Most of us see oceans as in-between spaces, separating continents, people and cultures. Magali Compan, Professor of French & Francophone Studies, sees oceans differently, as places filled with humanity. Most of all, she is interested in what oceans can tell us about the hidden dynamics of colonialism and their lasting impacts.
Charles Center summer 2024 interns are trailblazers, not only for being the largest cohort to date, but also for pioneering a new program – Sharpe Action Research Internships.
For the more than 270 undergraduates who received 2024 Charles Center summer research grants, May through August is a period of profound discovery, personal mentorship, and meaningful connection.
"Frenemies: How Social Media Polarizes America", written by Jaime Settle, the Cornelia Brackenridge Talbot Professor of Government and Data Science at William & Mary, was awarded the 2024 Doris Graber Outstanding Book Award. Presented by the American Political Science Association’s (ASPA) and International Communication Association’s (ICA) joint Political Communication Division, the prestigious prize recognizes “the most outstanding book in the field of political communication that was published in the past decade.”
On Saturday, May 11th Professor Randy Coleman gave his retirement lecture, "A Walk Down Memory Lane with Professor Coleman: Reflections on a Career of Connections." It culminated his 54th year of teaching at William & Mary and introduced his plans for life in retirement.
Sam Roach ’25 says that when Bernardo Jimenez ’26 approached him about forming a team to compete at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEP), Jimenez described the competition in terms of the Hunger Games: “Everyone’s nice to each other until you get in there, and then it’s a really competitive atmosphere.”
TribeHacks IX, W&M’s annual hackathon, came to a close a few weekends ago on April 21st. W&M undergraduate students spent the weekend in Swem Library, working on computer science and engineering projects to showcase their skills and solve real-world problems!
It might have been raining cats and dogs outside on May 18, but the future was bright inside Swem Library for the 2024 W&M Public Policy Program diploma ceremony. Students, faculty and guests came together to recognize six Master’s in Public Policy (M.P.P.) graduates and an all-time high 56 Bachelor’s degree graduates (B.A.) as members of the Class of 2024.
Dr. Dennis Taylor, Professor of Marine Science and faculty in the Sharpe Community Scholars Program, retires this summer after more than twenty years of teaching and mentoring students in community-based research.
Jessica Shelton, a beloved staff member in William & Mary's Biology Department, passed away on May 9, 2024, leaving behind a legacy of dedication, creativity, and compassion that touched the lives of everyone in the community.
Language is essential to community. Jack Martin, Professor of English and Linguistics at William & Mary, works with Native American communities across the American south to document and revitalize Native languages. With funding from the Faculty Grants Fund, Martin has embarked upon the latest phase of that research: creating a digital dictionary of the Muscogee language.
William & Mary’s second annual Inclusive Inquiry Speaker Series turned to motion pictures to rebuild forms of connection. The speaker series, led by Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Wanjirũ Mbure, hosted four filmmakers and screened their films to spark conversations on intersections of Black and African American experiences.
This summer, ten undergraduates will scatter across the globe to develop their research and artistic acumen thanks to the Louis E. Catron Grant for Artistic Development, a Charles Center fund honoring Dr. Catron, a beloved professor of theatre at W&M from 1966 to 2002.
Piero Capelli, Professor of Hebrew in the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, visited William & Mary to deliver the annual Milton & Shirley G. Salasky Lecture on April 23, 2024.
One of the symposium’s most popular events, the student poster session, had 58 posters. Anna Schmedding, a Ph.D. student from William & Mary, took home the 2024 Best Poster Award
The student-run History Club at William & Mary helps provide a fun and educational space for students on campus interested in history to learn and take a break from their heavy workloads.
Since its inception 20 years ago, the Graduate Studies Advisory Board (GSAB) has been instrumental in the success of graduate studies in Arts & Sciences at William & Mary.
The Religious Studies Department selected Mark K. Bauman to present the William & Sue Anne Bengal Lecture this spring. His lecture discussed several highlights of the conversation on Southern Jewishness among scholars in the United States by challenging the question “What makes Southern Jews different?”.
As scientists all over the world grapple with the impact of global climate change, biology and environmental science major Olivia Cunningham ’25 and neuroscience major Megan Fleeharty ‘24 are throwing their lab coats in the ring to identify potential solutions to the most pressing environmental concern of our time.
The Department of Classical Studies and the William & Mary/St. Andrews Joint Degree Programme hosted Thomas Biggs for his talk, “Gender & Intertextuality in Vergil’s Aeneid.”
Amit Seal Ami, a Computer Science Ph.D. candidate, has been honored with the International Student Achievement Award for his significant contribution to security and software engineering (SE) research and service.
More than 30 undergraduate presenters took part in the 4th annual, day-long William & Mary Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE) Research Conference in Sadler April 12.
Amy Quark has been appointed as the Sharpe Professor of Civic Renewal and Entrepreneurship, a position established through the generous support of Jane A. Sharpe and the late Robert F. Sharpe.
The 2024 Virtual Summer Bootcamp on Deep Learning, will take place from June 3rd to June 14th, 2024.
No background in machine learning is required, undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.
Earlier this year, Jennifer Mellor, Paul R. Verkuil Professor of Economics and Public Policy and director of the Schroeder Center for Health Policy, was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance.
The Biology Department within William & Mary has been a center for osprey work for more than 50 years. Over that time, the department has supported nine graduate students who have worked with osprey including Bob Kennedy, G’71, Jerry Via, G’75, Chris Stinson, G’76, Gary Seek, G’77, Kevin Roberts, G’82, Tim Kinkaid, G’85, Peter McLean, G’86, Andy Glass, G’07 and Michael Academia, G’22.
Five Honors students competed for the inaugural Barr Prize in public speaking in the Charles Center's "Thesis in Three" event held as a part of the Graduate & Honors Research Symposium March 22 in Sadler.
Spring means two things are in the air at William & Mary. Students new to the university often declare their majors at this time, and seniors and 2nd year Master’s students prepare for life after graduation.
Next week is busy! Please consider attending yourself and tell your students about next week's book talk with W&M alum Lauren Braun-Strumfels '01. The title of her book is Partners in Gatekeeping: How Italy Shaped U.S. Immigration Policy over Ten Pivotal Years, 1891-1901. The talk will take place next Thursday, April 4, at 3:30pm in Blair 229.
At 9:30am in the Blair 206, Lauren, along with Kyle Strumfels '01, and Gabriel DiMeglio, one of the Tyler lecturers, will talk about how they use their history training in careers.
The Nontargeted Separations Laboratory is part of the College of William & Mary’s Department of Chemistry. The group’s tagline is “Separations in Service of Society,” which emphasizes the group’s focus on using comparative data obtained from chemical analysis to understand and solve challenges plaguing the life science industry.
This semester, three first-year Master’s in Public Policy students are doing a research project for the US Secret Service (USSS) as it considers potential emerging threats for the future.
Students in William & Mary’s incubator for investigative reporting — the Sharp Journalism Seminar — shared insights from their research and writing journeys March 26 in the Grimsley Board Room (Blow 201).
The College Woods is one of the reasons that William & Mary’s campus is so special. Not many schools have a 900+ acre woodland attached to their campus, and none has the history and biodiversity of our beloved College Woods.
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 presented 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named 52 Distinguished Members for significant contributions in 2023 and Denys Poshyvanyk is one of them.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Modern Languages and Literatures | October 6, 2023
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!
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.
Chris McCrackin, MPP'25 and Chloe Fowler, MPP'25 | September 19, 2023
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.
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.