News

In sixth grade, Azra Hromadžić started “writing” a book, though she might have not realized it at the time.

The memories young Hromadžić formed while growing up near the Una — a river winding through Bihać, a town in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina — became the foundation of her 2024 release, Riverine Citizenship: A Bosnian City in Love with the River.

This work is a “love letter,” a “grief letter” and a form of activism, all in one. Weaving together complex emotions and theoretical frameworks surrounding the Una, Hromadžić’s book constructs a concept she calls a “riverine citizenship.”

The Humanities Center, with support from the Office of Research and the College of Arts and Sciences, recently established the Engaged Humanities Postdoctoral Fellows program as part of a biennial initiative in collaboration with EHN. This prestigious, highly competitive program appoints researchers with doctoral degrees to two-year faculty-level positions in residence at the Humanities Center.

Thursday evening, April 3rd, Patricia Spears Jones visited the Shinder Theater at the YMCA in downtown Syracuse as part of the Syracuse Symposium series. Spears Jones, the current New York State Poet Laureate, read poems from her newest collection, “The Beloved Community.” Released in 2023, the collection aims to capture the “volatility of the world."

Bryant's distinguished work does not stop at her new book. She has since returned to her Humanities Center fellowship research: a social history project that pieces together what freedom meant for those living in the part of Southern New Jersey that overlooked Delaware while it was still a slave state — a place she calls “the edge of freedom.”

Layers of support and recognition continue to add up for AY25 Humanities Center Dissertation Fellow, Caroline Charles (Ph.D. candidate - English). Earlier this month, Charles was one of just eight recipients of this year's Graduate Dean's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work, competing with dozens of other nominees for this selective honor.

In another one of its "Meet the Scholars Coffee Hours," the Humanities Center's 2024-2025 Dissertation Fellows, Lerie Gabriel and Caroline Imani Charles participated in a Q&A-style session highlighting a common thread in both projects: how they each draw from their lived experience to craft dissertation projects focused on the preservation and continuation of Black cultural practices.

Sunday's free public screening (Feb. 2) revealed a kaleidoscope of storytelling approaches — from experimentation with stop-motion animation, to anime-inspired sequences, to slice-of-life vignettes — forming a digital mosaic that echoed the 2024-2025 Syracuse Symposium theme, “Community,” as seen through the eyes of local students.

Peer review is foundational in scholarly careers. But who teaches us how to provide effective peer review to colleagues? And how do we interpret the mixed bag of peer review feedback that we sometimes receive on our book manuscripts, journal articles, and funding proposals? In December, Janet Salmons, Ph.D. highlighted the importance of peer review in a Zoom session for participants from Corridor institutions.

A key aspect of preparing students to become engaged global citizens is exposing them to new perspectives. The Syracuse University Humanities Center hosts the Syracuse Symposium, which encompasses a variety of art exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, workshops, musical performances and more, highlighting how the humanities can be applied in various real-world contexts.

For millions around the world, degradation of their land due to factors like climate change, deforestation, overgrazing and unsustainable farming practices have caused harm to both human health and the environment. In December 2024, the United Nations hosted a conference in Saudi Arabia, bringing together leading environmental experts and policy makers from around the globe to discuss strategies for combating desertification and safeguarding both the environment and human well-being.