Stephanie Newell, George M. Bodman Professor of English, has received the International Institute of Literature and Arts (IILA) Distinguished Humanities Scholar Award in recognition of her contributions to West African literature and print culture.

In a Q&A, Julia Jarcho, Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, discusses her “experimental mayhem,” why she’s teaching a course on glamour, and what she likes to do outside of the world of theater.

FAS faculty are advancing research across the sciences, from exploring the early universe and evolutionary biology to promoting transparency and reproducibility in AI-assisted research. Faculty also earned honors recognizing their contributions to physics, astronomy, and paleontology.

Seyla Benhabib, Eugene Meyer Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy, received the Skytte Prize in Political Science in honor of her work “examining how justice is possible in a world of constant human mobility, with deep respect for the rights of both individuals and states.”

The neural networks that power popular AI chatbots process data much differently than humans but capably perform tasks involving language, logic, and math. A new study led by Tom McCoy, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, sheds light on how those systems “think.”

Kathryn Lofton, Lex Hixon Professor of Religious Studies and American Studies and Professor of History and Divinity, has received the 2026 John T. Hubbell Prize for her article “Great Excitement Prevails: The American Lynching Myth.”

Maureen Long, Bruce D. Alexander ’65 Professor and Chair of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has received the 2026 Louise H. Kellogg Mid-Career Medal from the American Geophysical Union for her interdisciplinary research on the Earth’s deep interior and contributions to mentoring, outreach, and diversity.

In a new study, a research group including Derek Briggs, Derek Briggs, the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, suggests animals may have appeared on Earth as early as 800 to 700 million years ago.

In a new video, scholars from across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences explain how the recent explosion of data in our world presents both challenges and opportunities in their quest to better understand human behavior.

In a new book, Assistant Professor of American Studies Julián Posada explores the experiences of the low-paid workers who generate the massive amounts of data needed for artificial intelligence.