College of Arts and Humanities

For decades, the story of Malcolm X has been told and retold. But the story of the woman who shaped him has remained largely in the margins.

In her novel “Ocean Stirrings,” Professor Emerita Merle Collins centers on Louise Little, a Grenadian-born activist, community organizer and the mother of Malcolm X. The award-winning 2023 novel reconstructs Little’s world across colonial Grenada, migration and racial terror in North America.

College of Arts and Humanities
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
7014-A Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912

ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan will discuss her book Sorrow, Tears and Blood at People's Book in Takoma Park. This is an opportunity to learn more about Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti and Shonekan's scholarship. Fela Kuti's album Sorrow, Tears and Blood offers a glimpse into the complicated social, cultural and political phenomenon that is Nigeria.

Though Nigeria is the most populous African country, and sometimes called the “Giant of Africa,” Fela’s album sheds a sharp light on the reasons why Nigeria has not lived up to its potential. While the text primarily hovers over 1977 (the year of the album’s release) as a critical cultural moment in Nigerian history, it also explores the album in the context of a wider look at how colonialism and its aftermath impacted the social, political and economic environment in Nigeria, and how Western imperialism continues to affect Nigerian identity and life. As we reflect on Nigeria’s turbulent post-independent political and social history, Sorrow Tears and Blood offers a rich sonic and lyrical landscape in which to interrogate the potency of Fela’s message for generations to come. 

Learn more and RSVP here.

Dean Shonekan teaches an ARHU course on arts and humanities of a single song.

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Sherrilyn Ifill argued the 14th Amendment provides a template to reimagine democracy.

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A new book by a UMD alumnus recounts famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass' journey from criticism to respect of Abraham Lincoln for the 16th president's moves to end slavery. 

Read the full article here.

Kwame Edwin Otu of Georgetown University gave a keynote address about the global politics of e-waste at UMD's ATLAS Conference.

Read the full article here.

Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal was published in February 2025, and features scholarship by COMM Associate Professor and Black Communication and Technology (BCaT) Lab Director Dr. Catherine Knight Steele, and COMM Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the BCaT Lab Dr. Rianna Walcott. 

The opera "Morgiane, or the Sultan of Ispahan", composed in 1887 by Edmond Dédé, premiers 130 years later.

Read the full article here.