News
School of Performing Arts

RIT student Catherine Hampp is one of the stars behind the scenes of Ada and the Engine—the first play to debut in the Sklarsky Glass Box Theater in the SHED, April 4-7.

Three RIT students involved in last semester’s production of Everybody brought home awards from the Region II Kennedy Center College Theatre Fest, held Jan. 17-22.

RIT students have never had as many ways to pursue their love of performing arts than they do now. From scholarships, new clubs and classes, private music lessons, community partnerships, and exciting new venues being built on campus, performing arts for RIT students is literally becoming a show stopper.

Scientists from RIT are developing affordable imaging systems to help libraries and museums preserve and expand access to their historical collections. The project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, aims to create a low-cost spectral imaging system and software that can be used to recover obscured and illegible text on historical documents.

LaVerne McQuiller Williams, senior associate dean of RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, has been named interim COLA dean effective June 1. McQuiller Williams succeeds Dean James Winebrake, who is leaving RIT on June 30 to become provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 36: The right academic major can be a pathway to a dream career. Professor Tina Lent, director of RIT’s museum studies program, talks with 2019 alumna Katherine Hensel about how her degree in museum studies led to her dream job as a U.S. national park ranger.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 33: Community partnerships are one way RIT provides its students with experiential learning opportunities. James Winebrake, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Juilee Decker, associate professor of museum studies, talk about a unique partnership between the college and one of the Finger Lakes Region’s cultural gems, the Genesee Country Village & Museum.

RIT's endowed partnership with Genesee Country Village & Museum—which was established in September by a gift from RIT alumnus Philip Wehrheim ’66 (business) and his wife, Anne—is one of the ways students connect with the Rochester community.

Vanesa Chiodo, a second-year museum studies student, worked as a public programs intern over the summer at The Strong National Museum of Play. Although she was only going into her second year of classes, Chiodo was eager to get some real work experience under her belt.

Rochester Beacon features Hinda Mandell, associate professor of communications, and Juilee Decker associate professor of museum studies.

Handcrafted pussyhats, subversive embroidery (“resist”), protest banners and quilts are among the politically charged textiles inspired by the rise of President Donald Trump, and they are the focus of a new exhibit and catalog curated by two RIT professors.

Meet Hana Halilaj, a third-year School of Individualized Study student, is interning for MoMA’s International Program department, which is dedicated to connecting MoMA with an international network of artists, scholars and institutions.