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CABCoFA Honors Faculty and Staff for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service

The Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts recently celebrated its 2025–26 Distinguished Faculty and Staff Awards, recognizing faculty and staff whose work continues to strengthen the College’s culture of artistic excellence, scholarship, mentorship, and service. Hosted by Chad Eric Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications, the ceremony honored individuals across teaching, research, creative work, and institutional leadership.

A Groundbreaking Business Anthropology Course Reimagines the Future of the Arts at Howard

For what is believed to be the first time at an HBCU, the University introduced an undergraduate course in business anthropology—an interdisciplinary field long present at predominantly white institutions but now reframed through a distinctly Howard lens. Developed and taught by Professor Autumn McDonald, Business Anthropology for the Arts immerses students to learn at the intersection of cultures, business, and creative practice, asking a timely question: what happens when artists are trained not only to create, but to deeply understand the cultural systems in which their work lives?

Expanding Access, Expanding Understanding: How One Howard Faculty Member Is Reframing Global Music Scholarship

Within the Department of Music, a long-running faculty initiative is quietly reshaping how scholars, students, and researchers access and understand music scholarship across the globe. What began as a simple list has grown into a robust, internationally recognized resource—one that reflects both the scale of global musical inquiry and the ongoing need for greater equity in academic publishing.

Sustainable Fashion in Focus, Featuring Professor Mikki Taylor

As sustainability reshapes the fashion industry, Howard faculty are helping lead the shift. This national story from InvestigateTV explores the growing movement toward resale and responsible consumption—and features insights from our very own fashion design professor, Mikki Taylor, who is helping prepare the next generation of designers to lead with both creativity and environmental consciousness.

Recovering Legacy Through Performance: Professor Denise J. Hart Brings Howard-Connected History to Life in Boston

History, performance, and personal discovery converge in new work emerging from the College. Professor Denise J. Hart brings a Howard-connected legacy to life through an original docu-play and public lecture in Boston, using research, storytelling, and genealogy to illuminate the life and impact of her third great cousin, Sue Bailey Thurman—author, lecturer, historian, and civil rights activist—and to explore how artists can engage history in ways that resonate today.

Howard University Dance Program Marks a Year of Artistic Excellence and National Visibility

The Howard University Dance Program, housed within the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts’ Department of Theatre Arts, has marked an extraordinary year of artistic growth, interdisciplinary collaboration, cultural engagement, and national visibility. From masterclasses and creative residencies to public performances, study abroad connections, and student choreography presented on prominent stages, the Program’s 2025–2026 highlights reflect a dynamic year of training, discovery, and achievement.

Professors Angela Powell Walker and Kit Young Bring Marian Anderson’s Legacy to Thailand

Howard University faculty, representing the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, have extended a powerful artistic legacy onto the global stage through a recent engagement in Thailand. Through performances, masterclasses, and cross-cultural exchange, Professors Angela Powell Walker and Kit Young honored the enduring impact of Marian Anderson while fostering international collaboration, cultural dialogue, and new opportunities for artistic connection.

Designing What We Don’t Often See: Tiffani Sydnor and the Power of Being Rare

In an industry where representation behind the scenes remains limited, Adjunct Lecturer Tiffani Sydnor is helping expand what—and who—we see. As a production and scenic designer working across film, television, theatre, and immersive experiences, she brings both professional distinction and a rare perspective into the classroom at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. Through her work and mentorship, students are not only learning how to design—they are learning that they belong in the spaces where creative worlds are built.

Alumna KayaZhanna Donaldson Builds Momentum Across Jazz, Opera, Musical Theatre, and Original Work

Since graduating in May 2025, KayaZhanna Donaldson has moved quickly across stages, genres, and disciplines. From jazz festival stages across the DMV to graduate study at NYU Steinhardt, original work supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and an upcoming opera performance at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Donaldson’s path reflects the range, discipline, and promise of a CABCoFA alumna moving boldly into her next chapter.

From Fear to the Global Stage: Clarke Randolph on Finding Her Voice, and Expanding What a Violinist Can Be

On a national stage, under bright lights and in front of a packed audience, a violin cuts through the sound of hip-hop, precise, expressive, unmistakably present. For many, it’s unexpected. For Clarke Randolph, it’s simply the natural result of saying yes to what once felt impossible.

BADGE Lecture Series Opens with Onye Ozuzu

The Center for Black Arts, Design and Global Engagement (BADGE) opened its lecture series last week with a compelling conversation featuring choreographer, performing artist, and researcher Onye Ozuzu, exploring how art can function as a tool for research, memory, and diasporic connection. Through her interdisciplinary project Space Carcasses, Ozuzu offered a powerful framework for understanding the body as a site of knowledge and the built environment as a vessel of history.

Howard University Alum Keith Killgo of the Blackbyrds Returns with His High School Marching Band to His Old Stomping Ground

A Howard legacy came full circle as alumnus Keith Killgo of the Blackbyrds returned to campus with his high school marching band, offering his students a firsthand look at the place where his journey began. From touring the Yard to sitting in on a live jazz rehearsal, the visit connected past, present, and future—illustrating how the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts continues to inspire and shape the next generation of artists.

Howard Music Business Seniors Step Inside Spotify’s Global Headquarters

In February 2026, seniors in Howard University’s Music Business program traveled to New York City for an immersive visit to the global headquarters of Spotify — the world’s largest music streaming platform, serving 713 million active monthly users and holding 31 percent of the global market share.

The visit was more than a tour. It was a working conversation about the future of music.

The Legacy Beneath Our Feet: The Story of the Childers Hall Basement Mural

Ever been curious about the story behind the mural in the header of each issue of the What’s Happening at CABCoFA newsletter? 

Tucked within the basement of Childers Hall is one of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts’ most expansive visual archives — a mural that does more than decorate a wall. It tells a story. It carries memory. And for those who pause long enough to study the mural, it reveals the living lineage of music at Howard University.