It is safe to say that when students began spring break last March that we did not expect to spend the next year separated from our friends and family, nor did we foresee having to adapt to an entirely new learning format online. This passing year has been a time of adjustment and has perhaps challenged our ideas of what it means for education and success to be accessible to all people. When faced with these challenges, students and faculty here at �ؾ��� have showcased their resourcefulness and determination to build safe learning environments that still encourage students to pursue their passions.

In the classroom, Melissa Qualls is electric, lighting up the room with her joyful laughter, sharp wit, and deep philosophical and literary intellect. Her excitement about topics like Gender Studies and Existentialism is infectious, and students leave her classes feeling a little lighter and a lot smarter, their minds abuzz with the words of great thinkers like Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. Qualls is not in the business of facilitating dull rote memorization; she constructs classes that center on something much more important: wisdom.

Dr. Jeffrey Smith, Senior Professor of History at �ؾ���, has had two recent successes in the publication world. His article “Death and Dying at the Founding of Missouri,” in which he explores the changes of burial services during the 1820s and 30s in the rapidly growing city of St. Louis, was published in the Saint Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly, an organization that was founded in 1968. The Quarterly reached out to Dr. Smith to put together a piece about the local history of burials which is how his article came to be published.

Dr. Ted Cohen, associate professor of history and geography, was announced as a recipient of the 2021 Howard F. Cline Book Prize in Mexican History. His book, “Finding Afro-Mexico: Race and Nation after the Revolution at the Conference on Latin American History,” was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.

College Consensus has ranked �ؾ���’s online game design programs in their lists of Top 25 programs for 2021. Both bachelor’s and master’s degree offerings were recognized by College Consensus for their quality of delivery and preparation of emerging professionals in the industry.

�ؾ���’s School of Arts, Media, and Communications provides students with the opportunity to gain real experience in a multitude of areas including art and design, digital marketing, cinema arts, and performing arts.

�ؾ��� senior Angelina Chartrand will be published in an upcoming issue of the Oakland Arts Review, an international literary journal dedicated to publishing the work of undergraduate students.

�ؾ���’s Senior Professor of Art and Design John Troy will be featured in his fourth exhibition this year. He will have two paintings, titled “2137” and “Hartley,” featured in the Manifest Gallery’s HOMAGE exhibition in Cincinnati. The exhibit received 273 submissions from 87 artists before narrowing it down to 14 pieces by nine artists; only three of the artists, including Professor Troy, had more than one piece accepted.

This November, a team of four students in �ؾ���’s Advertising Campaign Management class learned that they had placed 6th in the Digital Marketing Competition, an international contest for university students.

With a variety of GIS (Geographic Information System) professionals and organizations in attendance, �ؾ���’s GIS Day with a variety of GIS (Geographic Information System) professionals and organizations in attendance, �ؾ���’s GIS Day served as a greatly beneficial forum between the university and the GIS industry of the greater St. Louis region.