In the College of Arts & Sciences, our faculty expertise is unmatched, our passion for our work is infectious, and our connections are vast. Below is just a sampling of the great events we're putting on to help pave the way to valuable networking and internship opportunities for our students. For more details, click each link to see the advertisement in full.

• Student New Works Festival - April 20-23
• Spring Concert - May 1

• Sound Dialogues
  • Jazmine Valencia (founder of JV Agency)
  • Alisha Crutchfield-McLean (Roc-A-Fella Records, Vogue Magazine, BLOOM)
• Henry Voegeli Seminar Series
• Seton Art Gallery
  • Latent Fields of Vision
  • Night Studios: Suzanne Schireson
• Brehm-Boucher Speaker Series
  • How Russia Changed the Future, Again

Through an intensive three-month environmental education program, University of New Haven marine faculty as well as local experts will train a diverse group of New Haven and West Haven residents (20 in total) about Long Island Sound’s flora, fauna, ecology, conservation, and management. These newly trained citizen scientists will then apply their knowledge in educating their communities about their “blue backyard” through a series of community events (reaching 150 individuals) and two professional development workshops for 50 local school teachers.

In 2021, the University of New Haven and the Yale Prison Education Initiative established a flagship collaboration to create a degree-granting program for male students incarcerated in Connecticut, and to create pathways for students who have been released from confinement to continue their educational pursuits. Launched last year with an extraordinary investment from the Mellon Foundation, the program has been able to successfully offer 15 credit-bearing courses in a variety of subjects, complemented by academic resources, tutoring, advising, and a variety of support systems from both the University and Yale. Students in prison are matriculated in a liberal arts degree-granting program through the College of Arts & Sciences. An exciting expansion of the program will bring it to a second facility, a federal women’s prison, starting in the Fall of 2022.

Radical Reversal is spearheaded by Randall Horton, professor of English, and Devin B. Waldman, a New York musician and leader of the group BRAHJA. The program, which focuses on artistic activism and music performance, works within two correctional facilities to provide a way for incarcerated women and men to reclaim their humanity through the creative process. The project is among 50 nationwide that have earned a 2022 Creative Capital Award.

“I believe placing these creative and educational outlets for those on the inside, while creating new work influenced by practice – and while inciting change – is the ultimate social justice experience, an experience that provides and pushes the boundaries of the ‘possible’ while inspiring hope,” says Horton.

As part of the culminating of events of the University’s weeklong MLK Celebration, the University community recognized several students, faculty, and staff members who embody the ideals of Martin Luther King, Jr. and who make a difference on campus and in their communities.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Vision Awards recognize members of the University community who demonstrate a commitment to Dr. King’s values and ideals. Considered “unsung heroes” at the University, the recipients were nominated by their peers and colleagues. Two of the winners were from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Mary Lippa ’23 won the Vision Award: Undergraduate. Mary is a devoted ally for the LGBTQ+ community and a strong advocate for mental health awareness. A wellness peer educator, a JEDI ambassador, and wellness liaison for the USGA, she serves as president of Happy UNewHaven, a registered student organization helping to dispel stigmas around mental health.

Richard Concepcion ’20, ’22 M.A., a candidate in the University’s graduate program in community psychology, was the recipient of the Vision Award: Graduate. He created the University’s Juvenile Justice Club and serves as president of the Community Psychology Club. An advocate for BIPOC youth, he is a graduate assistant for the Tow Youth Justice Institute’s Transforming Youth Justice Program.

In addition, three members of the College of Arts & Sciences earned honorable mention for Vision Awards: Julia LeFrancois ’23 M.A., community psychology; Randall Horton, Ph.D., professor of English; and Elizabeth Fiorillo, M.S., senior lecturer of mathematics and physics.

Sofia Martinez ‘22, a communication major, is the inaugural recipient of the newly created Philip H. and Susan S. Bartels Advocacy, Leadership, and Service Award. This award is intended to play an important role in supporting the important work across the University related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Joseph Smolinski, "Beginning of the End," 2010, ink, acrylic, graphite on paper.

Joseph Smolinksi, M.F.A., senior lecturer of art and Schaub Makerspace director, is one of 15 amazing artists in "Becoming Tree" at the Concord Center for the Visual Arts, an exhibition guest curated by Fritz Horstman of the Albers Foundations.

In the Boston Globe's review, correspondent Cate McQuaid writes, "The artists in 'Becoming Trees' step back and let the trees take center stage, but they often show the damage we’ve wreaked. In Joseph Smolinski’s sublime, apocalyptic drawing 'Beginning of the End,' dead trees topped with cellular communication transmitters are what remain of a forest flooded to create a hydroelectric dam. Plundered once again, nature bears witness to relentless human progress."

In the Media

• Chris Haynes on CNN: Some Governors Offer Residents A Break Amid Inflation
• Amy Baker, Maurice Cayer, and Jeffrey Debies-Carl in Parade: Turn It Off! Belgium Is the Latest Country To Legally Allow Employees the Right To Disconnect After Work Hours
• Bradley Woodworth in Newsy: Russian Community In The U.S. Faces Backlash As War Wages On
• Melissa Whitson in USA Today: Is my child too young for mental health counseling? Here's what to know.