Florida State University’s College of Music has launched a new interactive webpage showcasing the global reach of its students and faculty. 

The webpage uses an interactive map to highlight College of Music activities around the world and illustrate how international experiences are shaping teaching, research and performance at FSU. 

Sarah Eyerly, associate dean for research and faculty development, and Greg Jones, associate dean for artistic planning, led the creation of the webpage in collaboration with Jeremy Katz, a research impact librarian, and Krista Rockne, research impact assistant with FSU Libraries.

This project is part of a broader initiative by FSU Libraries to partner with academic departments across campus. By providing advanced digital scholarship, spatial mapping, and data infrastructure support, the library helps faculty showcase research impact and community engagement that traditional metrics often overlook.

“As part of the college’s strategic vision, one of our key focus areas is ‘Connecting with Local and Global Communities,’” said Todd Queen, dean of the FSU College of Music. “The FSU College of Music is a global leader in music education, and this mapping project vividly demonstrates the extraordinary reach and impact of our faculty and students as they connect with communities around the world through music.” 

“The FSU College of Music is a global leader in music education, and this mapping project vividly demonstrates the extraordinary reach and impact of our faculty and students as they connect with communities around the world through music.”

– College of Music Dean Todd Queen

This spring, College of Music leaders visited universities and arts organizations in Thailand and Singapore to explore potential partnerships. The delegation included Queen along with Liz Avery, associate dean for academic affairs, and Lori Gooding, director of the college’s Music Therapy Program. 

In Thailand, the delegation traveled to Salaya to meet with representatives at Mahidol University’s College of Music and discuss opportunities for faculty, research and collaborations. 

In Singapore, the delegation met with representatives from the LASALLE College of the Arts, a globally ranked institution for performing arts education that serves as a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore. The connection to LASALLE was made through Indra Selvarajah, an FSU alumna who earned her Ph.D. in Music Education/Music Therapy from the College of Music in 2013. Selvarajah leads LASALLE’s master’s program in Music Therapy.  

The group also met with representatives from SEADOM, a Southeast Asia cultural and educational network that includes 70 member institutions in 10 countries, to explore opportunities for collaboration. They also attended the organization’s annual conference to connect with other regional leaders. 

FSU College of Music students are building international connections of their own. Phee Phupaibul, a student from Thailand pursuing a Doctor of Music in guitar performance, planned and organized a trip for FSU students to attend the Mahidol International Classical Guitar Forum in June at Mahidol University’s College of Music in Salaya, Thailand.  

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From Shakespeare to Broadway musicals, Florida State University’s School of Theatre will bring a wide range of stories to the stage during its 2026-27 season. Tickets are now on sale. 

The five-production season features three musicals and two plays performed by FSU students, beginning Oct. 16 with “Bring It On: The Musical,” a production inspired by the cult classic film. The show features music by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt. Performances run through Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Richard G. Fallon Theatre. 

Friday, Nov. 6, through Sunday, Nov. 15, the Lab Theatre will host William Shakespeare’s play “Coriolanus,” a classic tragedy that explores the cost of pride and the dangers of unchecked ambition. 

The annual Theatre for Young Audiences production, “Me … Jane: The Dreams & Adventures of Young Jane Goodall” runs Nov. 19-22 at the Richard G. Fallon Theatre. Based on the children’s book “Me…Jane,” by Patrick McDonnell, the show follows young Jane Goodall, who would become a world-renowned primatologist, and her toy chimp, Jubilee, on a musical adventure full of wildlife.  

Spring 2027 brings Bess Wohl’s environmental dark comedy play “Continuity” to the Lab Theatre from Feb. 26 to March 7. Told in six takes, the playfuses Hollywood, science and satire in a story in which the real disaster is us. 

Closing the 2026-27 season is “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” based on the Victor Hugo novel and featuring songs from the Disney film. The tale of love, acceptance and what it means to be a hero runs April 9-18 at the Richard G. Fallon Theatre. 

Tickets range from $10 to $35 each and can be purchased online, by phone at (850) 644-6500 or at the Fine Arts Ticket Office in the Fine Arts Building at 540 W. Call St. 

The Fine Arts Ticket Office is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, as well as one hour before each performance. Performance times vary. Visit the School of Theatre website for more information or to purchase tickets. 

To learn more about the FSU School of Theatre, visit theatre.fsu.edu. 

2026-27 season at a glance

Oct. 16-25: Bring It On: The Musical, Richard G. Fallon Theatre 

Nov. 6-15: Coriolanus, The Lab Theatre 

Nov. 19-22: Me … Jane: The Dreams & Adventures of Young Jane Goodall, Richard G. Fallon Theatre 

Feb. 26-March 7: Continuity, The Lab Theatre 

April 9-18: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Richard G. Fallon Theatre 

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Florida State University’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) will welcome nationally recognized choreographers to campus this fall as the center resumes its artist residency program after a one-year hiatus. 

The fall lineup includes Fana Fraser, Kimberly Bartosik, and Joseph “MN Joe” Tran and Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman of BRKFST Dance Company. 

“We are excited to have artists back in the studio,” said MANCC Director Ansje Burdick. “Joining us from across the country, our fall artists are all in early developmental stages of creation as they explore human emotion and interior experiences, collaborate with dramaturgs, refine movement vocabularies and construct soundscapes.” 

MANCC is one of only two national choreographic centers housed at a university. Its location at FSU allows visiting artists to collaborate with scholars and researchers across disciplines and draw on the university’s specialized facilities as they develop new works in contemporary dance. 

MANCC tailors each residency to an artist’s creative process and stage of the work. Artists may experiment with movement alongside FSU School of Dance students, explore lighting design, construct set pieces or consult with academic experts across disciplines. 

The residencies give FSU School of Dance students access to nationally recognized choreographers and a look at how new works are developed.  

This fall, students can attend work-in-progress showings and open studio sessions, participate in movement experiments and engage directly with the artists. Read more about the visiting artists below:

Fana Fraser 

Artist, director and producer Fana Fraser returns to MANCC this month to begin developing a new project, “After the Fallow.” Fraser participated in MANCC’s Forward Dialogues laboratory program in 2017, and their dance films and live performances have since been featured at events and festivals around the world. During the residency, Fraser plans to work with dancers and dramaturgs to bring elements of their outdoor movement practice into the studio and share work in progress during an open studio.     

Kimberly Bartosik   

Guggenheim Fellowship-winning choreographer, performer and educator Kimberly Bartosik comes to MANCC for the first time in October to developher new work, “blood anchor,” which explores the complex power of blood relations and the epidemic of modern loneliness. During this early-stage residency, Bartosik will collaborate with three performers, a dramaturg and a lighting designer to explore the work’s emotional landscape and shape its visual design. 

BRKFST Dance Company  

Joseph “MN Joe” Tran and Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman, co-founders of the Minnesota-based BRKFST Dance Company, come to MANCC for the first time to develop an evening-length duet blending breaking, improvisation and partnering. The work explores how connections to oneself, the body andrelationships evolve during trauma. It draws from Berman’s experience as a two-time cancer survivor and Tran’s experience supporting her through her treatment. Tran and Berman are recipients of the 2026 McKnight Choreography Fellowship, and their MANCC residency was supported by funds from the McKnight Choreography Fellowship program, administered by Springboard for the Arts and funded by the McKnight Foundation. 

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Florida State University has launched the FSU Humanities Center within the College of Arts and Sciences, establishing an interdisciplinary hub to advance humanities research and expand the field’s visibility across the university and beyond.

Led by its founding director, John Corrigan, the Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor of Religion and Professor of History, the center aims to encourage collaboration and innovation by exploring questions about the historical, intellectual and cultural dimensions of the human experience. It will also help prepare students for careers in fields including law, education, writing, communications and public service.

“The Humanities Center reflects the legacy of FSU’s commitment to the advancement of the humanities,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “I am especially grateful to John Corrigan for his leadership in bringing this center to life and to Provost Jim Clark and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Sam Huckaba for their commitment to making this a reality. We are creating new opportunities for faculty, students, staff and the community to collaborate, pursue important research and further strengthen the humanities at FSU.”

Affiliated units include FSU’s Departments of Classics, English, History, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; Art History and Theatre and Performance Research in the College of Fine Arts; and the Musicology program along with Music Theory and Composition in the College of Music. The center will support four FSU faculty fellows, six dissertation fellows pursuing doctoral degrees from FSU humanities departments, 15 undergraduate fellows pursuing honors theses or other humanities research projects, and four postdoctoral fellows serving two-year residencies.

Researchers in the FSU Humanities Center will unite their efforts around a central theme that runs on a two-year cycle. The theme for 2026-2027 is “The Human in the Humanities,” which explores what it means to be human amid the rise of artificial intelligence and the discoveries of neuroscience and genetics, and what ethical behavior and the “good life” look like in this new technological era. The fellows’ collaborative work may result in books, exhibitions, reports, extended articles, websites or other public expressions of their research.

“Establishing this center has long been a goal of our faculty members, and it will showcase the research excellence and scholarly productivity of FSU’s humanities programs.”

— Sam Huckaba, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

“Establishing this center has long been a goal of our faculty members, and it will showcase the research excellence and scholarly productivity of FSU’s humanities programs,” Huckaba said. “I appreciate the efforts of the Humanities Center Task Force in developing this bold proposal and President McCullough and Provost Jim Clark for their support in turning it into reality.”

The new center is also a member of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, a global forum that supports hundreds of humanities centers and institutes through advocacy, funding opportunities and fostering collaboration. Membership connects FSU faculty and students with a network of humanities scholars and provides opportunities for partnerships and engagement with other humanities centers and institutes around the world.

“The Humanities Center rests on the premise that good things happen when people from different disciplines share their ideas about what it means to be human,” Corrigan said. “Our vision is to create a place where researchers in the humanities at FSU, as well as the public, can engage in interdisciplinary conversation and equally find ways to strengthen their expertise in their areas of study.”

By partnering with university, cultural, social and governmental organizations, the center also aims to expand its work beyond campus. It will host a series of lectures and events open to the public throughout the academic year, culminating in an annual international conference in February that explores the current theme. The conference will feature a keynote address by Blair LM Kelley, the president and director of the National Humanities Center, a nonprofit institute founded in 1978 with the mission of supporting scholars whose work helps expand knowledge and shape our understanding of the world we inhabit.

“It is a great time for the humanities to increase their visibility and emphasize the career paths open for those in this field ­— from roles like journalists, teachers, government and NGO employees, and consultants, to lawyers, business entrepreneurs, public relations professionals and more,” Corrigan said. “At the same time, the humanities will continue to do what they have always done, which is to prompt students to think creatively and critically about who they are, what the human is, and what it means to be a good citizen, friend and person.”

To learn more about the FSU Humanities Center, visit humanities.fsu.edu.

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Alumni of FSU’s College of Motion Picture Arts have left their mark on some of this summer’s most prominent movies.

Nat Sanders (BFA ’02) served as an editor on “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” David Robert Mitchell (MFA ’02) wrote, directed and produced “The End of Oak Street,” and Alex Ullom (BFA ’20) wrote, directed and edited the independent thriller “It Ends.” Ullom’s classmates Carrie Carusone and Evan Barber (also both BFA ’20) were producers on the film.

“To see our alumni contributing at this level is an incredible point of pride for FSU Film,” said Reb Braddock, dean of the College of Motion Picture Arts. “Nat and David have each built remarkable careers, while Alex, Carrie and Evan are part of an exciting new generation of FSU filmmakers. Their success shows our students just how many paths there are to making an impact in this industry.”

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” starring Tom Holland and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, has become one of the year’s biggest box-office successes.

The film continues Sanders’ collaboration with Cretton, which includes “Short Term 12,” “The Glass Castle,” “Just Mercy” and Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

Sanders also was part of the FSU Film alumni team behind the Academy Award-winning “Moonlight.” He and fellow FSU graduate Joi McMillon edited the film and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing. Sanders has worked extensively with “Moonlight” writer-director and fellow FSU alumnus Barry Jenkins, including editing Jenkins’ first feature, “Medicine for Melancholy,” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

“It was at the FSU Film School where I discovered my love for editing and also formed the friendships and relationships that made my career possible,” Sanders said. “I’m so grateful for my time at FSU Film.”

Mitchell returned to theaters this summer with “The End of Oak Street,” a science-fiction adventure starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. The film follows the Platt family after a mysterious cosmic event transports their suburban neighborhood to an unknown place, forcing them to navigate unfamiliar surroundings to survive.

Mitchell made his feature directorial debut with “The Myth of the American Sleepover” and gained international attention with the 2014 horror film “It Follows.” He later wrote and directed “Under the Silver Lake.”

“My time at FSU, and the lifelong friendships I made there have been key factors in my ability to make films,” Mitchell said. “It’s a super important place for me.”

Ullom’s feature directorial debut, “It Ends,” opened in select theaters Aug. 21 after strong critical attention and is set to expand nationwide Friday. The film premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

“It Ends” follows four recent college graduates who set out on a late-night drive and find themselves trapped on a seemingly endless road. The film has drawn national attention for Ullom, whose debut comes just four years after earning his BFA from FSU.

Ullom credited his experience at FSU with helping make the film possible and connecting him with collaborators who remain part of his life and work.

“It gave me the friends and collaborators that supported me and are now my lifelong friends. I also couldn’t have made the film without the school supporting us,” Ullom said.

The work of Sanders, Mitchell, Ullom, Carusone and Barber adds to a long record of FSU Film alumni working across the motion picture industry as directors, producers, writers, editors, cinematographers and other filmmaking professionals.

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The Florida State University School of Dance will bring new choreography, creative research and artistic collaboration to the stage during its 2026-27 production season, “Unbound.”  

The season features performances and special events that showcase the range of creative work and inquiry taking place across the School of Dance.  

The season opens Oct. 6 with the Tallahassee premiere of “Adele Myers and Dancers: a world gone FABULOUS” at the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre, presented in partnership with Opening Nights. 

“We are especially pleased to have our students featured as part of this Opening Nights performance,” said James Frazier, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “The evening will open with a newly commissioned work performed by our senior dance majors. It gives our students the chance to bring their work to a broader audience and gain valuable experience performing alongside professionals.” 

“Unbound” combines longtime-favorite productions, including Days of Dance in the fall and Evenings of Dance in the spring, with new opportunities for creative exploration. Among this year’s additions is the inaugural Meridian Dance Film Festival, a juried event that promises to feature work from filmmakers from around the world.  

“This season reveals the depth and range of creative work within our community,” said Helanius J. Wilkins, chair of the School of Dance. “At its core, ‘Unbound’ honors our rich legacy while creating space for reinvention. It invites curiosity, rigorous artistic inquiry and new perspectives while expanding opportunities for collaboration among our students, faculty and distinguished guest artists.” 

Visit the FSU Dance website to purchase tickets. For more information about the FSU School of Dance, visit dance.fsu.edu.   

2026-27 School of Dance performance schedule 

Oct. 6 — Adele Myers and Dancers: a world gone FABULOUS: Presented in partnership with Opening Nights, the Tallahassee premiere features Adele Myers and Dancers, with senior dance majors opening the evening with a newly commissioned work. 

Nov. 6. 7, 13, 14 — Days of Dance: This annual mainstage production brings together works by faculty with a juried selection of pieces by students and staff, performed by School of Dance students.  

Dec. 3 — Sketches: This new, scaled-down dance production emphasizes experimentation and student-driven perspectives, featuring a range of dance styles and creative approaches.  

Jan. 22 — Emerging Voices: A Graduate Showcase: This new showcase presents original works by graduate students in the School of Dance, inviting audiences to explore the questions, processes and possibilities shaping their creative work. 

Feb. 5 — Festival of the Creative Arts: Part of FSU’s annual celebration of interdisciplinary creativity, “Into the Deep” brings together oceanography, dance, music, poetry and other disciplines, with an emphasis on student-created work. 

Feb. 6-7 — Young Dancers Workshop: The annual Young Dancers’ Workshop gives about 200 dancers, ages 10 to 18 the opportunity to participatein a weekend of master classes with School of Dance faculty, including Suzanne Farrell, and invited guest artists.  

Feb. 6 — Meridian Dance Film Festival: This inaugural juried dance film festival features works selected from filmmakers around the world, givingaudiences an opportunity to experience diverse approaches to dance that extend beyond the boundaries of the stage. 

April 9-10 — Evenings of Dance: The School of Dance’s annual spring mainstage production features student performers in works created by School of Dance faculty and distinguished guest artists, highlighting the creative exchanges that emerge through mentorship, collaboration and artistic practice. 
April 13 — Senior Capstone: The Senior Capstone showcases culminating creative projects by graduating students, who bring together their artistic, technical and scholarly development through original work presented to the School of Dance community. 

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The Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) will present “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” beginning Aug. 27, an immersive performance exhibition bringing together the work of two artists and FSU faculty members, father and daughter Ed Love and nia love.

Conceived by School of Dance Professor and Guggenheim-winning choreographer nia love and co-curator Benin Ford, “Floating Metal” brings love’s choreography and dance films into conversation with the work of her father, Ed Love, a sculptor, fellow Guggenheim recipient and celebrated member of the Black Arts Movement. Known for transforming discarded scrap metal into powerful sculptures, Ed Love served as an FSU professor of visual arts from 1990 until his death in 1999.

“One of the central ideas of ‘Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden’ is that our understanding of an artist is never complete. Knowledge unfolds as new works, memories, archives, relationships, and perspectives are brought into conversation,” said Kaylee Spencer, director of the museum. “By looking at Ed Love’s work through the experience of nia love’s performances and video installations, we can revisit the past with new information and see the present differently. We are excited to share this experience with the Tallahassee community.”

The exhibition will combine dance, live jazz music and video projection with the first museum presentation of images from Ed Love’s 1988 “Beloved” series and a selection of his metal sculptures commemorating Black historical figures.

The exhibition is personal for nia love because it draws on her relationship with her father and her own experiences as an artist.

“My father sent me forth to do the dance,” said love. “What happened to tear us apart is not a small thing. It all crosses the seas, estuaries and rivers. Floating Metal recalls and continues this movement. It is a prayer of memory and healing, and a message of invention and rupture.”

nia love will perform at the museum Aug. 27-29 as part of the exhibition. Performances are free and open to the public, but reservations are requiredbecause of limited capacity. Free tickets are available through Eventbrite.

The exhibition also will feature a live performance camera obscura installation encompassing the museum’s central gallery. The darkened installation will project the movements of performers and audience members as images onto the museum walls.

An opening reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. The event is free and open to the public.

love began developing work related to “Floating Metal” during a 2022 residency at FSU’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, before joining the School of Dance faculty. During the residency, she conducted research and developed choreography that contributed to the exhibition.

The presentation of “Floating Metal: UNDERcurrents In My Father’s Garden” was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. Additional support comes from FSU’s Council on Research + Creativity.

MoFA is Tallahassee’s only art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. Home to a permanent collection of over 7,000 objects and works of art, the museum fosters creativity, collaboration and connection in our community. Visit the MoFA website to learn more and plan your visit.

 Performance schedule

Thursday, Aug. 27: 5:30 p.m. 

Friday, Aug. 28: 5:30 p.m. 

Saturday, Aug. 29: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. 

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 The Florida State University Department of Art Education has a new name: the Department of Arts Leadership, Education & Therapy. The new name better reflects the full range of disciplines already housed within the department, including art education, art therapy, arts administration and museum education and visitor-centered curation. 

 “This change reflects the comprehensive scope of our graduate program areas,” said Department Chair and Professor of Art Education Rachel Fendler. “While our commitment to academic excellence and student success remains unchanged, our new name better reflects the full breadth of the department’s mission.” 

The Department of Arts Leadership, Education & Therapy focuses exclusively on graduate education, preparing the next generation of leaders in the arts. The department offers a range of graduate programs, including several fully online options designed for working professionals, and its programs have earned regional and national recognition. 

To learn more about the department and its programs, visit ArtsLeadership.fsu.edu. Follow the department on Instagram at @fsuartsleadership for the latest news and updates.  

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A Florida State University religious studies scholar has earned a competitive grant from one of the country’s leading humanities research organizations to support the translation of two pivotal texts into English and shed light on ancient Buddhist practices and traditions.

Jimmy Yu, the Sheng Yen Professor of Chinese Buddhism in FSU’s Department of Religion, has earned the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Public Impact Grant in Buddhist Studies from the American Council of Learned Societies, a non-profit organization supporting humanities and social science scholars.

The $50,000 grant will support two directions of Yu’s project, “Interdependence: Bridging Chinese Huayan Buddhism and Western Buddhist Practice.” First, the grant includes the translation of two pivotal Huayan Buddhist texts, “Contemplation on the Extinction of Delusion and the Cultivation of the Source of Profound Implications in the Flower Garland” and “Commentary on the Contemplations on the Flower Garland Dharmadhātu.” Second, the grant subsidizes Yu to take a one-year sabbatical to lead retreats and workshops around the country based on the translations.

“Winning this grant came with great excitement and pride,” Yu said. “Now that these texts are translated, people can engage with their teachings, connect them to their own fields of study and apply them to everyday life. I hope it sparks interest in secular, religious and academic fields.”

ACLS was founded in 1919 following the end of World War I to rebuild international scholarly collaboration. Today, its mission is to advance knowledge that improves human experience by supporting those researching human endeavors of the past, present and future. This includes the grants in Buddhist studies, which support projects that make the knowledge of Buddhism more accessible and improve the public’s understanding of Buddhist art, texts and traditions.

“Religious studies scholars like Jimmy remind us that the arena of our research is the world outside of our offices and libraries.”

— Martin Kavka, chair of FSU’s Department of Religion

Yu studies Chinese Buddhism from historical, textual and anthropological perspectives, with a particular interest in how it was practiced in everyday life. Analyzing ancient texts written in classical Chinese, he examines both lived religious traditions and philosophical beliefs from Huayan Buddhist texts. Some of his specific research areas include Chinese Buddhist history from the years 1100 to 1800, bodily rituals and Chan and Zen studies — a major part of which is meditation.

“The grant has given me time to bridge the academic study and the practice of Buddhism together by using my text translations and annotations to design hybrid meditation retreats,” Yu said. “The retreats, scheduled for this year and next, are aimed at English-speaking Buddhists who wouldn’t normally be able to read classical Chinese texts and are seeking greater access to ancient Huayan teachings.”

Huayan Buddhism is a school within Chinese Buddhism that developed during the Tang dynasty from 618 to 907 C.E. It centers around the interconnectedness of all things, borrowing from its core phrase, “One is all, all is one.” For this project, Yu is translating Huayan texts from classical Chinese into English and using them as the foundation for avenues like public lectures known as Dharma talks, mainstream Buddhist journal articles and digital media productions.

The hybrid meditation retreats resulting from these translations will be held at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts, later this year; the San Francisco Zen Center in San Francisco in 2027; Great Vow Monastery, Oregon, in 2027; and the Tallahassee Chan Center in Tallahassee in 2027.

“Religious studies scholars like Jimmy remind us that the arena of our research is the world outside of our offices and libraries,” said Martin Kavka, chair of FSU’s Department of Religion. “The retreats he is planning and the various publications that will stem from his work will give Buddhist practitioners in the U.S. a greater self-knowledge about the stakes of their own practices and address a deep lack in Westerners’ understanding of Buddhism.”

Yu earned his doctorate in Buddhist studies from Princeton University in New Jersey in 2008 and joined FSU’s faculty that same year. At FSU, he teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in Chinese and Japanese religious traditions.

Outside the classroom, Yu is an editor for the Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies and the Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhism through Columbia University Press. He’s also the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, a nonprofit meditation sanctuary that hosts meditation sessions and retreats and has authored six books centered on Chinese and Chan Buddhism.

To learn more about research conducted in FSU’s Department of Religion, visit the department’s website.

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Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts is launching the School of Design at the start of the 2026-27 academic year, a move that reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the design profession.  

Formerly the Department of Interior Architecture & Design, the newly designated school better reflects the breadth of design education now offered at FSU while advancing its nationally recognized interior design program. 

The School of Design builds on more than 50 years of excellence in design education. FSU’s interior design program is ranked No. 3 in the nation for both undergraduate and graduate education by Niche, reinforcing the university’s longstanding reputation as one of the country’s top destinations for design education. 

The transition coincides with the launch of a new bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary design and the addition of a graduate certificate in graphic design last year. Together, the programs expand opportunities for students while positioning the School of Design to meet the evolving needs of the profession.  

“For more than half a century, Florida State University has been training leading designers who shape how we live, work and interact with the world,” said James Frazier, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “The launch of the School of Design reflects our dedication to design thinking, innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. We are preparing students not only for today’s creative industries, but also for the evolving challenges and opportunities shaping the future of design.” 

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