come to our second Symposium on Graduate studies on November 4, 2023. Learn everything you wanted to know about our top-notch MS and MS/PhD degrees, CS research at W&M, and CS career pathways for non-CS majors through our new MS bridge program!
Dr. Najee Olya has joined the faculty as an assistant professor.
200+ students revealed their summer research results at the 2023 Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, Sept. 22.
Students in introductory biology (BIOL 203), along with Biology faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate student teaching assistants, enjoyed frozen treats on September 14, 2023, while getting to know each other.
The Public Policy Program is so proud of Marley Fishburn, an undergraduate Public Policy major and also a Master's in Public Policy candidate in our accelerated degree track, for her work on student voting.
The research of 200+ William & Mary undergraduates, representing the work of 45 different majors in the arts & humanities, social sciences, and STEM-related disciplines, will be on display this Friday, Sept. 22 at the 2023 Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium in Swem Library’s Read and Relax room.
As orientation week kicked off for the Master’s in Public Policy program in August, the program and its associated departments welcomed eighteen new MPP candidates.
Thanks to the vision and generosity of Dr. Carol Woody '71 and Robert Woody, William & Mary has been preparing undergraduates for careers in museums since the path-breaking Charles Center summer internship program launched in 2015.
Each year the Department of Historic Resources produces an archaeology month poster, often in collaboration with other organizations or museums. This year, they have partnered with Dr. Martin Gallivan from the College of William & Mary and Dr. Jessica Jenkins from Flagler College to highlight their joint research initiative on archaeological oyster deposits that will help understand past human-environmental relationships and guide current and future conservation efforts.
Ph.D. student Caroline Watson discusses her important summer work with the National Park Service relating to climate impacts on archaeological sites in the Caribbean, and how it ties into her doctoral research on the impacts of hurricanes and other natural disasters on the people and landscape of Puerto Rico.
We are excited to announce five new faculty members joining our department, including Matthew Chapman, Ye “Ashley” Gao, Sidi Lu, Yanfu Zhang, Yixuan “Janice” Zhang.
Welcome, class of 2027! We are so excited that you chose to spend the next few years with us at William & Mary.
Jordan Landrum '22 and Christina Sabochick '22, former W&M Center for Geospatial Analysis (CGA) Fellows, have been awarded the Dr. Marilyn O’Hara Ruiz Young Professional Scholarships among a national pool of candidates.
Physics researchers at William & Mary are part of an international team that is gaining worldwide attention for their work with a new superconductive material.
Shantá D. Hinton, McLeod Tyler Professor and Associate Chair of Biology, and member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Public Affairs Advisory Committee, participated in a Congressional Life Sciences Fair on Capitol Hill.
Congratulations to our National Endowment for the Humanities and American Historical Association Berkshire Conference Student Affiliate Fellows for their participation at the most recent Berkshire Conference (28 June to 2 July).
Meg Schwenzfeier, Class of 2014, was recently appointed as Chief Analytics Officer for Biden's presidential campaign. She previously served as the Data and Analytics Director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Read about her new position in the attached Washington Post article.
Recent William & Mary Anthropology alumni Carol Oordt and Mary Lawrence Young sat down with Tomos Evans to discuss their current work in Cultural Resource Management in Hawai'i, how their One-Year MA degrees at William & Mary prepared them for this, and what advice they have for current or prospective students interesting in taking on careers in CRM.
Ph.D. student Maia Wilson sits down with Tomos Evans to discuss her recent work with the National Park Service, and an incredible discovery that she made that may link her family to the site where she’s been (coincidentally) working for her graduate externship under NPS.
The large hawks have become a familiar sight to waterfront homeowners who like to keep track of nests near their property, said Bryan Watts, director of William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology. But Watts and his colleagues have increasingly heard from residents worried about the birds’ fate after seeing fewer of them. The biology center’s new research confirms those concerns. They found that osprey in the lower Chesapeake Bay are failing to successfully reproduce. It’s the lowest number of osprey chicks that officials have seen since the information started being recorded in the 1970s.
Senior Lecturer Beverly Sher teaches 100th section of emerging diseases class
W&M Public Policy Director Shares Insights about the Program’s Past, Present, and Future
Dr. Buffington's STLI Research Tutorial for Anthropology Student Participation June 11-August 11, 2023.
The W&M Public Policy Program was a proud co-sponsor of this year’s NATO Youth Summit, jointly organized by William & Mary and NATO.
For the second year in a row, Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) students in the 1st year cohort distinguished themselves with an outstanding performance in their policy case competition.
Recent William & Mary Anthropology graduate Dr. Olanrewaju Lasisi discusses his background in archaeology, his research in Nigeria, and his future career at the University of Virginia and the Ohio State University with Tomos Evans.
William & Mary faculty, graduate student, and alumni participation and leadership in several organized sessions and talks at SAfA underscores the university's increasing global importance in the study of African archaeology.
Ph.D. Candidate Madeleine Gunter-Bassett wins the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Student Poster Award.
The Government Department recently learned of the death of our former colleague, David Dessler, in April 2023 in Bryan, Texas. He was an extremely kind, generous, and charming person who always went out of his way to welcome new faculty members to the department and college.
It was a beautiful day in May for the 2023 W&M Public Policy Program diploma ceremony. This was quite a switch from last year when record high temperatures forced the event indoors.
2023 Biology Graduation and Award Recipients
This semester the Department of Religious Studies was honored to have one of its faculty, Dr. Mark McLaughlin, featured on the Wellness Center's podcast "Ways to Flourish". Dr. McLaughlin discussed his research on sacred space in the Vedic traditions and his experience in yogic pratice, as well as the genesis of his course Meditation and Wellness.
Spanning the decades, five computer science alumni celebrate their time at W&M
Last semester, a senior seminar class had the unique opportunity to learn from Professor Stiefel, the Director for Biodefense on the National Security Council. The course was entitled "Politics of Global Health," and after accumulating knowledge over the semester, students traveled to DC for their final, which was a tabletop simulation modeled on the work of the NSC.
William & Mary's longstanding Graduate Research Symposium returned to Sadler Center this year with a new collaborative twist, showcasing undergraduate Honors projects alongside the work of graduate students.
Gayle Murchison, Associate Professor of Music, has been awarded a British Academy Visiting Professor fellowship for fall 2023.
Doctoral Candidate Chardé Reid, recently awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to complete her doctoral research, sits down with friend and colleague Tomos Evans to discuss her journey as an archaeologist, doctoral researcher, and transforming approaches to American history via community-based archaeology.
The Alpha of Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa held their annual John D. Rockefeller Jr. Faculty Awards on March 8, 2023. This year, the Government Department received two awards for excellence.
CRA’s Education Committee (CRA-E) has recently selected its 2023 CRA-E Graduate Fellow – Alejandro Velasco Dimate, from William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The W&M Public Policy Program is so proud to announce that Prof. Alan Kennedy has been selected by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to receive the 2023 Public Integrity Award.
Anthropology Ph.D. candidate Olanrewaju Lasisi recently won the Graduate Studies Advisory Board Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Over winter break, 14 students and two Biology faculty explored human-wildlife conflicts in the Anthropocene on a six-day camping trip at 10 sites throughout Florida.
Award-winning author Colum McCann and story exchange organization, Narrative 4, brought the power of storytelling to William & Mary for two days in February
More than 300 undergraduate William & Mary students were awarded 2022 Summer Research Grants from the Charles Center for Academic Excellence. It's not too early to start planning for next summer!
How Can the Digital Economy Benefit Everyone?
Announcing the winners of the 2nd annual departmental Fall Festival/Halloween Door Decorating Contest!
Anthropology Graduate Student Graham Callaway Publishes an Article on 'The Archaeology of Living Things'.
Caroline Donovan '23 spent the summer unearthing Colonial Williamsburg's hidden history.
Christian Bale, a Public Policy alum (BA and MPP) and a new member of the program's Board of Advisors, recently co-authored an article in the NYU Law Review Forum that examines how media censorship by public officials prevents citizens from engaging with their government and exercising their First Amendment rights.
Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor and William & Mary alumnus Russell E. Travers (’78) returned to campus on October 26-27 to meet with students and faculty.
Mark Greer writes in Minding the Campus.
With the mid-terms just around the corner, we asked Professor John McGlennon to evaluate the important races and issues that define the upcoming election cycle.
Through a summer research grant, Jack Boyd '23 identified 75 potential sites for inclusion in a new African American Heritage Trail in Williamsburg.
Each week W&M Public Policy profiles two new MPP students. This week we are pleased to welcome Rosemary Ketron and Malcolm Baytop to the program.
We are pleased to congratulate two of our colleagues for their recent promotions!
Threewalls in Chicago, Illinois, fosters contemporary art practices that respond to lived experiences, encouraging connections beyond art.
Welcome Dr. Valdes!
Are Ivy League and other “name-brand” schools worth the high sticker price?
Ideas welcome.
What do President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush have in common with this year’s Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) students at William & Mary?
The English-language term emotions, as it is used today, is only about one hundred and fifty years old. Before it came into use, English speakers used words like passions, humors, affections, or sentiments, none of which exactly capture the meaning of emotions as we conceive of the word today.
Dr. Deborah Lee-Ferrand is now a Lecturer in French & Francophone Studies
New Charles Center Research Ambassadors are on a mission: to make research more accessible and to help more students get involved.
Each week W&M Public Policy profiles two new MPP students. This week we are pleased to welcome Aarushi Desai and Matthew Nwaneri to the program.
Our faculty are constantly engaging in new research, pushing the boundaries of knowledge on issues of pressing importance to the contemporary world.
Professor Howard spoke with “No Jargon: Scholar Strategies Network” about the safety net provided by the U. S. government and other organizations to help bring relief to the millions of Americans who are poor, food insecure, housing cost-burdened, or medically uninsured. How comprehensive is this social safety net? What strategies exist to improve its effectiveness?
After serving as an Associate Editor from 2014 to 2018, Professor Gang Zhou has just been promoted to Area Editor for "Area 1: Sensors and Devices for IoT" in the IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IoT-J).
Join us on October 22, 2022 to learn about our graduate programs leading to exciting tech careers.
W&M Biology Alumnus Dr. Joseph J. Torres, Professor Emeritus at the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, recently published a text/reference book.
Much research shows that climate change is an existential threat to the planet. So what do we do about it?
Professor Fiona Shen-Bayh’s new book "Undue Process: Persecution and Punishment in Autocratic Courts" examines political justice and judicial repression in Africa, specifically focusing on how autocrats weaponize the judiciary to stay in control.
As part of the Public Policy Program’s partnership with the US Army War College, the program is pleased to welcome COL William “Will” Martin this year.
Cody Taylor has been published in the Duke Equilibria
Hermine Pinson of Africana Studies remembers Sidney Poitier the Bahamian-American actor, film director, and diplomat.