UVM College of Arts & Sciences

03/25/2026

Have you ever wondered how your part-time job or seasonal work could shape your professional path? UVM CAS’ new Professional Contexts course gives students space to reflect on their work experiences, build confidence in their skills, and connect with UVM's career-focused resources. Read more about the course and how four CAS students are connecting their work experience to their professional pathways:

show the image caption close caption Rubi Espejo '27 (right) with Kennedy Connors, president of the Student Government Association Putting Professional Experience into Context: CAS Course Connects Student Work with Professional Paths Student Success Share March 25, 2026 By Lisa C. Bailey Could a par...

03/20/2026

CAS student Finn Flynn, a third-year biology student and UVM Natural History Collections intern with the Zadock Thompson Zoological Collections, is helping bring attention to the elusive Vermont snow lady beetle population through his insect collections work. This crucial research helps us understand what species are missing from a location, supports accurate population and species tracking, and shows how environments change over time.

Learn more about Finn's research here:

Hunting for (Snow) Lady Bugs Environment Student Success Share March 19, 2026 By Kristen Munson The fate of a single insect is not the sort of thing that often keeps one up at night. But Finn Flynn isn’t most people. The third-year biology student recently spent months sorting through more than 6...

03/13/2026

📣 Join us for the Spring 2026 Scholar Teacher Lecture!

The College of Arts and Sciences is excited to present “The Hunger Games and Gen Z Politics” with political science professor Anthony “Jack” Gierzynski.

While Millennials grew up with Harry Potter, Gen Z came of age immersed in darker fictional worlds like those in the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner series. This lecture digs into a compelling question:

👉 What role did these popular authoritarian dystopian stories play in the political development of Gen Z?

Professor Gierzynski is a longtime faculty member in UVM’s Department of Political Science and the author of five books. His most recent work, The Political Effects of Entertainment Media: How Fictional Worlds Affect Real World Political Perspectives and Harry Potter and the Millennials, draws heavily on research conducted with his students.

His latest article, “The Euphoria Effect: A Popular HBO Show, Gen Z, and Drug Policy Beliefs,” was a collaborative projecte with students from the 2022 Political Science Honors Seminar and was published in Social Science Quarterly.

We hope you’ll join us!

03/05/2026

We are so very proud of these four CAS students!

From 75 campuses across 35 states, we've listened to hundreds of student entries to select the very best for NPR's College Podcast Challenge.

03/05/2026

We're excited to announce our next CAS Full Professor Lecture! On Wednesday, March 18th, UVM French professor Meaghan Emery will present "Taking on the Heat in the 'Burbs of Paris," an intriguing discussion that blends eco-philosophy with environmental research. Join us in the Waterman Lounge at 4:30 to hear more about this captivating topic and Professor Emery's research.

03/04/2026

Williams Hall is now home to a new hub for student creativity! UVM's first student art gallery is now open for visitors and submissions on the second floor of Williams Hall. The gallery is open to students of any major who would like to applyto showcase their art, plus it offers opportunities for hands-on curation and installation experience for interested students.

Learn more about the gallery, how to submit your artwork, gaining hands-on experience, and more:

New Student Art Gallery Open to Submissions—and Conversations Culture & Society Student Success Share March 4, 2026 By Lisa C. Bailey UVM students are running the show—and showing their art—at a new gallery and lounge on the second floor of Williams Hall. They’re also talking about art, atte...

02/24/2026

We love this post from our friends in the Canadian Studies department-- congrats on a successful trip to Ottawa this past weekend! We're certain that plenty of fascinating conversations about history, identity, and US-Canada relations were had between all of the curling, museum trips, and other fun-filled outings.

02/23/2026

Vermont may be the least religious state in the country, but what do faith and spiritual life really look like here?

A new project in UVM’s Department of Religion, led by Professors Thomas Borchert, Vicki Brennan, and Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, is exploring just that. Supported by a $150,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant, the team will train undergraduate students to delve into Vermont’s religious landscape through research, internships, community engagement, and more. Together, they will shed light on the many ways religion shapes life across Vermont.

Learn more about this exciting project here:

show the image caption close caption From left: Thomas Borchert, Ilyse Morgenstein Furst, Vicki Brennan. Photo by Suman Thapa Exploring Vermont’s Hidden Religious Landscape UVM Faculty Earn NEH Grant to Train Students in Statewide Research Culture & Society Share February 23, 2026 By Su Reid-St. J...

02/18/2026

UVM CAS students are taking their curiosity outside the classroom to study the thousands of crows that roost in and around Burlington each winter. Led by Luis Vivanco, UVM anthropology department chair, the C.R.O.W. (Corvid Relational Observatory and Workshop) lab was developed in the spring of 2025. Students involved with the lab go on crow walks together and work on semester-long creative projects about the birds, ranging from comics to videos and maps, that delve into the cultural anthropology of crows and crow-human relations.

Learn more about the C.R.O.W lab and its mission here:

show the image caption close caption Drawing by Aaron Mayer '28 Caw of the Wild: Students Study Crows Around Burlington Student Success Share February 17, 2026 By Lisa C. Bailey Labeled shapeshifters, tricksters, even harbingers of death, crows have quite a reputation. But Luis Vivanco, Ph.D., chair...

02/10/2026

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced the winners for their 2026 awards season. The AAAS recognizes scientists, engineers, innovators, and public servants who have significantly advanced science and society. This year, CAS's own Lesley-Ann L. Dupigny-Giroux, distinguished professor of geography and geosciences, will take home the AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science. This prestigious honor celebrates scientists and engineers who meaningfully contribute to public engagement with science. Congrats, Professor Dupigny-Giroux!

Learn more about the AAAS awards here: https://www.aaas.org/aaas-awards

02/09/2026

We’re so excited to see “Prioritizing an Enduring Pursuit of the Liberal Arts” listed as a key strategy under the “Study What Matters” pillar of this ambitious plan! We in CAS have long been focused on communicating the value of the liberal arts in terms of teaching the skills employers look for, providing a wide range of opportunities for research and community involvement, and encouraging students to be curious and discover what they’re passionate about. We are ready to go Green, Gold, and Bold!