News
Dietrich School Faculty and Dean Leibovich Share Message of Compassion
As colleges across the country remain hotbeds for anger, protests and safety concerns during the Israel-Hamas war, two Dietrich School professors — one Jewish, the other Muslim — want to foster dialogue and compassion on Pitt’s campus.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Helps Marginalized Communities Recover From Disasters
In 2017, when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Dietrich School faculty member Fernando Tormos-Aponte’s first impulse was to return to his homeland to help rebuild. Recognizing that his presence would have meant one more person dependent on the archipelago’s already strained resources, Tormos-Aponte instead turned to his training as a social scientist to support his loved ones.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Publishes Editorial on Organic Syntheses’ Century of Service
Kay Brummond, a professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Chemistry, reflected on the impact of the publication Organic Syntheses in an editorial that was co-published by nine chemistry journals.
Dietrich School Faculty, Staff, and Students Among Iris Marion Young Awardees
On November 30, the annual Iris Marion Young Award ceremony honored several members of the Dietrich School community who work to promote justice in the University, at the local or national level, or across the globe.
Dietrich School Faculty Among 2023 Highly Cited Researchers
Dietrich School faculty members are among the 23 researchers from the University of Pittsburgh included on the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list from Clarivate.
Faculty Member Receives Harvard’s Derek Bok Public Service Award
Leonora Anyango, a faculty member in the Dietrich School's Department of English and a faculty fellow in the University's Frederick Honors College, received the Derek Bok Public Service Award from Harvard University, where she graduated with a Master of Liberal Arts in May.
Postdoctoral Associate Awarded Prize from Society for Ethnomusicology
Ian Copeland, a postdoctoral associate in the Dietrich School's Department of Music, was recently awarded the Richard Waterman Junior Scholar Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) for his article “Pop Goes the Postcolony: Britain Remixes Hugh Tracey’s Malawi” (Ethnomusicology Forum, 2022). The award, presented by the SEM Popular Music Section at the SEM Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, recognizes the best article in the ethnomusicological study of popular music written by a junior scholar.
Professor Emerita Toi Derricotte on How Cave Canem Has Nurtured Generations of Black Poets
In 1996, Dietrich School Professor Emerita Toi Derricotte and colleague Cornelius Eady founded Cave Canem, which holds weeklong annual retreats, prizes and fellowships to help foster the growth of Black poets. Since then they have played a role in developing the voices and careers of some of the greatest poets of the 21st century.
Associate Dean Named Co-Chair of Pitt LGBTQIA+ Steering Committee
During an event Oct. 25, Clyde Wilson Pickett, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion, announced that Todd Reeser, the Dietrich School's associate dean for faculty affairs and a professor in the Department of French and Italian, has been asked to serve as co-chair of the University's new LGBTQIA+ Steering Committee, which will provide advice and counsel to Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel and senior administrators.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Says Black Westerns Are Emblematic of a Large Shift in Black Representation
This November, the "Yellowstone" universe expanded to include a miniseries called "Lawmen", and the first lawman featured is Bass Reeves, a Black larger-than-life 19th-century U.S. deputy marshal. Dietrich School historian Alaina Robers says this is emblematic of a larger shift in Black representation that, if we’re lucky, may be here to stay.
Dietrich School Alum Creates Scholarship for Students in Need
Says Dietrich School alumnus Jim Zurcher (A&S ’56), "All I’m doing is paying back to somebody else what the University did for me. I want to help someone who couldn’t go to Pitt without some financial assistance, just like I could never have afforded an education."
Resources for Teaching in a Time of Conflict
Engaging with harm, loss, trauma, and conflict is difficult in the classroom. Teaching in a time of conflict requires instructors to consider a wide range of tools and instructional strategies. The Center for Teaching and Learning is offering resources in three areas for instructors as they engage with these conversations in their classrooms. Visit their website to learn more.
Water Collaboratory Releases Interactive Water Quality Map
The Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach (Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory), founded and directed by faculty members from the Dietrich School's Department of Geology and Environmental Science, released an interactive site on Pittsburgh's Three Rivers and Their Tributaries, the culmination of a years-long data collection effort. This project was funded by the University of Pittsburgh Year of Engagement.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Among Black Excellence in the Academy Awardees
Jerome Taylor, associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Africana Studies, was recognized for his significant and lasting contributions to the University and the impact of his service throughout his academic career.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Receives 2023 Truman Capote Literary Trust Award
R.A. Judy, a professor of critical and cultural studies in the Dietrich School's Department of English, has been chosen as the 2023 recipient of the Truman Capote Literary Trust Award for Literary Criticism.