News

Headshot of writer and faculty member Angie Cruz
Dietrich School Faculty Member Discusses Finding the Fun in Writing Again

Angie Cruz, an associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of English, is a novelist and editor. Her most recent novel, How Not To Drown in A Glass of Water (2022) was listed among the New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2022. Learn more about her life and work in this recent interview with Mira Jacobs on "Thresholds."

Pandora's Cluster
Dietrich School Astronomer Part of Team Uncovering New Details in Pandora’s Cluster

A team of astronomers, led by Dietrich School faculty member Rachel Bezanson, has revealed the latest deep field image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, featuring never-before-seen details in a region of space known as Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744).

Ruth Mostern
Dietrich School Faculty Member Wins Levenson Prize

Ruth Mostern, Director of the World History Center and Professor in the Dietrich School's Department of History, is the recipient of the Association for Asian Studies' Joseph Levenson Prize for her 2022 book The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History, published by Yale University Press. The Levenson Prize, awarded to Mostern in the in the pre-1900 category, recognizes “the English-language books that make the greatest contribution to increasing understanding of the history, culture, society, politics, or economy of China.”

Wide view of Pitt campus, including Cathedral of Learning
Dietrich School Students, Alumni Among Pitt's 2022-23 Fulbright Scholars

The University of Pittsburgh has been named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for U.S. Students for the 2022-23 academic year by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Among this year's recipients are several from the Dietrich School.

Cathedral of Learning
Two Dietrich School Faculty Members Among Diversity in Curriculum Awardees

Dietrich School faculty members Megan Kappel and Olga Klimova were recently honored with the 2022 Provost’s Award for Diversity in the Curriculum. The award formally recognizes faculty’s efforts in integrating equity, diversity and inclusion concepts into their courses and curricula.

Frick Fine Arts fountain in the snow
Dietrich School Africana Studies Department Launches New PhD Program

When the Dietrich School's 50-year-old Department of Africana Studies accepts its first graduate-level cohort this year, it will join such prestigious peer institutions as the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Berkeley, Emory and Northwestern universities in offering Ph.D.s focused on advanced Black studies.

Cathedral of Learning and Frick Fountain
Dietrich School Physicists Investigate Light Vortices in New Paper

Plasmonic vortices, which may have a role in formation of the structure of the universe, are the subject of an invited perspective published January 6 by Dietrich School physicists in the journal ACS Photonics. Led by Atreyie Ghosh, a graduate student in Professor Hrvoje Petek’s Laboratory of Ultrafast Dynamics, the paper looks at the current state of research and suggests a way to move forward and enhance the field’s understanding of fundamental physics of light.

compass of excellence
Eight Dietrich School Students Named Humanities Center Fellows

Eight Dietrich School students were named Humanities Center undergraduate research fellows. The class of 2023-24 includes scholars in majors from classics to neuroscience. The Humanities Center fellowship consists of a spring seminar, when students will develop a research project; a summer research experience funded by a $5,000 stipend; and a second fall seminar, in which fellows craft their research outcome. Each fellow is also connected to a mentor with experience in their field of inquiry.

hands extended within a circle
A Message from the Vice Provost for Student Affairs

The past few weeks have weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of many of us, particularly those in our API, Black, and other marginalized communities. Our social media and news feeds, inboxes, mobile devices, and televisions have been inundated with breaking news full of commentary and images of human violence. As of today, there have been more mass shootings in America so far this year than in any previous year.

Shelome Gooden
Dietrich School Faculty Member, Students Collaborate on Book

Language Science Press has published a book that resulted from a collaboration between Shelome Gooden, professor in the Department of Linguistics, and a group of Pitt students. Gooden is also assistant vice chancellor for research in the humanities, arts, social sciences and related fields.

pro-environment protest signs
"Science Revealed" Program, February 6, Tackles Environmental Contaminants

In "Reaping What We Spill, Leak and Spew," our expert panelists from various schools at the University of Pittsburgh will discuss how researchers can measure levels of contaminants in the environment, how they can determine the health effects that result, and how these factors are or can be affected by policy and regulations. RSVP required--visit as.pitt.edu/sciencerevealed.

Samantha Shipeck
Dietrich School Alum Receives 2022 German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award

Samantha Shipeck (A&S '15) is the recipient of the 2022 German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award. This award recognizes up-and-coming teachers for excellence in teaching, creativity, outstanding dedication, and enthusiasm for the German language.

NEH logo
World Historical Gazetteer Project Awarded NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant

Ruth Mostern, director of the World History Center in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, was awarded a $350,000 Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Mostern’s grant will fund the expansion, development and outreach of the World Historical Gazetteer — a digital platform containing an index of world historical place names within a network of linked data and user tools to facilitate collaborative research.

excellence graphic
Dietrich School Faculty Receive Kaufman Foundation Awards for New Initiatives

Andrea Berman, an associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Biological Sciences, and Michael Hatridge, associate professor in the school's Department of Physics and Astronomy, have received two-year, $300,000 New Initiative Research Grants from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation.

Pittsburgh Skyline
Startup Co-founded by Dietrich School Grad Won 2022 TransTech Showcase

Ecotone Renewables, a startup co-founded by Kyle Wyche (A&S ’19), won first place at the 2022 TransTech Energy Evolving Energy Technology Showcase.