THE YEAR IN REVIEW ACADEMIC YEAR 2018–2019 I am proud to look back at a successful first year. Our collective task was to begin the work of building a college of media, arts, and humanities that could carry on the legacy of Gwen Ifill, a beloved alumna and American icon, while positioning ourselves to thrive in the twenty-first century.

Throughout the year, we reminded ourselves of Simmons’ long history of fostering women’s independence, its strengths at the thoughtful intersection of the liberal arts and preparation for work in the world, and the great gift of a namesake who stands as a model for how we hope all graduates do good work in the world and become leaders, no matter their profession. We also had necessary conversations about the work we have to do to become the most inclusive campus.

I am amazed at how much we built together: a new Mission Statement, Community Meetings, an inaugural faculty chair in Public Engagement, a Mentor-in-Residence program, two inaugural Ifill Scholarship recipients, and enhancements to student-driven media. Plus, we settled into a remodeled Communications wing and Dean’s Suite, an inspiring Gwen Ifill Exhibit and Knight Foundation Board Room, and a new home for the Children’s Literature “Book Nook.” All along, we continued so much of what already made Ifill special, from annual lectures, departmental gatherings and traditions, art exhibits, children’s literature institutes, student and faculty research, graduate colloquia, and excursions into Boston and beyond.

Every morning, I have the privilege of coming to campus and passing by the Gwen Ifill exhibit where I get to witness students and others meeting her, often for the first time, and thinking about what it means to forge a life of purpose. It means something that we place an African American woman’s achievements at the center of the Simmons experience for all, across rank, identity, and role. And it means something that we are sending graduates into the world who are prepared to ask big questions, seek truth, and make a difference.

Brian Norman

Dean, The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities Simmons University A NOTE FROM THE DEAN A NOTE FROM GWEN IFILL COLLEGE MISSION

MISSIONNUMBERS STATEMENTTHE BY IFILL

aims to carry Gwen Ifill broke through through broke Gwen Ifill , • Our Mission: Our Mission: We give voice to our stories, past and present, individual and global, told individual and global, told voice to our stories, past and present, give We yet to be asked. whose questions have a future and untold, to influence just future? imagining a more of How will you, too, do the hard work We are a community of educators and learners guided by intellectual learners guided by intellectual and educators a community of are We spirit. of and generosity critical thinking, curiosity, and pursue civic engagement our differences from derive strength We humanistic inquirythrough values language, lived experience, that and imagination. artistic expression, THE GWEN IFILL COLLEGE OF MEDIA, IFILL COLLEGE THE GWEN HUMANITIES ARTS, AND for the next generations. legacy that on AS A PIONEERING BLACKAS A PIONEERING JOURNALIST WOMAN a purposeful life. and excellence professional as a model of and stands prejudice barriers of UNDERGRADUATE PLAN 88 142 OFFERINGS Undergraduate Program Faculty Degrees Granted all areas offered as a BA and PLAN Courses: 28 minor, unless otherwise noted (BOS, LDR, LC) 60.5 FTE, including cross- Graduate: 50 Honors Courses: 2 College appointments dual programs: 30 Africana Studies Art Advisees: 444 Full-Time: 51 Undergraduate Majors: 92 tenured: 33 multiple majors: 25 Arts Administration GRADUATE tenure-track: 4 Cinema and Media Studies contract: 14 undergraduate minors: 48 multiple minors: 14 (minor only) OFFERINGS Part-Time: 37 Communication (BA only) Children’s Literature proportional: 4 concentrations in: Children’s Literature (MA) adjunct: 33 Writing for Children (MFA) 481 Graphic Design Journalism dual with: Students Media Arts Library and Information 6 Graduate: 199 East Asian Studies Science (MA/MS) dual programs: 118 Professional English Elementary Education (MA/MAT) Administrative Undergraduate Majors: 200 French multiple majors: 48 Writing for Children Gender History (minor only) Support Staff (MA/MFA) undergraduate minors: 82 History multiple minors: 15 Music Gender/Cultural Studies Gender/Cultural Studies Performing Arts (COF minor) (MA) 44 Philosophy dual with: Student Workers 14,941 Public History (minor only) Public Policy (MA/MPP) General: 8 Credit Hours Photography (minor only) Digital Media: 26 Graduate: 2,053 Public Relations and History Gallery: 5 Undergraduate: 12,888 Marketing History (MA) Dean’s Fellows: 5 Communications (joint BA) dual with: Radio (minor only) Library and Information Spanish Science with Concentration in 12,470 Web Design and Archives Management The statistics and information Alumnae/i Development (joint BS) included in this booklet were (MA/MS) Graduate: 3,647 Women’s and Gender collected and compiled prior Secondary Education Undergraduate: 8,823 Studies GWEN IFILL COLLEGE BY THE NUMBERS BY GWEN IFILL COLLEGE to June 19, 2019. (MA/MAT) COMMUNITY MEETINGS INTERNSHIPS & MENTORSHIPS In our first year, the Gwen Ifill College started a tradition Internships help students prepare for post-Simmons of coming together once or twice per semester for success. This year, 85 students participated in internship conversations that matter. This year, conversations included: or mentorship courses that helped connect workplace learning and academic coursework, with the time and • “Welcome and Inaugural Year: Who we are and where community to reflect on their futures as professionals. we’re going” Placements • “The Poet X: Live and Onstage,” Elizabeth Acevedo, inaugural Mentor-in-Residence • Appel Farm Arts and • Houghton Mifflin Music Center Harcourt • “Remembering Gwen,” Nancy Ancrum, Mentor-in- Residence, in conversation with Rick Berke • Barefoot Books • Let’s Get Ready • Boston Ballet • Media Source/Horn Book MENTORS-IN-RESIDENCE • Candlewick Press • NewTV Community

A signature program that invites to campus talented AND MENTORING COMMUNITY Channel professionals who are achieving success in their fields • Cervena Barva Press and expanding the range of voices and perspectives in • Office of • Charlesbridge Books them. Mentors share their knowledge and help us foster Communications & the potential of our students so that they, too, may pursue • Children’s Hospital, External Relations, lives of purpose. Gender Management Harvard Medical School Service Department • Elizabeth Acevedo, poet and author, hosted by • Old North Church Children’s Literature and Africana Studies • De Gruyter • Philips Brooks House • Yolanda Coentro, nonprofit leader, hosted by Art and • French-American • Porter Square Books Music, Communications and Humanities 370 Chamber of Commerce, New England • Seth Moulton’s • Sneha Shrestha, artist, hosted by the Trustman Gallery District Office and Women’s and Gender Studies • Gibson House Museum • Nancy Ancrum, journalist, hosted by Communications and Humanities 370 • Lisa Mullins, journalist, hosted by Communications and Simmons Radio DEAN’S FELLOWS HIGHLIGHTS FROM DEPARTMENT LIFE Dean’s Fellowships provide high-quality, educational Bread and Roses opportunities for graduate and undergraduate The Women’s and Gender Studies Department hosts an students to participate in academic life by pursuing annual Bread and Roses meal, which commemorates projects that advance the work of academic the anniversary of a 1912 strike by Lawrence mill departments, programs, or units. This year, host workers, most of them immigrant women, demanding departments and programs included: not only fair wages (“bread”) but also “roses” for a • Children’s Literature satisfying life. This year featured a keynote by Professor Laura Prieto. • Communications and Media Labs CommWorks • Communications and CommWorks The Communications Department hosts CommWorks, • Gender/Cultural Studies an annual celebration that showcases student work • Multimedia Storytelling across the department and serves as an exhibit of the portfolios of graduating seniors—graphic design, • Women’s and Gender Studies videos, writing, multimedia storytelling, web sites, app design, animation, digital images, and more. The event POOLE AWARD also reveals the annual issue of CommTracks. Alden Pool Faculty Mentor Award is presented to a The “Book Nook” faculty member in the Gwen Ifill College who has provided exceptional mentorship of students during The heart of the Children’s Literature Department is their time at Simmons and in their future careers. The its “Book Nook” featuring nearly 5,000 children’s and award is named in honor of Professor Alden Poole young adult books published that year. This year, the (Department of Communications, 1955–1986), a Book Nook moved to the Main College Building and formative mentor in the life of Gwen Ifill ’77, ‘93HD. was opened to all Ifill graduate students. A highlight was hosting a launch party for class of 2014 alumna Selection based on alumnae/i nomination. Bré McDaniel’s Hands Up!, a celebration of Black joy Inaugural recipient: Cathie Mercier, Children’s Literature and resilience. COMMUNITY AND MENTORING ALUMNI CHAIR IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Laura Prieto, Professor, History and Women’s and Gender Studies (2019-2022)

GRANT: HUMANITIES RESEARCH FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD Professor Laura Prieto, Council of Independent Colleges, to support student research on the immigrant history of Boston’s West End, in collaboration with

University Archives, Simmons Community Engagement, HIGHLIGHTS FROM DEPARTMENT LIFE and the Boston City Archives.

Kaylin Wu, Vignettes Under Two Suns 2 of 3, mixed media collage TRUSTMAN GALLERY The Trustman Art Gallery is a professional art gallery Student Art Exhibits that participates in the Boston art scene by featuring Each year, the Trustman Art Gallery hosts student art the work of artists in Boston and beyond. This exhibitions to provide students in studio arts classes an year, under the direction of Interim Director Helen opportunity to display their coursework in a professional Popinchalk, exhibits included:

setting. Selected works are purchased by President Drinan PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT • Julia Shepley: Linger & Shift with Poetry by and donated to the Simmons University Student Art Audrey Henderson Collection for display by the President’s office. This year, the Gwen Ifill College Dean’s Office also began purchasing • Vaughn Sills: True Poems Flee and displaying student work. Additionally, the Department • Nancy L. Greco: Recurrence of Art and Music hosts the Hall Gallery on the 4th floor of • Caitlin & Nicole Duennebier: Love Superior, a the MCB featuring a rotating exhibition of student artwork. Death Supreme Robert Gay Lecture • IMAGINE (AKA Sneha Shrestha): Golden Equinox The English Department hosts an annual lecture inviting • Brian Butler: Show Drawn: 10 Years of Drawing Concerts some of the most exciting thinkers in the field of literary studies. This year featured Aliyyah I. Abdur-Rahman SERVICE LEARNING (Brown University) on “The Aesthetics of Regard: • 6 service-learning courses Theorizing New Millennial Black Feminist Art Praxis.” FACULTY RESEARCH AND INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION CREATIVE ACTIVITY There were a total of nine collaborations across eight In the Gwen Ifill College, faculty are not only committed departments and among three colleges, including: teachers, they are also active scholars, artists, and citizens. • Suzanne Leonard, English & Saher Selod, Sociology: Sabbaticals “Student Outing to Niceties Play at Huntington” • Heather Hole, Art and Music • Kelly Hager, English and Women’s and Gender Studies & • Colleen Kiely, Art and Music Audrey Golden, English: “Wayétu Moore reading and Q&A” • Sarah Leonard, History • Cathie Mercier, Children’s Literature & Gary Bailey, • Bob White, Communications Social Work: “Through an Activist Lens” Milestones • Stephen Ortega, History & Renée Bergland, English: • Megan Lambert, Children’s Literature, 10 years “Security and Insecurity in the Post-9/11 World: A • Sarah Leonard, History, 15 years Conversation with Arundhati Roy” • Renée Bergland, English, 20 years • Audrey Golden, English & Franny Sullivan, History: “Black • Gregory Slowik, Art and Music, 25 years Odyssey in Boston: A Theater Outing” • Margaret Hanni, Art and Music, 23 years, retiring • Kelly Hager, English and Women’s and Gender Studies & Steve Berry, History: “Alum Mentors for HUM 370” Promotions • Diane Grossman, Mockler Chair in Principled Leadership, • Judith Aronson, Communications & Michael Berger, Professor, Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies Chemistry: “From the Critique of Language to the • Suzanne Leonard, Professor, English Critique of Images and Media” (lecture by Michael Renner) • Dawna Thomas, Professor, Sociology and Women’s and • Laura Prieto, History and Women’s and Gender Studies Gender Studies (affiliated with Africana Studies) & Kelly Hager, English and Women’s and Gender Studies: “Transnational Feminism and Women’s Faculty Publications/Exhibits Liberation Theater: A Conversation with Kath Kenny” Publications 34 • Kelly Hager, English and Women’s and Gender Studies 48 Presentations & Cathryn Mercier, Children’s Literature: “Mixtapes as a Means of Literary Analysis” 11 Exhibits

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENT AND COLLABORATION ACHIEVEMENT FACULTY 6 Grants and Fellowships STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

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Priscilla Priscilla Wiltshire- Bland ‘20 Communi and cations Africana Studies Creative Landscape: Spring Creative

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Simmons Universe: We Make Make We Universe: Simmons Alexandra Alexandra Bohanan ‘19 Arts Adminis tration exhibited work by 76 students in eight exhibited work by presented drawings, paintings, color studies, screen studies, screen paintings, color drawings, presented Student Art Exhibit Student show: student The annual Art! by 109 media works and mixed prints, photographs, the was held in 10 classes. This exhibition students in 2019 with 1, 22–February January Gallery from Trustman on January 31, 2019. reception an opening and Music Department hosted This spring, the Art Showcase in concert with the its inaugural Spring Symposium. Undergraduate Studio Showcase drawings, paintings, color studies, classes. Photographs, on the on view in the Hall Gallery and collages were 2019. April 22–26, MCB from of the floor fourth IFILL SCHOLARSHIPS to carry on Gwen Ifill’s seeks program The Ifill scholarship into potential turn the next generation’s legacy by helping to support continuing students Ifill scholarships excellence. in the classroom promise exceptional who demonstrate financial have groups, under-represented from and who are in in any academic program a degree pursuing need, and are recipients were: Ifill College. This year’s

Panel Discussions Graduate Theses Graduate

Student Keynote Student Poster Sessions Graduate Student Professional Student Graduate SURPASS Fellowships SURPASS SURE Fellowships Gender/Cultural Studies Colloquium Gender/Cultural Studies and Spring Symposia History Fall Thesis Presentation Literature Children’s • • • Presentations Graduate Research 11 Communications Class Exhibits from 340 248, 240, 210, 1 There were a total of 25 Ifill student participants across participants across 25 Ifill student of a total were There six departments. 8 Development Grants Development Symposium UG Research 28 4 3 3 Gwen Ifill College faculty are committed to mentoring committed to mentoring College faculty are Gwen Ifill learning. work and independent student-driven STUDENT RESEARCH AND AND RESEARCH STUDENT ACTIVITY CREATIVE STUDENT-DRIVEN MEDIA AND PRODUCTIONS In the Gwen Ifill College, we believe in student-driven media as a means of carrying on Gwen Ifill’s legacy and preparing the next generation to foster an informed and creative public. This year, a faculty task force made plans for a new Student-Driven Media Advisory Board to enhance, professionalize, and coordinate our efforts, thanks in part to a generous bequest. Current productions include: • CommTracks, annual communications magazine, annual theme: “The Comm in the Storm” • Sidelines, literary magazine, annual launch: guest artist Sneha Shrestha & guest poet Amanda Lou Doster • Simmons Radio, award-winning station • The Voice, student newspaper Website: simmonsvoice.com • Studio 5, faculty-facilitated professional communications studio • Back on My Feet Boston • Harvard Medical • Beth Israel School’s Family Van • Boston Children’s • MissionSafe Hospital • Mount Pleasant Home • Daily Table • Project Place • Dana-Farber Cancer • Simmons Advancement Institute • Simmons Health • The Gwen Ifill College and Wellness of Media, Arts, and • This Star Won’t Go Out Humanities • Toxics Action Center Sidelines cover art: CommTracks cover design: Erin Buck, “Cycle“ Alex Bohanan CommTracks title typography: Kelsey Klaczyk, based off Barlow

STUDENT-DRIVEN MEDIA AND PRODUCTIONS STUDENT-DRIVEN Condensed by Jeremy Tribby REFLECTIONS ON THE YEAR Student Faculty “I consider Dr. Theresa Perry in the Department of Africana “If this has been the year of institutional restructuring Studies to be my mentor. I’ve learned so much from her and building our foundation as the Gwen Ifill College and the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t of Media, Arts, and Humanities, it seems fitting that know... In the Department of Communications, students Year Two would be the Year of the Student, the year in not only learn the technical which we re-invigorate skills of each course, but and renew our already are encouraged to stretch strong commitment to themselves, try their best, Whose stories can you tell? our students.” take risks and take charge –Eduardo Febles, Modern of their own destinies. The Whose voices are not being Languages and Literatures and Franny Sullivan, History, lessons we’re learning are heard? Who gets to decide members of the Ifill Mission helping us become leaders Statement faculty task force who will be well-equipped which stories and voices get Friend to impart the knowledge REFLECTIONS ON THE YEAR we’ve been given.” ignored? And what are you “Everyone I encountered at the –Priscilla Wiltshire-Bland willing to do about it? ‘20, Africana Studies and Gwen Ifill College was Communications student, Ifill warm and welcoming, Scholarship recipient —Gwen Ifill even staffers and Alumnae/i students I simply “I look to Gwen as an icon passed in the hallways. of what is possible. That through all the The students, of course, were the hardships I have and will face as a Black highlight—sharp and curious and woman operating in a society that wasn’t questioning. Gwen left a most solid built for me, I can do anything I set my mind foundation upon which to build.” to. A strong conviction and the ability to –Nancy Ancrum, Editorial Board Editor at the Miami Herald, Gwen Ifill College produce quality work will get me far.” Mentor-in-Residence, Friend of Gwen Ifill –Alexandra Bohanan ‘19, Arts Administration alumna, Ifill Scholarship recipient

Hands graphic: Studio 5 REFLECTIONS ON THE YEAR