The Rhyme & Reason podcast features provocative and timely discussions with compelling leaders in the arts and humanities at the University of Maryland. In this inaugural season, Stephanie Shonekan, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, interviews faculty guests who are taking on pressing issues and topics related to race, equity and justice. You’ll hear from scholars studying topics including indigenous feminist philosophy; immigration; the history of antisemitism; and more!
Bridging Cultures Through Language And Memory, a conversation with Latin American literature and culture scholar Saúl Sosnowski
Saúl Sosnowski, professor of Latin American literature and culture, reflects on his global academic journey and decades at the University of Maryland, emphasizing the importance of language, history and cultural understanding to his work. He highlights the humanities’ role in strengthening democracy, fostering empathy and creating informed citizens, while warning against complacency in moments of political and cultural instability.
3 Apr 2026
The Hidden Histories of Everyday Commodities, a conversation with environmental historian Jayson Porter
Environmental historian Jayson Porter and Dean Stephanie Shonekan explore how commodities like oilseeds reveal environmental racism and shape resource access, offering insights into critical inquiry.
3 Apr 2026
Leading With Purpose In A Polarized World, a conversation with communication scholar Ganga Dhanesh
Communication scholar Ganga Dhanesh shares insights on leading with purpose, emphasizing authenticity and empathy for navigating a polarized world.
3 Oct 2025
Janelle Wong
Professor Janelle Wong shares her journey into political science, influenced by the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings, and discusses her research on immigrant mobilization in U.S. politics in an interview with Dean Stephanie Shonekan.
3 Oct 2025
Cecile Accilien
Dean Stephanie Shonekan interviews Dr. Cécile Accilien, who illuminates Haiti's profound cultural heritage, political evolution, and intellectual contributions, emphasizing the nation's struggles against colonialism and its pursuit of sovereignty.
3 Oct 2025
Quincy Mills
Historian Quincy Mills discusses African American business history with Dean Stephanie Shonekan, exploring how Black communities have influenced economic and social life in the United States in this interview.
13 Feb 2025
Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour
In Episode 6, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, assistant professor in ARHU’s Department of Communication who is a scholar of international political communication. They discuss his path from Ghana to the University of Maryland, the role social media plays in contemporary politics and the political landscape in Africa, including how political leaders construct their public image during governance, elections and crises.
13 Feb 2025
Peter Wien
In Episode 5, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Peter Wien, a Professor in ARHU’s Department of History. They discuss Wien’s scholarship, beginning at the University of Bonn Germany, on the history of the Modern Middle East and Arab Nationalism and what context this knowledge provides for the current rise in Islamophobia and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
13 Feb 2025
Jeffrey Herf
In Episode 4, ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Jeffrey Herf, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus from ARHU’s Department of History. They discuss Herf’s path to becoming a leading scholar on modern Germany, the history of antisemitism in pre-modern and modern history and the creation of Israel as a Jewish state forged in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust, and what people should understand about that history to have a context for the current rise in antisemitism and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
13 Feb 2025
Nancy Mirabal
ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Nancy Mirabal, associate professor of American studies, who directs the Latino/a Studies program. Their conversation centers on the Chicano and Latinx communities in the United States and Mirabal’s role as the director of the Community Fellows Program for the Urban Equity Collaborative, a project funded by the UMD Grand Challenges initiative that engages community organizers as partners to respond to and develop solutions to urban displacement and dispossession.
13 Feb 2025
Madeline Hsu
ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Madeline Hsu, Center for Global Migration Studies Director and professor of history, in a conversation about the historical and contemporary causes of migration, challenges facing immigrants to the U.S. today and a new project focused on the rich culinary histories of the ethnic and immigrant communities in the D.C. metro region. Before joining the faculty at UMD, Hsu was at UT Austin where she led the development of the Teach Immigration History website, a curriculum guide for teaching about immigration laws and their implications for different groups throughout history.
13 Feb 2025
Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner
ARHU Dean Stephanie Shonekan is joined by Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, a proud first-generation descendant of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, who is of both Luiseño (Payómkawichum) and Cupeño (Kupangaxwichem) descent. Shelbi is an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at University of Maryland, College Park. The discussion centers on indigenous identity and language, as well as Shelbi’s vision for the Indigenous Futures Lab that she established to serve as a hub of indigenous feminist research and evaluation.
Who has been a guest on Rhyme & Reason
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jayson Porter
Ganga Dhanesh
Janelle Wong
Cécile Accilien
Quincy Mills
Podcast Authority Score: 12 / 100
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