Our Year 2022–2023

In August, Associate Professor of History Eugenio Menegon and Assistant Professor of Theology Daryl Ireland launched the China Historical Christian Database to quantify and visualize the place of Christianity in modern China (1550-1950).

In August, five new postdoctoral scholars arrived at Boston University, the first cohort in a new College of Arts & Sciences Society of Fellows program that gives early-career scholars with a commitment to interdisciplinary and inclusive scholarship an opportunity to advance their research and teaching.

In September, Mae Ngai, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University, presented the 2022 Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture: “The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes, Chinese Migration, and Global Politics.”

During the fall semester, CAS Diversity & Inclusion formally launched the Community Values & Resources Team (CVRT) to educate the community to recognize and respond effectively to bias concerns.

In November, the Department of History of Art & Architecture hosted “African American Art History: Present Coordinates,” a symposium in collaboration with the Emerging Scholars Program, which included remarks by Professor Emerita of American & African American Arts Patricia Hill, and a keynote by Melanee Harvey (GRS’17), associate professor of art history at Howard University

In November, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Director, Child and Adolescent Fear and Anxiety Treatment Program CAS Feld Family Professor of Teaching Excellence Donna Pincus gave the 2022 Gitner Family Lecture, “Building Bravery at BU and Beyond: Evidence-Based Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety.”

In December, Arts & Sciences celebrated the opening of the new Center for Computing & Data Sciences, the home of the departments of Mathematics & Statistics and Computer Science, along with the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences and the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering.

In December, 351 high school students convened in the George Sherman Union ballroom for BU’s 20th Annual Classics Day, an annual event hosted by the BU classics department to inspire high school students to consider a degree in classics.

In January, Arts & Sciences launched the Experiential Learning Connector, a new resource center to empower undergraduate students to identify and access the many experiential learning opportunities available to them.

In February, Professor Kira Thurman hosted the 2023 Silas Peirce Lecture: On Beethoven, Blackness, and Belonging, turning to the past to consider how African Americans made classical music a meaningful part of their lives. 

In March, Arts & Sciences students celebrated the college’s 150th birthday with a party featuring 314 pies, music, games, giveaways, and speeches from Arts & Sciences Dean Stan Sclaroff; Daryl Healea, assistant dean for curriculum and enrollment services (and a campus historian); and CAS student leaders.

In March, in honor of the college’s sesquicentennial birthday, Wenqi Luo (CAS`23), Zheng Han (Questrom`25), Gary Guoliang Yu and Zuo Jiaqi set the world record for creating the largest LEGO® brick number: 150. 

In May, American Studies hosted, “Archives and Knowledge Keepers: Native American and Indigenous Studies and the Art of History,” a one-day symposium showcasing scholars whose work engages indigenous modes of knowledge production. 

In May, teams from CAS won top awards in Innovate@BU’s annual New Venture Competition.