Rice University School of Humanities

05/07/2026

A sweet message from our sweet Anna Julia — we love you, and we’re (kinda) sad to see you go. 💙

Safe travels to all of our Rice Owls heading home, abroad, or just up the road, and happy commencement!

Model: Anna Julia, Department Administrator

Event: Humanities and Arts Staff Social

Thank you for taking such good care of us!

03/25/2026

The Houston heat didn’t stop us yesterday (though it came pretty close)!!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat with Humanities & Arts faculty and staff about upcoming courses—and to pet Dr. Hill’s doggo 🐶

We’re keeping the good times going with a Humanities Hangout + course preview in Duncan Hall TODAY at noon!

Come by to:
• Chat with Humanities & Arts faculty
• Explore upcoming courses
• Grab a Chick-fil-A sandwich 👀

See you there :)

03/04/2026

All in a day's work.

We started the morning in front of what felt like a mountain: 200 people to stand up for the Humanities and Arts Excellence Fund, and 75 more to put their names next to a new Creative Writing MFA. It’s a lot to ask of a day.

Halfway through, we paused and gathered to recognize the big wins that land small in the face of twenty-four seemingly endless hours (and to play Texas trivia to take the edge off). We celebrated the effort.

And then, on our way, we witnessed that 75th donor cross the line for the Creative Writing MFA, unlocking a $150k gift from one of our own, Dr. Jeffrey Michel ‘85. *Deep breath*

One foot in front of the other. Every hour. Every day. Every week. That is how we build things in the Humanities.

To everyone who put their hand on the rope with us: thank you. thank you. thank you.

Giving ends at 1AM: https://donate.rice.edu/schools/RiceUniversity/rice-24-hour-challenge-2026/pages/school-of-humanities-and-arts/?a=1

03/04/2026

Today, we're collapsing a year of creative grit into a single day. Your gift isn't just a donation; it’s a "keep going" to the writers, philosophers, historians, environmentalists, artists, and critical thinkers of our time.

We’re 73% of the way to our goal of 75 donors to the Creative Writing MFA fund.

Help us go all the way to unlock a gift of $150,000 from Rice Alum, Dr. Jeffrey Michel '85: https://bit.ly/4rOYhhE

A huge thank you to everyone who's already donated!

02/17/2026

Way to go, Rice University Speech and Debate, the George R. Brown Forensic Society!!!! 🎉

Rice Speech and Debate Wins 39 Awards so far in Spring 2026!

Rice Speech and Debate continues to represent Rice with its usual excellence across the nation. This semester, the team has competed at multiple events, expressing student voices through rhetoric and performance. The team has qualified numerous students for nationals, and hopes to qualify several more before starting the national run. Recent awards are listed below:

Mound High Swing, January 8-11, Lebanon, IL
Part 1:
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson: Double-octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Double-octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Part 2:
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Kyle Sanderfer: 7th Overall Debate Speaker
Nikki Stancik: 6th Overall Debate Speaker

National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence first round bids announced:
At the awards for this tournament, the NPTE Board announced the first round of bids for the prestigious NPTE 2026 tournament. Rice qualified 4 teams for this prestigious event! The following Rice teams were announced:

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer, currently ranked #2 in the nation
Ridhi Dondeti and William Wang, currently ranked #13 in the nation
Rohan Gupta and Travis Johson, currently ranked #10 in the nation
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin, currently ranked #12 in the nation

These pairs will represent Rice at the NPTW in March!

Golden Gate Invitational, University of California, Berkeley
2nd Place Sweepstakes

Nikki Stancik and Kyle Sanderfer: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate
William Wang and Travis Johnson: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Octafinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Kyle Sanderfer: Top Overall Debate Speaker
Nikki Stancik: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker
William Wang: 10th Overall Debate Speaker

Online Asynchronous Tournament Series 5, January 19-23
Chloe Pesqueira: 3rd Extemporaneous Speaking

Texas Intercollegiate Forensics Association State Tournament, January 6-8, San Marcos, TX

Sweepstakes: 2nd Place

Part 1:
Vedant Khadiya:
1st Place Individual Sweepstakes
1st Place Informative Speaking
2nd Communication Analysis
5th Impromptu Speaking
6th Persuasive Speaking

Reed Zimmerman: 5th Dramatic Interpretation

Daijah Wilson: 4th Dramatic Interpretation

Part 2:
Sweepstakes: 5th Place

Daijah Wilson: 1st Informative Speaking
6th Dramatic Interpretation
Vedant Khadiya: 2nd Communication Analysis
Ola Oladipo: 3rd Program Oral Interpretation
Reed Zimmerman: 3rd Dramatic Interpretation

Denison University BRM Debate Tournament, February 7-8, Virtual
Rohan Gupta and Molly Wladis: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate
Karen Tang and Lawrence Jin: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Speaker Awards:
Karen Tang: Top Speaker
Molly Wladis: 2nd Overall Debate Speaker
Rohan Gupta: 5th Overall Debate Speaker

Rice will next compete in “The Texas Shuffle Swing” in San Antonio before entering “Nationals Season” in March and April.

Please join us in congratulating these academic competitors!

Rice Speech and Debate is coached by David Worth and Shannon LaBove. For more information, please visit humanities.rice.edu/speech-and-debate.

02/17/2026

As NASA prepares for Artemis II, Rice University is exploring the human side of space, examining how our stories, ethics and language shape the future beyond Earth. Rice’s Space Humanities Initiative asks what it means to explore space through art, literature, history and ethics.

https://bit.ly/4qllgPM

02/17/2026

We are absolutely honored to have Andrea Bajani as part of the Rice Humanities and Arts Faculty! It is a true privilege to witness his brilliance up close. Congratulations, agan!!

01/30/2026

Artificial intelligence is no laughing matter, but being around other living, breathing human beings to talk about the ways we can and should persist, resist, hesitate, pivot, learn, teach, and grow is life-giving, grounding, and unmistakably human—and that brings us joy in the Humanities.

Thanks to everyone who joined for our first conversation of four on artificial intelligence in education. The next conversation will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 4:30 PM with:
Kirsten Ostherr (Medical Humanities/ English and Creative Writing)
Robert Howell (Ethics of Technology/ Philosophy)
Elizabeth Petrick (History) and
Luis Campos (Science and Technology Studies/ History)

Register at the link in our bio. See you there!

*Disclaimer: Caption written by ChatGPT*

JUST KIDDING. Written by our very real social media specialist.

Happy Friday, Owls!

01/27/2026

The future of AI isn’t about better code, it’s about better questions.

That’s why we’ve gathered some of the leading voices in the Humanities and Arts to tackle the ethics of AI AND offer a path forward with YOU (the human) at the center.

Join us for any of the HACKED: THE HUMAN OS conversations this spring. Humanities and Arts faculty will be answering questions like:

🚩Who is responsible when AI makes an ethical mistake?
🚩What does the classroom look like when the teacher is a bot?
🚩ATP, is the “human element” a necessity or a luxury?

For more info or to register for any of the events, visit https://events.rice.edu/event/humanities-arts-ai-series

01/22/2026

In a world that feels increasingly digital, we want our students to graduate with more than just technical skills—we want them to be able to think deeply and connect personally.

A few English and Creative Writing faculty are fostering those "human" connections by returning to screen-free classrooms—a deliberate move away from digital noise and toward an intimate engagement with big ideas, with an even bigger payoff: deeper focus, better retention, and stronger relationships with peers.

Read how professors Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan and Benjamin Parris are bringing low-tech learning back to the classroom.

In an era when classroom technology is often treated as synonymous with innovation, a small number of faculty in Rice’s School of Humanities and Arts are moving deliberately in the opposite direction.