Humanities and Fine Arts

The College of Humanities & Fine Arts is the creative and cultural heart of UMass Amherst. With 14 academic departments and 12 world-class research centers, institutes, and interdisciplinary programs, our students — undergraduate and graduate — have the opportunity to study with the best scholars, thinkers, and artists.

Please join us by supporting the HFA Dean’s Priority Fund or one of her priority initiatives. When you invest in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, you invest in possibility.

Dean’s Priorities

Ensuring Access and Success

Students bring to the classroom a broad range of lived experiences and graduate with a strong foundation in critical thinking, effective communication, and a generous capacity for understanding the lives of others.

• The HFA Undergraduate Scholarship Fund helps augment the support of the more than 50% of students who receive financial aid.
   
• HFA Study Abroad Scholarships provide access to opportunities that develop global competency, support intellectual and personal growth, and boost the ability to deal with ambiguity and adapt to new surroundings.
   
• HFA Internship Assistance Fund provides support for students to pursue internships that provide valuable experience, professional development and the opportunity to build a network of mentors.
   
• The Opportunity Scholars Program builds a supportive peer cohort that’s essential to success through mentoring, participation in leadership-building opportunities, exploring careers, and connecting with guest speakers and alumni.
   
• The HFA Student Emergency Fund provides expendable resources to alleviate immediate and unpredictable needs that would preclude a student from completing a semester.

Expanding Student Research Opportunities

Mentored by faculty, HFA student research project participants gain confidence as creators, collaborators, and communicators of knowledge—lifelong skills essential in a complex, interdependent world.

• The Undergraduate Research Fund offsets expenses related to research, including travel, books, and creative work in the arts.

Supporting Faculty Excellence

HFA faculty are top researchers, scholars, and creators in the humanities and arts and cement the university's reputation as a leading research institution, enhancing undergraduate education, and ensuring that UMass is at the forefront of training the next generation of influential scholars and practitioners.

• Gifts to support HFA Faculty Excellence promote diversity in the academy, advance the mission and goals of the college, and enrich student instruction and research.

Many of our alumni and friends choose to support a specific department or program. We welcome all gifts and encourage you to direct your giving to where you find most meaning.

Our philanthropic partners can ensure that we continue to be a place of thrilling creativity in every realm, and a launchpad for new generations of leaders empowered by a strong sense of justice and the world of ideas.

Thank you for your generous and thoughtful support!