External Posts
Assistant Professor of English Sam Plasencia wrote an article titled "Methodological Revolutions for Teaching Phillis Wheatley Peters" that was published in ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830. In the article, Plasencia discusses a course she designed "titled 'Phillis Wheatley Peters and Her Literary Afterlives,' which sought to (re)introduce Wheatley Peters to mostly white students as a literary foremother, and to do so by way of Black feminist writing that considers method," she wrote in the article's abstract.
An article by Sam Plasencia, assistant professor of English, was published in the Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists (Volume 13, Number 1). Titled "Disrupting Anti-Blackness: David Walker’s Fugitive Inhabitation of an American Grammar," the article "offers a reading of Walker’s insurgency, arguing that his unique typographical performance usurps dominant grammatical and rhetorical forms (italics, em-dashes, negative questions, shifting pronouns, commas, metonymic slippages, and repetition) in order to scramble the governing anti-Black episteme, wherein language is variously deployed to suppress, elide, mask, legitimize, and normalize the violence of anti-Blackness," according to the article's abstract.
Kaushik Tekur, visiting assistant professor of English, wrote a book review of Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative that appeared in Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly (Volume 47, Number 2). The book, written by Zachary McLeod Hutchins, "argues for fragmentary accounts of enslaved people—in the form of runaway advertisements, newspaper accounts, among others—to be considered slave narratives," writes Tekur. "The book ultimately makes a bold claim for reinterpreting the 'origins' of the slave narrative in the Anglo-American world. It emphasizes a different reading practice, rooted in an eighteenth-century cultural practice of reading newspapers, which gathered details about Black people over the span of several weeks, if not months, to be able to construct a fuller account of their lives."
From local papers to mainstream sports outlets, Mules cross-country skiers Jack Young ’25, competing for the U.S., and Maddie Hooker ’27, skiing for Australia, earned a range of media attention, including a shout-out (at 29:00 minutes) from The Athletic's "The Sports Gossip Show," co-hosted by Colby alum Charlotte Wilder ’11. Read a feature in Young's hometown paper here.
The Maine Art Education Association has named the Colby Arts Office its 2026 Art Advocate of the Year. Established in 2020, the Colby Arts Office creates a culture of creativity across campus and in Waterville. "We applaud your belief in the arts as a powerful force for building vibrant, thriving communities," said Maine Art Education Association President Matthew Johnson in a letter to the Arts Office. "What truly distinguishes your work, however, is your sustained dedication to the arts through the revitalization of downtown Waterville and the creation of spaces where communities can gather, connect, and grow through artistic expression. Your willingness to collaborate, innovate, and champion local schools is both inspiring and deeply meaningful."
Goldfarb Family Distinguished Chair in American Government and Director of the Bram Public Policy Lab Nicholas Jacobs provided commentary for a New York Times story about Senator Susan Collins decreasing the presence of ICE in Maine, including how it supports her narrative of being a "seasoned politician, not the showman.”
Colby's significant role in building a high-performance computing hub in Waterville was highlighted in a Mainebiz story. The piece noted that the project, which has been awarded $6.2 million in federal funding and resulted from "multi-year planning with Colby College," will position the state as a "hub for advanced research and scalable innovation."
Carrie Levan, the Montgoris Family Associate Professor of Government, has a new book soon to be released. Neighborhoods Matter: How Place and People Affect Political Participation is forthcoming this April from New York University Press. "Participation in official governmental institutions and activities has declined dramatically," said the publisher. "Americans are less inclined to express trust in, or cooperate with, political leaders and each other to address society's most pressing problems. In Neighborhoods that Matter, Carrie LeVan explores this growing crisis in civic engagement, arguing that where we live—and the people who live around us—may be to blame."
A story in centralmaine.com highlighted Colby's women's ice hockey team as it seeks its first championship in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, one of the top Division III women’s hockey leagues in the nation.
An article by Associate Professor of Art Marta Ameri was published as a chapter in the book the Routledge Companion to Seals and Seal Studies in Antiquity (2026). Titled "Women's Seals in Iran and Central Asia: Prestige Items or Administrative Tools (or Both)?" the article is included in the book's "Gender" section. Ameri was also the content expert for a children's book Life in the Indus Civilization: An Interactive Ancient History Adventure" (Capstone Publishing, 2025) as part of the publisher's "You Choose" series.