Latest News

Catalysts for interdisciplinary work at UCF, Dr. M.C. Santana and Dr. Ilenia Colón Mendoza teach how to see opportunities for diversity and inclusion

From feminism to Hispanic identity, the diverse research of two CAH alumnae shines in The Pegasus Review.

Through these interdisciplinary and arts-related projects, UCF faculty members hope to improve the wellness of the Central Florida community.

From space research to the arts and humanities, faculty members across all disciplines were recognized for being academic leaders in their fields and conducting work that has a significant impact on the world.

Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of History, is the director of the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project, an archaeological survey and excavation project exploring the historical and archaeological remains of the Vayots Dzor providence in southern Armenia.

Theatre UCF’s production of Hot Mikado brings a unique design concept to the show and to the company: Japanese anime.

Alex Burtzos, a composer and conductor, has made a career of making music that has been called “incomparable to anything existing.” Now he is an assistant professor of composition at the UCF School of Performing Arts.

History student Jacqueline Love has been published in the Orlando Sentinel for her opinion piece, “Disney kin more deserving of Lake museum than Confederate general.”

“Too Much Is Not Enough: The History in Harriett’s Closet” by a costume designer and associate professor of theatre Kristina Tollefson details the life and closet of Orlando philanthropist Harriet Lake.

What’s been going on at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy? Three alumni and two students show how they are changing the world.

Dr. Stephen M. Fiore, a UCF Cognitive Sciences professor with the Department of Philosophy, and Director of the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory at the Institute of Simulation & Training, was selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to join a team of 30 scientists and engineers tasked with this role.

UCF history lecturer David Head explains today’s fascination with the sea-faring rogues, why they were so active around the Caribbean — and how they sometimes came by such impressive wardrobes.

“The Fall of Innocence,” the most recent young adult novel by Jenny Torres Sanchez ’00, has been awarded a Kirkus Star.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the College of Arts and Humanities – activities and initiatives across disciplines

The inaugural UCF College of Arts and Humanities Year in Review touts the accomplishments of our faculty, students and alumni.

Dean Jeff Moore and directors Rudy McDaniel and Michael Wainstein on the arts, humanities and Central Florida community

The UCF Celebrates the Arts steering committee is now seeking proposals for innovative and collaborative arts activities for inclusion in the 2019 festival. The ideas for these events can come out of classes; outside projects by faculty, students or alumni; or collaborative works associated with the university.

The Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts & Wellness Innovation Awards open for submission from August 20-September 20, 2018. Two winners will be selected and receive $25,000 each. The purpose of the awards is to build sustainable models for arts and wellness innovation both across the community and UCF campus.

When “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was released on bookshelves in the United States on Sept. 1, 1998, Andrew Carnero ’15 was 5 years old. And while he remembers peering over his older brother’s shoulder to see what he was reading, the UCF theatre major could hardly have predicted the influence the series would eventually have on his life.

Please welcome 41 new faculty members to the College of Arts and Humanities!

UCF composer Stella Sung premiered her new piece, “Oceana.” The 14-minute piece, which incorporates ship horns, seismic blasts and the calls of dolphins, humpback whales and porpoises with string and wind instruments, was performed by Boston’s Landmarks Orchestra, under the baton of Christopher Wilkins.

From The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Rainforest Cafe, here’s the rundown on the themed-experiences industry — and how UCF students will be poised to lead it.

Say goodbye to one of the oldest buildings on campus and hello to a 21st-century learning space. The new Trevor Colbourn Hall is home to many of the university’s humanities departments, centers and programs.

UCF alumnus Alexander Bornstein ’09 is an award-winning composer currently based in Los Angeles. His music has been heard on television, independent films, feature films, web series, documentaries and concert halls around the U.S. Alexander has also been at the forefront of new multimedia platforms, composing music for one of the first VR television series.

One of the world’s oldest academic journals just published a special issue dedicated to studying “collective behavior,” which was assembled by an international group of leading researchers in the field, including UCF Philosophy Professor Stephen M. Fiore. 

Three students from the College of Arts and Humanities have been awarded 2018-19 Fulbright scholarships for international exchange programs.

All first-year students at UCF read Zora Neale Hurston’s “Dust Tracks on a Road” as a part of the 2018 Common Read program. English professor Anna Lillios talks about why this book was selected and what makes the local author so special.

The Florida Humanities Council granted the UCF History Department a $4,360 grant to assist the Jones High School Historical Society with archiving their museum and collections.

The UCF Modern Languages and Literature Department is encouraging current Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Undergraduate Certification students to apply for an ETA-ship abroad. This year’s selected student, Emily Puckett, worked alongside experienced instructors at two bilingual schools in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil.

The Orlando Sentinel featured the Veterans Legacy Program’s upcoming research trip to France, which is part of an ongoing effort at UCF to research and record the personal stories of American veterans.

UCF CREATE is hosting a documentary camp for high school students, during which students create their own documentaries on how they have been inspired by mentors.

An initiative that seeks to offer a high-quality undergraduate education to people who are incarcerated and is led by faculty in the College of Arts and Humanities has been championed by the university.

In honor of “National Dump the Pump Day,” UCF sat down with Omnimodal founders David Thomas Moran and Nathan Selikoff to ask a few questions.

UCF opera students were praised in a private master class with Denyce Graves in front of a small audience at Snap! Space.

Rachael Rothstein-Safra ’17, a recent history alumna and staff member for the UCF Community Veterans History Project was named a Boren fellow. Fellows represent highly motivated individuals who are selected to study languages deemed critical to U.S. national security.

UCF is one of 75 organizations to receive an NEA Big Read grant to host a community reading program in 2019. The Big Read at UCF will focus on Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Activities will take place from March 15-April 15, 2019. 

AAC&U announced that 24 departments from institutions across the country will receive mini-grants, supported by a grant from The Endeavor Foundation, to advance civic learning and social responsibility.

The new festival, which begins June 2, provides opportunities for students and audience members to watch experimental new works by the next generation of playwrights.

Congratulations to all recipients of UCF Alumni’s “30 Under 30” award, and in particular, those from the College of Arts and Humanities: Samuel Jimenez, ’11 and ’14MFA, and Lindsey Turnbull, ’10 and ’12MA.

For the third time in four years, an SVAD faculty member has been named a finalist for this prestigious award.

Carissa Baker is a professor at Seminole State College, founding member of the LGBT Scholarship Committee and embodies the innovative climate at UCF

Music MA graduate Arleen Ramirez didn’t know the full strength of her music until it mattered the most.

Aquifer: The Florida Review Online from the Department of English has been named a finalist in the Best Debut Magazine category of Community of Literary Magazines and Presses’ Firecracker Awards.

The app “Boo Boo Snap,” which projects 3D images, talking characters and medical advice onto regular bandages, has been awarded “first place” by a panel of medical experts and game developers.

For nearly a decade, the James R. Hopes Art Scholarship has helped UCF students pursuing art careers continue to chase their dreams. Among this year’s recipients of the $3,000 award is Trevon Jakaar Coleman, a painter and filmmaker with an unconventional story.

UCF CREATE and partner Page 15 have been awarded a $100,000 grant from Walt Disney World Resort to create new workshops, summer camps and afterschool programs.

The Founders’ Day ceremony recognized faculty members and students for excellence in teaching, research and service.

The John C. Hitt Library, Office of Research, and Faculty Excellence are pleased to announce two panel sessions that highlight the diverse research interests and publishing activities of scholars in the College of Arts & Humanities.

A gift from Jim and Julia Rosengren will support foreign language programs at UCF, as well as other programs from around UCF.

Congratulations to the nominees and winners of the 2018 College of Arts & Humanities Staff Awards.

FIEA student game “Hollowed” won the “Best Visual Quality” award and the second place award for “Best Gameplay” at the 2018 Intel University Games Showcase.

David Moran ’14 and Nathan Selikoff ’04 have won a local startup competition and $25,000 investment for their company, Omnimodal.

A team from UCF’s School of Visual Arts and Design is headed to one of the biggest video game conferences in the nation, by special invitation.

On March 28, the College of Arts & Humanities will honor USPS and A&P staff with awards for their outstanding work and contribution to their school, department or program, and to the college. The deadline to nominate colleagues is March 15, 2018.

Kate Kinsley ’83, the first female to earn a Ph.D. from UCF, on how she’s helping future trailblazers in nursing and digital media.

The UCF Research Incentive Awards (RIA) program supports outstanding research, scholarly, and creative activity that advances the body of knowledge in a particular field, including interdisciplinary research and collaborations. This award recognizes employee contributions to UCF’s key goal of achieving international prominence in research and creative activities. The College of Arts and Humanities is pleased […]

UCF will celebrate Spanish language and culture at the 18th Annual Spanish Graduate Association (SaGA) Colloquium. The colloquium, coordinated by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, is a conference that gives students the opportunity to disseminate their research on topics concerning the Spanish-speaking world.

Workshop with Laura T. Fisher and talkback after the sold-out performance Saturday on sexual misconduct in theatre community

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program will host the third International Women’s Issues Conference with the theme of Women in TECH: The Next Generation of Activists. Keynote speaker Dr. Josephine Kulea will speak on Friday, February 16.

School of Visual Arts and Design student Ana Beltran received a certificate for advocacy in the arts from the Florida Higher Education Arts Network council in Tallahassee as part of Florida Arts Advocacy Day.

The annual Game Developers Conference organizers have donated exhibition space for SVAD students, faculty at the event in March.

UCF Celebrates the Arts is an annual eight-day showcase featuring interactive exhibitions of student artwork and performances in Visual and Performing Arts. Tickets will be available starting March 1. For a complete schedule, ticket reservations and other information, visit the festival’s website at www.arts.ucf.edu.

In partnerships with the UCF Library, Buffalo Soldiers Historical Society, and UCF Africana Studies program, the department adds a historical education to the events at UCF.

In its 8th year at UCF, the Knights Write Showcase offers the opportunity to first- and second-year students in ENC 1101 and ENC 1102 to submit their writing for panels, awards, and discussions.

The Office of the Provost is continuously updating a list of frequently asked questions at https://provost.ucf.edu/bold-academic-vision/.  I recommend referencing that site for the most current information. If you have questions or concerns that are not addressed on that site, please feel free to reach out to your chair, director or the Dean’s Office.

With the theme of “Igniting a Passion for STEM through Technology Experiences”, the annual convention will be held at the Orlando Science Center this weekend.

With great sadness, we announce the passing of Simon Fraser Barton, Professor of History. A memorial service will be held at 4:00 pm on Thursday, February 1, in the UCF Cypress Room.

SVAD character animation students’ short films are winning multiple awards in film festivals nationwide

This January, UCF will celebrate The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the debut novel of African journalist and MacArthur Foundation Fellow Dinaw Mengestu. Events include an art exhibition, play, book clubs, lectures, artist talks and book signing. Woven throughout these events is the goal of revitalizing reading as a shared community initiative.

Jaroslav Kalfař ‘11 was recently awarded a highly competitive and prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship for $25,000. Kalfař majored in Creative Writing at UCF before completing his MFA at New York University, and published his first book, Spaceman of Bohemia, with Little, Brown this past year.

Theatre UCF is replacing the previously scheduled play The Day Before Yesterday with Rebecca Gilman’s Boy Gets Girl to run Feb. 22 through March 4. “As an educational institution, it is our job to instruct students how to produce and participate in theatre. However, it is also our duty to teach them to do so with integrity and respect. […]

At the brand-new Academic Center for Excellence adjacent to UCF Downtown’s Center for Emerging Media, FIEA alumnus Matthew Laurence ‘07 read his book with students in the ACE book club. Looking for ways to connect with the PreK–8 school, FIEA had reached out to donate several dozen copies of Laurence’s book and offered to have the author speak at the school.

The UCF student team from the Department of Philosophy won the Mid-Atlantic Regional Ethics Bowl held at the University of North Georgia. The team now moves on to the National Ethics Bowl in Chicago in March.

Four CAH faculty members were selected for induction in the 2017-2018 class of the Scroll & Quill Society.

The University of Central Florida launched a new program Wednesday, November 8, to honor veterans. Using a smartphone or tablet, visitors to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell now can learn more about some of the veterans interred there.

FIEA students Rafael Brochado and Denis Savosin love games. And they love space. And those two passions came together on October 1, 2017 as they created a game that took second place in the “2017 Indie Galactic Space Jam.”

They had help from five other participants who chipped in on audio and other tasks. The team won $666 for the 2nd place finish and beat out 19 other games.

The History Department has coordinated events and activities honoring veterans throughout November. The events will recognize veterans for their service and provide the public opportunities to attend workshops and access veteran resources.

Omnimodal, a transportation tech startup co-founded by SVAD alumni David Thomas Moran ‘14 and Nathan Selikoff ‘04, was one of nine finalists admitted into the Central Florida Social Enterprise Accelerator (CFL SEA) program committed to creating positive social change through entrepreneurship.

The conference for the annual Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC) will be hosted in Orlando for the first time by UCF and the Florida Digital Humanities Consortium November 3-4.

Fifteen short films by students in the School of Visual Arts & Design will be screened Nov. 3 in the eighth annual Fall Showcase.

From being the director of a computer programming company in Brazil to a UCF TESOL graduate student, Sandra Pauleti has come a long way to follow her dream of becoming an English teacher.

Six College of Arts & Humanities faculty members were among those honored with the inaugural UCF Luminary Award on October 18.

A newly formed partnership between UCF and the University of Foggia opens opportunities for UCF students and faculty to work in Italy. There are numerous opportunities for collaboration between our institutions, particularly in the areas of e-learning, cultural heritage, media education, and research into emergent problems (such as the migration crisis).

The 2017 Orlando Film Festival opens this week, and UCF film faculty and alumni have a strong presence at the event.

While completing his master’s degree, David Morton found himself at a crossroads. He knew he wanted to continue his education and pursue a doctoral degree, but wasn’t sure which of his many passions he most wanted to pursue. The inevitable question, “What am I going to do with my life,” lingered over his head and choosing among his interests – film, history and teaching – became daunting.

Shannon Lindsey, new director of the UCF Art Gallery, views the university venue as a place to experiment – where process, content and form come together to educate and inspire viewers from all backgrounds.

Congratulations to Dr. Martha Brenckle, whose short story, “Nesting Dolls,” was accepted as a Machigonne Fiction Contest Finalist for the independent literary review The New Guard.

UCF will host two events featuring acclaimed performing artist Shaun El C. Leonardo .

This November 12, the University of Central Florida, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Young Composers Challenge [NYCC] will join forces to present the 2017 Composium at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

On Oct. 5 – Oct. 8, the University of Central Florida will bring 26 Pebbles – a play written by BFA musical theatre alumnus Eric Ulloa ’04 – to the Orlando Repertory Theatre.

The UCF Community Veterans History Project, coordinated by the History Department’s Dr. Barbara Gannon, has been awarded the Anne J. Caudal Foundation Grant.

Due to Hurricane Irma, some College of Arts and Humanities events have been cancelled or rescheduled to a later date.

The Steering Committee for UCF Celebrates the Arts is now accepting event and exhibit proposals for the 2018 and 2019 festivals.

Associate professor of History Robert Cassanello discusses the origins of Labor Day and how the holiday has evolved over the last 135 years.

Disney Imagineer, James Moore, uses his experience as a Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) alumnus to create amazing, immersive places for Disney guests.

Reagan Smith, a history adjunct professor, is offering College of Arts and Humanities faculty members an opportunity to be on his radio show, “Florida Roundtable.”

Terry Ann Thaxton, a professor in the Department of English, won Truman State University Press’ 2017 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for her third book of poems, Mud Song.

The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program in the U.S. Department of Education has awarded an amount of $91,795 grant to the University of Central Florida’s College of Arts and Humanities.

Laurel Schafer sees integrative learning as a path to career success and so far, it is paying off for her. The senior history major was recently awarded a Quality Enhancement Plan’s What’s Next: Integrative Learning Scholarship.