a2ru Statement on Executive Orders and the Effect on Higher Education

https://a2ru.org/a2ru-statement-on-executive-orders-and-the-effect-on-higher-education/

Mar 11, 2025

Dear a2ru Members, Partners, and Friends,

“I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.”

—John Fitzgerald Kennedy (inscribed on the Kennedy Center)

At a2ru, we reaffirm our commitment to the essential role of the arts in shaping knowledge, driving discovery, and confronting the grand challenges of our time. Across the country, on university campuses and in communities, artists and researchers are leading bold, interdisciplinary innovations—pushing creative research beyond traditional boundaries and ensuring the arts remain central to human progress. As a national network, we recognize that these efforts are happening within a rapidly shifting landscape. Changes in funding structures, research priorities, and institutional policies have created new challenges for many in our fields.

Continue reading “a2ru Statement on Executive Orders and the Effect on Higher Education”

Conversation: Mini Grant Stories

Arts Collaborative Conversation: Mini Grant Stories
Friday, April 4 at noon
Lamar Dodd Building Room S360

Join Arts Collaborative Mini Grant recipients and mentors for a reflective conversation about their projects in progress. The Mini Grant program is supported by the UGA Arts Collaborative, an interdisciplinary initiative for advanced research in the arts at UGA.

Hosted by the Arts Collaborative student organization.

Webinar: Understanding the Arts Student Experience

Understanding the Arts Student Experience: The Latest from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project
Friday, May 2 at 3 PM
https://a2ru.org/event/understanding-the-arts-student-experience-the-latest-from-the-strategic-national-arts-alumni-project/

As an a2ru member institution, UGA students, faculty, and staff are eligible for free registration.

Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) collects, analyzes, and shares data and research about the careers and creative lives of postsecondary arts and design graduates. SNAAP serves the dual purpose of providing institutional-level data to colleges and universities as well as being the best source of national survey data on postsecondary arts education, informing policymakers, administrators, scholars, journalists, and other stakeholders. SNAAP defines arts in a broad sense, to include art, architecture, design, media arts, film, music, theater, dance, and creative writing.

Continue reading “Webinar: Understanding the Arts Student Experience”

UGA Humanities Festival

UGA Humanities Festival
March 11-April 2

Full schedule:
https://willson.uga.edu/public-humanities/uga-humanities-council/2025-uga-humanities-festival/

The University of Georgia Humanities Festival is an annual series of public events presented by the UGA Humanities Council, showcasing the richness and diversity of research and practice in the humanities at UGA and throughout our extended community. The third annual UGA Humanities Festival features lectures, conversations, performances, social gatherings, and keynote events — including a public reception and celebration of the humanities community at UGA, to which all are warmly invited.

The UGA Humanities Council is supported by the Office of the Provost, the Office of Research, and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, with the participation of more than 30 colleges, schools, departments, and units across the university.

Torrance Festival of Ideas

Torrance Festival of Ideas
April 21-22
https://tinyurl.com/torranceideasfest2025

The 2025 Torrance Festival of Ideas explores festival theme of Creativity and Health. This global online two-day festival features presentations from world-renowned scholars on their pioneering ideas on the intersections between creativity and mental health, physical health, community health, and medicine.

Registration is FREE but seats are limited!

Continue reading “Torrance Festival of Ideas”

Conversation: Interdisciplinary Arts Research

Arts Collaborative Conversation: Interdisciplinary Arts Research
Friday, February 21 at noon
Lamar Dodd Building Room S360

How do universities support interdisciplinary arts research? Join in a public conversation with the Arts Collaborative and guests from the University of Alabama Collaborative Arts Research Initiative (CARI) about projects, strategies, and visions for the future.

Rebecca Salzer is a Professor of Dance at the University of Alabama and Director of CARI. Salzer also directs the NEH-funded Dancing Digital project, a national effort to create more equitable, sustainable, and forward-thinking dance resources online. She holds a B.A. in Humanities from Yale University and an M.F.A. in Dance Theatre from the University of California, San Diego.

Shannon McCue is Assistant Director of CARI. Previously she served as Education Director for the Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa, where she managed all education programs, including the West Alabama Arts Education Collaborative, Poetry Out Loud, and a small grants program. She is a professional violist with degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Lawrence University, and regularly performs with several regional orchestras.

Hosted by the Arts Collaborative student organization.