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RIT Liberal Arts brings the humanities and social sciences into the digital age.
You’ll innovate, play, and grow in our human-centered, tech-infused environment. Our faculty is a caring community of compassionate and confident creators, ready to support and guide you as you pursue your passion. Committed change-makers thrive in a place where people care as much about bettering the world as they do helping each other. Welcome to liberal arts for doers. Where future leaders turn “What If?” into “I Will.”
What does amazing look like?
Get a glimpse of what it's like to innovate, imagine, and impact your world.
Meet the Interim Dean
From our legal systems and economic, political, social structures to the ways we connect, share our stories, and form our most fundamental relationships, the Liberal Arts are at the very heart of what it means to be human. At RIT—a technical university renowned for vision and innovation—our approach to the Liberal Arts is human-centered and tech-infused, distinguishing our grads with the skills for a digital age and the mindset to thrive, think big, and transform ideas of “what if” into commitments of “I will."
Faces of RIT
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![Professor Jonathan Kruger composing music.]()
Evoking Emotion Through Music
Jonathan KrugerProfessorA difficult task to accomplish, yet a joy to teach, Kruger enjoys composing for visual mediums. As chair of the Department of Performing Arts, Krugar focuses on enhancing a scene with music while keeping the audience immersed in the medium.
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![Landyn Hatch holding 3D printed hands.]()
The Hands of Time
Landyn HatchMuseum StudiesAt RIT’s makerspace you’re free to design, test, tinker, and build. Hatch utilizes The Construct to create 3D-printed mannequin hands for Genesee Country Village & Museum's 19-century clothing exhibit.
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![Ted Canning playing the steel drums during a Steelband Ensemble practice session.]()
The Excitement of Live Performance
Ted CanningAdjunct facultyDirector of Steelband EnsembleFor Professor Ted Canning, music is a universal language anyone can learn. No matter your major, no matter your level of experience, you can make music part of your life at RIT.
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![Tianna Manon holding a camera to take a picture.]()
Giving a Voice to a Community
Tianna Manon '15CommunicationAs an alum of the journalism program, Manon has put into practice the storytelling platforms and opportunities She took advantage of at RIT. Today, Manon serves as editor-in-chief of Open Mic Rochester, an online magazine that gives a voice to Rochester’s black community.
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![Jessica Wegman sitting at a desk, taking notes.]()
Beyond Human
Jessica WegmanPsychology MajorSeeing the world through the eyes of a different species is just one way we connect with the world around us. Through faculty-led research, Wegman is working to improve the quality of life for North American River Otters by studying their visual perception.
News
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June 9, 2023
![group of people posing for a photo in a bar.]()
Professor Rudy Pugliese retires and will become professor emeritus
Professor Rudy Pugliese will adopt the title of professor emeritus on July 1 when he officially retires. Pugliese taught in the College of Liberal Arts’ School of Communication for 37 years. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he also spent 24 years advising students working for Reporter Magazine.
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June 6, 2023
![four actors on a stage, with two on top of a box labeled toys.]()
RIT/NTID and School of Performing Arts present 2023-2024 theatrical season
The 2023-2024 theatrical season featuring a partnership between RIT’s School of Performing Arts and NTID's Department of Performing Arts will include a celebration of Deaf rap and hip hop, an adaptation of Hamlet, a multimedia dance production, and several immersive theatrical performances, among others.
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May 31, 2023
![currency from different countries, all paper bills of different denominations and colors.]()
Amid fears of Chinese influence, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has grown more powerful
Essay by Amit Batabyal, the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics and interim head of the Department of Sustainability, published by The Conversation.
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May 25, 2023
![painting of a Japanese woman's face.]()
Talking point: Japan's isolationist history
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's program "Talking Point" features Michael Laver, professor in the Department of History.
