As high school friends in Tucson, George Henman and Darren Pittenger decided to make the leap together the University of Arizona, where they were roommates, fraternity brothers and even ended up in the same major. 

They graduated together in 1989 and remained close friends even as they followed their own paths, Henman to Columbia University, where he earned dual master’s degrees, in business and international affairs, and Pittenger to law school at the University of California at Davis. 

Pittenger passed away in 1999 and this year, Henman is establishing the Darren J. Pittenger Memorial Scholarship in Interdisciplinary Studies in his honor, and leading the effort to gather contributions from friends and family, including other fraternity brothers.

“He was a young guy when he passed away and it’s something that’s really stuck with me for a long time. This is a good way to honor Darren, honor the fraternity and our experience in school,” Henman said. “We were both Interdisciplinary Studies students and had an outstanding experience as result of being able to create a curriculum that worked for us intellectually and overall where we wanted to go with our educations. I feel like it really achieves a lot of what I’m looking to do and what Darren would be excited to be a part of it.”

Henman and Pittenger were both members of the Kappa Alpha Order, part of the group that rechartered the fraternity in the 1980s. Henman served as president and Pittenger as vice president. The idea of scholarship had been on Henman’s mind for years and started becoming reality last fall, when the fraternity had a 40^th anniversary celebration of its recharting at homecoming.

“I’m still close with a lot of the guys from the fraternity and many of us stay in touch, especially in more recent years. Darren was somebody I spoke about to the group and everybody remembered him of course,” he said.

Henman was the first of the pair to put together a degree plan under the Interdisciplinary Studies program (known as General Studies at the time), and Pittenger followed. For his degree, Henman focused on philosophy, political science and Russian studies, captivated by the end of the Cold War. Pittenger, who had law school in mind, took a similar approach, combining political science and philosophy with business.

“The opportunity to explore multiple areas of study and bring them together in a cohesive way makes a lot of sense. You want to be stimulated, you want to be engaged and interested in what you’re studying. The spirit of Interdisciplinary Studies is still very much in line with the experiences I had and Darren had,” Henman said.

Because the Interdisciplinary Studies program serves a diverse student body, from traditional-age students, like Henman and Pettinger, to working adults, outside student support can make a significant difference, said Faculty Director Victoria N. Meyer. 

“The Interdisciplinary Studies program welcomes donations to support student success,” she said. “Each student tailors their degree to their interests and goals while gaining skills and knowledge with direct workforce relevance. The program also supports student participation in transformative opportunities, such as study abroad, internships, and other hands-on learning experiences, where outside financial support can be crucial.”

Henman, who would be awarded a Robie Gold Medal at his commencement, had received scholarships as a student and in the years since, has grown interested in giving back.

“I’d thought for years about creating a scholarship that would help young people like I was helped and in addition to that, honor my good friend who passed away way too young,” he said. “Many years later, I’ve been able to make a commitment and I’m also going to be enlisting support from friends and family, people who knew Darren well, and grow the fund to support students.” 

A renowned physician, educator and researcher, Dr. Tim Tiutan is a leading voice in public health, blending his clinical expertise with a talent for making health education accessible over social media.

Tiutan’s multifaceted career traces directly back to his dual undergraduate degrees from the University of Arizona. He graduated with a B.A. in Spanish and a B.S. in Health Sciences in 2012, before earning a medical degree in 2016. A shining example of how the humanities and medicine can come together to create widespread, positive impacts in the healthcare realm, Tiutan is the recipient of the College of Humanities 2026 Young Professional Achievement Award.

“As a physician and content creator, my degree in Spanish linguistics has been instrumental in shaping how I communicate with people,” Dr. Tiutan says. “It has not only helped me connect more effectively with my patients but also allows me to engage with a broader audience on social media, making health information more accessible for all.”

Originally from the Philippines, Tiutan moved to the United States as a child, first to Southern California and then Yuma, where he graduated from Kofa High School. Enrolling at the U of A with a goal to be a doctor, Tiutan chose to also study Spanish, knowing he’d likely encounter Spanish-speaking patients in his future career. 

“I wanted to be as worldly of a physician as possible to help people from different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, languages. I chose double majoring in physiology and Spanish linguistics to be able to amplify my voice and my identity, but also to reach my goals in being able to cater to people from every walk of life,” he said. “Going through my undergraduate career, it was really nice to have two separate but very connected worlds, which allowed for me to have a very holistic experience that enhanced my educational experience in the best way possible.” 

Tiutan was already combining his medical and humanities sides as a student, volunteering as a translator at Clínica Amistad. He also studied abroad in Spain, a transformative experience that combined language immersion with a broader understanding of the ways in which culture can influence health. And his Spanish major came with a major side benefit as well, making him a more competitive applicant for medical school. 

“Statistically, most people do the typical science majors, so studying the humanities set me apart in such a meaningful way,” he said. “That helped my career not only in medical school, but in my application for residency, where I then moved to New York City. Those experiences were so instrumental in activating this part of my brain that built a foundation for the rest of my career, because living in New York, I interact with people from every walk of life, every culture, every background, every language. And in the hospital, I truly do use my Spanish language abilities pretty much on a daily basis.” 

Now a board-certified internal medicine physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, Tiutan has also gained renown as a leading voice in public health, with more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram. 

“Social media is a very powerful tool, and I think that it is a tool of the future. Physicians or other health care providers, such as myself, can really take control of the narrative and prevent the spread of misinformation,” he said. “It’s also important to be able to humanize the physician experience so that people can see and relate to people across the screen, such as myself, who have an MD behind them.” 

Tiutan sees his work on social media, in television appearances, as a speaker and mentoring students all as a way to connect with people, just as he connects with his patients. 

“Anytime I talk about my Filipino background, my ability to speak Spanish, my diverse experiences in life, and also my very humble beginnings, I feel like it does resonate with a lot of people who can see themselves in a part of my background,” he said. “I hope that it inspires people from every background to be able to reach for the stars and try to work their hardest to achieve their dreams.” 

Last year, Tiutan was named Alumnus of the Year for the College of Medicine – Tucson.

As far back as graduate school at the University of Virginia, Martin Sheehan was aware of the reputation of the U of A’s Department of German Studies. 

As Sheehan progressed through his own career, including nearly a decade as chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at Tennessee Tech University, he continued to encounter work of German Studies faculty from the U of A – at conferences, in webinars and in books and articles – and came to understand the breadth and interdisciplinarity of the work. 

“When the opportunity arose to lead German Studies, I already knew I would be joining a department with unusual strength on both sides of the field: internationally recognized work in language learning and pedagogy, and an equally ambitious tradition of cultural and literary scholarship,” said Sheehan, who started this fall as Associate Professor and Department Head. 

Once an aspiring engineer, Sheehan said he’s always been fascinated by what brings students to German and when he arrived at the U of A, he learned about several astronomy students who had added a German major and in exploring the connection, discovered that Hans-Walter Rix, now a director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, came to the U of A as a Fulbright scholar, earned his Ph.D. here, and later taught here for many years. 

“Discoveries like that remind me that German can intersect with astronomy, engineering, business, environmental studies, music, history and many other fields. Sometimes students reveal those connections to us simply by telling us what excites them,” he said.

What brought to you the U of A and what do you envision for the future of the Department of German Studies? 

“The University of Arizona’s Department of German Studies had been on my professional radar for many years before I had the opportunity to join it. Even as a graduate student, I regularly encountered Arizona faculty presenting their work at national conferences. Over time, I also found myself reading and citing scholarship by members of the department in my own research. Their names kept appearing on innovative books and articles, as well as on symposia, conferences, and collaborative projects that were expanding what German Studies could encompass. That mattered to me because I have always been drawn to a broad conception of the field, one that includes literature and cultural studies alongside film, media, digital humanities, language pedagogy and interdisciplinary work.

“The department’s designation as a German Center of Excellence reflects that larger record of achievement. What I appreciate even more now that I am here is how much sustained effort lies behind that reputation. My colleagues bring tremendous energy to their research and teaching, while also creating opportunities for students and engaging teachers and communities across Arizona and beyond. The department’s dual doctoral program with the universities of Leipzig and Cologne is another example of that ambition. It gives graduate students the chance to work across national and intellectual traditions in a way that few programs can offer.

“At a moment when German programs at several major universities have been consolidated or reduced, I find it especially meaningful to join a department that continues to ask expansive questions about what German Studies can be. That combination of scholarly excellence, international engagement, strong language education, and a willingness to push the boundaries of the discipline was a major reason Arizona appealed to me.”

Speaking of interdisciplinary research, your work touches on digital humanities and applied humanities – how can the humanities impact other fields?

“My route into the digital humanities actually began before I knew that term existed. I started college as an electrical engineering major who also excelled in my humanities classes like German and English. Eventually, the demands of the engineering curriculum forced me to make a choice, and I chose language, literature and culture. Years later, while completing my graduate work at the University of Virginia, I discovered the Scholars' Lab, an interdisciplinary research center in our library where I began attending workshops that showed me ways computational methods could help us generate and explore humanistic questions. It felt as though two parts of my intellectual life that I had once been forced to separate were beginning to come back together.

“Some of my research uses computational methods like social network analysis. If we claim that a character occupies an important position in a literary work, for example, we can map who speaks to whom and examine patterns of connection across the text. The quantitative data and the graphs we make out of them do not replace interpretation. Instead, the approach gives us another way of seeing the text and sometimes exposes relationships we might otherwise overlook.

“I am increasingly interested in video games for similar reasons. I grew up playing edutainment games like The Oregon Trail, and while I was drawn to the more active aspects of the gameplay (like hunting and avoiding rocks while rafting down the Columbia River), eventually I also explored the rich details the programmers baked into the game. The game asks players to make choices within a historical system and then live with the consequences. My current projects explore how we might use game mechanics to investigate subjects ranging from Viennese ball culture around 1900 to the hyperinflation experienced by Germans after the first World War. I am fascinated by the possibility that building and playing a game can itself become a form of humanistic inquiry, and I feel lucky to be in a college where this type of applied, creative scholarship is valued.” 

What is the importance of language learning, both for students majoring or majoring in a language and for those in general education courses, and how can programs like the Arizona Summer Study in Leipzig impact that experience?

“There is a particular joy in seeing students enter a beginning German classroom with little or no knowledge of the language and then watching them develop confidence, competence, and eventually creativity. At first, every sentence can feel like an accomplishment. Before long, students begin experimenting, joking, taking risks and finding ways to express ideas that they could not have communicated only a few months earlier. That process teaches much more than vocabulary and grammar. It asks students to become comfortable with uncertainty.

“The uncertainty that students learn to navigate in the language classroom becomes much more tangible when they study abroad, which I have witnessed firsthand. My own experience with studying abroad began very early. I traveled to Forchheim, Germany, on a high school exchange, later spent a semester studying in Erfurt as an undergraduate, and eventually returned to Germany to teach for a year at the Technische Universität Dortmund. Years later, I had the opportunity to experience study abroad from the other side by helping accompany students to Berlin. That perspective was especially rewarding because I could see how transformative the experience could be for students. Some had barely traveled before, and a few had never even been on an airplane. Then, after spending time abroad, they were already looking for ways to return.

“I sometimes say that study abroad is valuable precisely because it is challenging, although I would never want that to frighten students away. The growth comes from discovering that you can navigate a train station when you are uncertain where to go, order a meal when you do not know every word on the menu, recover from a misunderstanding, or find another way to communicate when the first one fails. Each small success builds confidence. Students begin to realize that they can function in circumstances that initially seemed unfamiliar or intimidating. Those lessons in adaptability, independence, patience, and problem solving stay with them long after the trip ends.

“German Studies also gives students ways to encounter another culture beyond learning to communicate in its language. I love teaching literature and especially film because those courses allow students to discover how analysis and interpretation work. A student might begin by saying that a sequence of a movie made them anxious, unsettled, or exhilarated. My job is then to ask: “Why? What did the camera position, editing, sound, or visual composition of the scene do to make you feel like that?” Watching students move from feeling something to explaining how an artwork created that feeling is enormously satisfying. The lessons we learn in class help sharpen our eyes as we view the world around us. 

“And German cinema gives us extraordinary material to work with. Some of classic films feature unexpected elements like child murderers, cabaret performers, vampires, monsters, or sleepwalking killers. That reality tends to surprise students who arrive expecting something much tamer and more solemn from early movies. Films such as these make excellent gateways into questions about psychology, gender, politics, social class, and the history of cinema itself.

Study abroad extends all of those lessons into everyday life. Students have to navigate unfamiliar circumstances, solve problems, listen carefully, and occasionally accept that they will misunderstand something. That experience builds linguistic proficiency, but also independence, adaptability, and humility. There is a qualitative difference between studying another culture and discovering how to live, however briefly, within it.” 

How can you convey to students – and the broader community – the value of multilingualism and the humanities, especially in an increasingly high-tech future? 

“I think multilingualism may become more valuable precisely because technology makes communication look effortless. Learning another language reminds us that genuine communication requires patience. You have to listen, notice context, tolerate ambiguity, rephrase yourself, and sometimes find an entirely different way of making a connection or getting your ideas across. Those habits are extremely valuable beyond the language classroom. They teach us how to encounter people whose experiences and assumptions differ from our own.

“I think something similar is true of the humanities in an age of artificial intelligence. Generative AI can process astonishing quantities of material created by human beings: our writing, images, theories, histories, hopes, and fears. But those systems necessarily begin with records of what humans have already thought and made. Human beings still have to decide what questions matter, what future we want, and what ought to exist that does not yet exist. Humanistic thinking helps us decide which questions are worth asking.

“Perhaps that is one reason I have always been attracted to older technologies. I collect typewriters, and I still use them to write letters and thank you notes to friends and colleagues. It might sound strange, but, in our current digital age dominated by emails and text messages, there is something wonderfully human about receiving a typewritten letter. You can see the uneven impression of the keys, the occasional typo, how the lines of text aren’t perfectly aligned because the paper was fed in at a slight angle. These physical traces show that someone sat at a machine and composed those particular words for you. You can see the effort. An email is faster, yes, but a typewritten note asks both writer and reader to slow down, to engage with intention."

“I don't think our technological future will necessarily make those slower forms of engagement obsolete. Who knows! We might value them more. We already see renewed interest in vinyl records, film cameras, printed books, typewriters, even iPods—all devices that do fewer things rather than more. For me, the humanities occupy a similar space. They teach sustained attention. They ask us to linger over a sentence, an image, a historical moment, or an idea. In a world capable of generating an almost limitless amount of content, the capacity to pay attention, interpret carefully, create something genuinely new, and communicate meaningfully with another person may become more valuable than ever.” 

Playing is as universal as anything in the human experience.

We play as children to learn cultural norms, social bonds and how to handle life’s ups and downs. We play as adults for recreation, passion and competition. We play at any age to add richness and joy to our lives. Whether simple or complex, alone or together, playing is ubiquitous. 

This fall, the College of Humanities will explore Play as the theme of the annual Tucson Humanities Festival. 

With the World Cup capturing the attention of sports fans globally all summer, 2026 is the perfect year to think about all the ways in which playing is intertwined with human cultures, said Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities. Durand, who attended three of France’s matches, said soccer will be among the many topics discussed at the festival. 

“All around the world, you can’t escape it. You go to the stadium because it’s your team, it’s your nation. It’s something everybody can enjoy together. Sports, and soccer in particular, can definitely unite people,” Durand said. “But beyond that, the Tucson Humanities Festival will dive into many aspects of what it means to play. We’ll examine global perspectives on the worlds of comics, cosplay, video games, improvisational music and dance, and the wide world of online play.” 

The festival will feature a conversation with Wildcat legend (and College of Humanities alumnus) Steve Kerr and Head Coach Tommy Lloyd, moderated by Durand, about the impact of a global mindset and how it has shaped their coaching and leadership styles, a salon featuring faculty from across the college presenting on their research and teaching, a panel about the intersections of sports and society, and more.

Coinciding with National Arts & Humanities Month, the Tucson Humanities Festival began in 2009 as Humanities Week and has grown into a monthlong series of guest speakers and special events. 

“Playing is at the heart of human culture and meaning. It’s what adds joy to our lives, so what could be more enjoyable as a theme for the Humanities Festival?” Durand said. “The humanities can provide insight into every aspect of the way we live and this year, we wanted to shine a light on something that crosses all boundaries and can put smiles on everyone’s faces.” 

TUCSON HUMANITIES FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 

Steve Kerr & Tommy Lloyd: Lessons from Around the World
Friday, Sept. 18, 6 p.m. 
Bear Down Building 

Join Wildcat legend Steve Kerr and Head Coach Tommy Lloyd, fresh off a Final Four season and National Coach of the Year honors, for a wide-ranging conversation about the impact of a global mindset and how it has shaped their coaching and leadership styles. Born in Beirut, Kerr lived in the Middle East and Europe for much of his childhood, which sparked a curiosity about the world, a love of travel and a lifelong embrace of cultural diversity. Lloyd, who played professionally in Australia and Germany, celebrated his honeymoon backpacking around the world before developing a reputation as the leading international recruiter in college basketball. Dorrance Dean Alain-Philippe Durand will moderate a discussion about how experiences around the world have impacted their lives, on and off the court. 

Tickets start from $25 and support the Kerr Family Endowment for Humanities Abroad, which provides study abroad scholarships for humanities students.

Straight to the Goal: The Intersections of Sports and Humanities
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6 p.m. 
Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine

Look no further than the pride and fever of fandom that spread around the globe during this summer’s World Cup competition to see just how impactful sports can be on culture. From the perspective of the humanities, sports and games are connected to numerous aspects of our societies. Sports carry hopes and dreams and find their way to the core of civic or even national identity. Moderated by Dorrance Dean Alain-Philippe Durand, the panelists will share their perspectives on the interdisciplinary connections that can be found between sports, the humanities and a variety of other disciplines. 

Panelists: Fabrizio Conti, Lecturer in History, John Cabot University; Anastasiya Ghosh, Associate Dean, Partnerships, Eller College of Management; and Lazz Kinnamon, Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies

A Global Playground: Humanities Abroad Fair & Café
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
U of A Mall 

A humanities education is a passport to the world! Drop by for activities and information about the world of possibilities at the College of Humanities. Learn about faculty-led study abroad programs in destinations across the globe – and the variety of scholarships available for humanities students to make those trips possible. Meet our faculty, advisors and student ambassadors and enjoy free beverages and snacks.

The Game at the End of the World: A Reading with Francisco Cantú and Juan Villaro
Thursday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. 
U of A Poetry Center

Celebrated Mexican author Juan Villoro’s new book explores soccer (football, fútbol, fußball) through the elements that make it the world’s favorite pastime: its ancient origins, mythic players, exhilarating matches, endemic rivalries, and the unlikely moments in which football has changed history. Through the work of translator Francisco Cantú, the book’s reach, like the sport itself, expands across borders and languages. An award-winning journalist, Villoro is the author of more than 40 books. Cantú is the author of The Line Becomes a River, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The Range of Play: Humanities Faculty Salon 
Thursday, Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m. 
U of A Poetry Center

Faculty members from across the College of Humanities will give brief presentations discussing games and play from a variety of perspectives. Come explore the global perspectives on the worlds of comics, cosplay, video games, improvisational music and dance, and the wide world of online play. After presentations, guests will have an opportunity to mingle and engage in dynamic conversations with these faculty and others who are at the top of their field. Meet the scholars who are global leaders in innovative humanities teaching and research!

Featuring: Ken McAllister, Associate Dean, Research & Program Innovation; Manuela Luengas Solano, Assistant Professor, Spanish & Portuguese; Reneé Reynolds, Associate Professor of Practice, Public & Applied Humanities; Martin Sheehan, Department Head, German Studies; Sunyoung Yang, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies; and Praise Zenenga, Department Head, Africana Studies. 

Homerathon & the Odyssey: Toying with Tradition
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m. 
U of A Poetry Center

Presented by the Classics program and the Classics Club, the annual day-long reading of a Homeric epic will feature a series of faculty mini-lectures at 6 p.m., highlighting the way the Odyssey plays with Greek myths and the way later adaptations play with the Odyssey. The earliest pieces of literature in Europe, the Iliad and the Odyssey have inspired countless works of art and literature from ancient statues to Hollywood blockbusters. The timeless themes of cleverness, honor, family what it means to be civilized, and the hero’s journey explore the nature of our shared humanity across boundaries of time, space and culture.

The marathon reading begins at 8 a.m. in the Poetry Center Hillman Odeum. Drop in anytime throughout the day as we read aloud the entirety of the Odyssey. The reading will pause at 6 p.m. for the lecture, and will resume afterwards until we finish the poem around 10 p.m.

DeAnna Daniels, an Assistant Professor of Africana and Religious Studies, has been selected as one of 10 participants in the prestigious 2026-2028 Young Scholars in American Religion Program. 

Daniels is the third faculty member from the University of Arizona’s Department of Religious Studies and Classics selected for the program, following Kristy Slominski in 2022 and Daisy Vargas in 2019. 

“Being accepted into the Young Scholars of American Religion program is a tremendous honor and a meaningful recognition of the questions and ideas that have shaped my work. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and collaborate with an extraordinary community and cohort of scholars and to continue exploring the complex ways religion shapes—and is shaped by—American life,” Daniels said. 

The program will allow Daniels, who joined the College of Humanities faculty in 2023,  to complete her current project, “Thinking through the Slash: Horror’s Entanglement with Black Religious Thought and Culture,” which investigates the cultural, social and aesthetic dimensions of Black religious experience through attention and theorization of the relationship between religion, race, gender, disability and horror in literature, visual culture and film. 

The Young Scholars in American Religion Program, at the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture at IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, is a highly competitive early-career scholar award. With support from Lilly Endowment, the Center assists these early career scholars in the improvement of their teaching and research and in the development of professional communities. 

The U of A Poetry Center is introducing a new theme and mural for its children’s area, accompanied by new K-12 field trip offerings and a monthly bilingual story hour. 

The new theme is ¡Cuentos del Mundo!, which celebrates the Biblioteca de México in Mexico City, bridging classic global folklore with modern literature loved by our neighbors in Mexico. The first transformation of the Poetry Center’s children’s area in five years includes a new story-themed mural by local Chicana artist Adelynn Olea of Alleycat Murals, new books (including braille) for the themed reading shelf and a rotating interactive exhibit. 

One of the goals for ¡Cuentos del Mundo! is to extend our reach to local families, especially families who don't normally find themselves on campus, said Eva Maria Sierra, education and outreach assistant at the Poetry Center. 

“Much of this project was inspired by my own growing up in the bilingual community of Douglas and Agua Prieta, and the stories I loved hearing as a child in both English and Spanish,” Sierra said. 

The new bilingual story time will take place at 10 a.m. every second Saturday, starting Sept. 12, and continuing through December. Families with children from infancy through third grade are invited to hear stories read in English and Spanish. The events are free, no registration is required and parking is free on campus surface lots on Saturdays. 

“It has been a lot of fun imagining curriculum, community offerings and field trip activities centered around the new Brave Books theme,” Sierra said. “My research has also given me a renewed appreciation for oral history and the act of writing down stories, how stories continue to evolve long after they are written, and how different cultures contextualize and extract from the same stories in different ways.

The Brave Books program is the Poetry Center’s thematic celebration of independent bookstores and libraries from around the world. In years past, the program has featured Shakespeare & Company in Paris, the African National Memorial Bookstore in Harlem, the Library of Alexandria and Basra Central Library in Egypt and Iraq, Casa Camino Real in New Mexico, and most recently, zines and zine libraries. ¡Cuentos del Mundo! offerings and curriculum center Mexican literature as well as classic stories loved all over the world like fables, fairy tales, folktales and legends. 

Stop by to see the new mural and check out the Brave Books titles. You can see the full reading list at the links, in English and Español. For more information, email pceducation@arizona.edu.