The College of Humanities community is profoundly saddened by the loss of two of its students in a traffic collision Thursday night near the U of A campus. Sophia Akimi Troetel, a double major in Spanish and Psychology, and Josiah Patrick Santos, who was majoring in Theater Arts with a minor in Japanese, died at the scene, while a third student, Katya Castillo-Mendoza, died later from her injuries. They were all incredibly engaged and beloved members of the campus community. 

Everyone in the College of Humanities sends condolences and deepest sympathies to Sophia’s, Josiah’s, and Katya’s families, friends and classmates during this extraordinarily difficult time. 

“Sophia and Josiah were at the Dean’s List reception — arm in arm, smiles wide, glowing with pride and love. Her Dean’s List honor was more than an achievement—it was a reflection of her brilliance, her effort, her heart. Sophia treats every soul with respect, compassion, and care. To know her is to be changed by her,” said advisor Rae LaBar Palmer. 

Advisor Vanessa Valenzuela said Sophia was “a sweetheart and full of light. She had a way of brightening every room she entered with her kindness, laughter, and warmth.”

A memorial to Sophia has been added to the communal ofrenda for Día de los Muertos hosted by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the hallway outside of Modern Languages Room 545. 

Josiah is remembered by instructor Daiki Suematsu as “a warm-hearted, respectful, and hardworking student who always brought a bright smile to class. His gentle smile and positive presence encouraged everyone around him. He will be remembered with deep respect and affection by everyone in our class.”

“Although my time with Josiah was short since meeting him this summer, it was truly an honor to have been his teacher. I will always remember how his smile, humor, and creativity brought warmth and joy to everyone around him. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all of us,” said Atsuko Uemura, another instructor. 

If you or others you know need support, please connect with Campus Health's Counseling & Psych Services (CAPS). For guidance on how to address this tragedy in your classes and other spaces, resources are available on the CAPS website. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help or to encourage others to do so.  

The humanities are everywhere. 

It’s a message that Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, hopes to share with the university and campus communities during this year’s Tucson Humanities Festival, with a series of events meant to showcase the breadth of the humanities and their wide-ranging impact. 

“The study of human cultures, ideas and languages is the study of how we communicate, engage and share, across different traditions and experiences. The humanities are woven throughout other fields of study, providing the context necessary to see meaning in the world around us,” Durand said. “At the University of Arizona, we approach the humanities with fearlessness and a spirit of innovation that spans our disciplines and our teaching, research and outreach missions.”

The festival will feature a reading by Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laurate, a salon featuring award-winning faculty from across the college presenting on their research, a student-oriented humanities fair focused on global opportunities, 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. 

“We’re a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary college and we want to demonstrate how the humanities provide insight in unexpected places and surprising ways,” Durand said. “By spotlighting our dynamic faculty scholarship and programs for students, we can show how the humanities are thriving.” 

TUCSON HUMANITIES FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 

Around the World: Humanities Abroad Fair & Café
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 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 Humanities are Everywhere: Faculty Salon & McCauslin-Smith Gardens Opening
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m. 
U of A Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St. 
To celebrate the opening of the new McCauslin-Smith Gardens at the Helen S. Schaefer Building, College of Humanities faculty members will give brief presentations highlighting their exciting global research and teaching. 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 Jiang Wu, Regents Professor of East Asian Studies and Director, Center for Buddhist Studies; Aurélia Mouzet, Associate Professor of French; Beppe Cavatorta, Professor of Italian; Jasmine Linabary, Assistant Professor of Public and Applied Humanities; and Bhakti Mamtora, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. 

Poetry in Perilous Times: A Reading with Tracy K. Smith
Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m. 
Health Sciences Innovation Building, 1670 E. Drachman St. 
In her latest book, former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith argues that poetry is rooted in fundamentally human qualities innate to our capacities to love, dream, question and engage across diverse cultures and backgrounds. By reimaging and reexamining the age-old art form, Fear Less is a warm invitation to find meaning, consolation and hope through poetry. A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, editor and translator, Smith is the author of eight books and served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-19, during which time she spearheaded American Conversations: Celebrating Poetry in Rural Communities with the Library of Congress and created The Slowdown podcast.

Soundtracks Far & Wide: Faculty Guest DJs on KXCI 
Fridays in October, 5 p.m. 
91.3FM or kxci.org
Borderlands, surprises, myths and horrors. Humanities professors will join KXCI Community Radio host Hannah Levin throughout October as guest DJs during The Home Stretch. Each professor will select a topic to discuss and play related songs, illuminating their own research and teaching and demonstrating the wide-ranging impact of the humanities.  
Oct. 10 – Lillian Gorman, Spanish & Portuguese 
Oct. 17 – Dorrance Dean A-P Durand, College of Humanities 
Oct. 24 – Rob Stephan, Religious Studies & Classics 
Oct. 31 – DeAnna Daniels, Africana Studies

Tibetan San Mandala by Lama Losang Samten 
Public Viewings: Oct. 12 – 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
Dissolution Ritual: Oct. 18, 2PM
Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, 1502 E. Mabel St.
The Arizona Friends of Tibet invite you to witness the creation of a sand mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist ritual artform. The Venerable Lama Losang Samten will create a Kalacakra or “Wheel of Time” sand mandala on campus in the lobby of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. The mandala’s intricate and colorful patterns are created over the course of several days to produce a vision of an enlightened reality. Upon completion, the mandala is destroyed in a ceremonial manner as a meditation upon impermanence and an act of healing beings and their environment. All events are open to the public. For additional details, visit afot.org.

Presented in collaboration with the College of Humanities Center for Buddhist Studies, Health Humanities Hub, Department of Religious Studies & Classics, Department of East Asian Studies, and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

Courtney Friesen, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies & Classics, has received the Frank W. Beare Award from the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

Presented at the society’s annual meeting in June in Toronto, the Beare Award recognizes an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions. 

Friesen’s Acting Gods, Playing Heroes, and the Interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Greek Drama in the Early Common Era, published by Routledge in 2024, explores religion and the receptions of classical theater (tragedy, comedy and satyr drama) in the early centuries of the Common Era. 

Judges for the prize commented that this is “a slim but surprisingly expansive volume, [the book] models an approach to ancient Mediterranean religion that collapses the conventional disciplinary boundaries separating classics and ancient history from biblical studies to patristics. Friesen successfully demonstrates the ongoing influence especially of Euripides on interwoven Greek, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures, and offers tantalizing hints of drama’s durable place in the popular cultural imagination of the ancient world. The book is well-argued, breaks new ground, and overturns the traditional view about early Christian opposition to theatre.”

Grace Faerber, who was the College of Humanities’ Outstanding Senior for Spring 2020, earning a degree in East Asian Studies and Global Studies, is now President of the DC Alumni Chapter. 

Known as the Capitol Cats, the group represents almost 4,000 University of Arizona graduates living in the Potomac Area, which includes the District of Columbia, as well as parts of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. The Capitol Cats host a happy hour each month for U of A alumni in the area. The September social is at Mission in DuPont Circle on Sept. 18, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. Find more information and RSVP here. 

Now working as a China trade analyst, Faerber received her Master's in International Studies in Spring 2022 with a concentration in International Politics at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University in DC and Nanjing University in China. Farber answered some COH questions about alumni involvement and the power of a Humanities degree:

Q: What has motivated you to stay involved in alumni activities, both at the COH university-wide levels? 

I have stayed involved in alumni activities with COH, as a member of the Honors College Board, the Recent Alumni Advisory Council, and as President of the DC Alumni Chapter to stay connected to my Wildcat roots and meet other Cats after leaving U of A. Staying involved has been a fun and engaging way for me to connect with fellow alumni but also give back to a university that shaped who I am today.   

Q: What have you gained from networking with other U of A and other College of Humanities alumni?

I have gained a community of wildcats outside of Tucson and a group of people with shared experiences to connect with while I am far from home! I have also accessed great events and other opportunities each month that enrich my life as a young professional to make me more well-rounded. 

Q: What is the Wildcat alumni network like in Washington D.C.?    

The Wildcat alumni network in DC is strong. We have a lot of alumni, and even current students, in DC, who have found themselves here for internships or jobs with the government, graduate school, or work at the many companies and organizations with major offices in the area. A lot of alumni of all ages, from recent alumni to those who graduated decades ago, who join our chapter’s monthly socials, Wildcat game watches, softball team and more! 

Q: How did your Humanities degree prepare you for your career?

My degree from COH in East Asian Studies, with a focus on the Chinese language, supplied me with the language expertise to conduct research and analysis in Mandarin, as I do in my job every day today. My humanities education in East Asian culture, politics, history and relations also gave me a strong understanding that has informed my career in U.S.-China relations and work focused on Chinese government, politics, trade and more. 

Q: Specifically in terms of studying abroad, how did that international experience become valuable for your career path?

My study abroad experience in China with the College of Humanities had a profound impact on my Chinese language abilities and understanding of Chinese politics, culture and history. It also inspired me to return to Asia and pursue a career in U.S.-China relations, driving me toward a master’s in international studies from Johns Hopkins University’s graduate program in China, a year-long U.S.-government sponsored fellowship studying in Taiwan, and my current career as a China Analyst for the U.S. federal government. 

Q: What advice do you have for current Humanities students in terms of networking while they’re still in school, and what resources are available as Wildcat alumni?

I encourage current Humanities students to take advantage all of the wonderful career resources the University of Arizona and College of Humanities have to offer to learn about potential careers, graduate schools and internships. There are so many great resources for current students, but you can still access some as an alumni too, including Bear Down Network, LinkedIn and connecting with U of A and COH alumni through your college, alumni chapter (like my DC chapter), events, the alumni newsletter, mentoring programs and more. 

Matt Mars, Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Public & Applied Humanities, has won the 2025 Ted K. Bradshaw Outstanding Research Award from the Community Development Society. 

Presented at the CDS Annual Conference on July 8 in Geneva, New York, the award “recognizes completion of superior research which exemplifies and positively impacts community development practice.”

“Dr. Mars is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research significantly advances community development. His work is widely published in Community Development and other top journals in cultural geography, sociology, and marketing,” said the award nomination from Craig A. Talmage, Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Business Management & Entrepreneurship at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Editor of the Community Development Society’s flagship publication – the journal Community Development.

Mars’ research focuses on community innovation, creative placemaking, and entrepreneurial development, including how community and market logics blend to sustain alternative production and consumption models, using diverse empirical contexts such as craft beer, local food and thrifting, Talmage wrote. 

“With nearly 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 25 book chapters, monographs, and edited volumes, he has established himself as a thought leader,” Talmage wrote. “By integrating theories of entrepreneurial martyrdom, structures of common difference, and value narratives, he has expanded the theoretical foundation of community development. His work has resisted narrow, single-context approaches, instead broadening its relevance through comparative studies that enhance the transferability of key insights across multiple settings.”  

“Dr. Mars’s scholarship is theoretically rich, methodologically innovative, and deeply engaged with real-world community issues. His unwavering commitment to advancing community development research and practice makes him an outstanding candidate for this award,” Talmage wrote.

Since 2021, Mars has served as an Associate Editor for Community Development, handling numerous submissions and conducting over 30 peer reviews. He is also a member of the Local Development and Society Editorial Board and co-edits Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Economic Growth.

“My work has long focused on the power of collaboration and collective creativity to foster social innovation and transform communities in ways that elevate local connectivity and belongingness, sustainability, and universal health and well-being. It is my sincere hope that award is an indication that this work is sticking and having impact on both research and practice,” Mars said.