Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education News

When RIT students Julia LaMarra and Celina Alvarado heard about a trip to work on repairing hospital equipment in Guatemala during this past winter break, they jumped at the chance.

Programs with RIT’s international campuses are helping to make well-rounded students. Six new scholarships being piloted this year will allow students from RIT’s main campus to travel to RIT Kosovo to explore the origin and resolution of armed conflict, reconstruction, and institution building at the end of wars.

Fourth-year student Anna Pasquantonio has always loved National Geographic and has fond memories of collecting animal trading cards from the National Geographic Kids magazine. Pasquantonio’s summer 2022 internship experience at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., helped turn a life-long interest into a possible career.

RIT student Jake Downie has been “all in” for the past few years when working to advance JDocs, a startup he created with fellow computer science student Artem Goncharov. And now, a JDocs product, FlexFile, is making waves in the legal industry. Last week, FlexFile became a semifinalist to compete in ABA Techshow’s Startup Alley competition.

Essay written by Evan Selinger, professor of philosophy, published by The Boston Globe. (This content requires a subscription to view.)

Three RIT students involved in last semester’s production of Everybody brought home awards from the Region II Kennedy Center College Theatre Fest, held Jan. 17-22.

Caroline DeLong, professor and undergraduate program director of psychology, and a team of researchers at RIT and Carnegie Mellon University are exploring the idea of engaging children with STEM skills through the lens of interacting with animals. They are working with a group of olive baboons at Rochester’s Seneca Park Zoo.

During the 15 weeks between spring and fall semester, RIT students are finding ways to embrace new challenges. Some are taking the stage and performing. Others are winning club championships. For many, summer is a time to get work experience and participate in research projects, traveling abroad, and helping others while pursuing their passions.

For years, Joseph Hill, assistant dean of NTID Faculty Recruitment and Retention and an associate professor in the Department of ASL and Interpreting Education, has studied how the segregation of southern Black Deaf Americans, along with their history and culture, has impacted the linguistics of today’s Black Deaf youth. Hill hopes his research will continue to uncover and preserve Black American Sign Language.

Eight first-year RIT students have been selected to become the university’s first Disability Leadership Scholars to advocate and to educate about disabilities.

Essay written by Evan Selinger, professor of philosophy, published by The Boston Globe. (This content requires a subscription to view.)

WHAM-TV talks to Amit Batabyal, the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics and interim head of the Department of Sustainability, about the effects of raising minimum wage.