UGA Rhodes and Schwarzman Scholars incorporate study in humanities and arts
University of Georgia students are currently on the leading edge of some of the most prestigious and competitive international awards for undergraduates. The announcement, in November, of Mariah Cady’s selection as a 2024 Rhodes Scholar was followed in December by the news that her fellow senior Ashni Patel (above) has earned a 2025 Schwarzman Scholarship, which will send her to Tsinghua University in Beijing, China for a one-year master’s degree in global affairs starting next fall. UGA students were also represented in the previous classes of Rhodes and Schwarzman Scholars – by Natalie Navarrete and Elise Karinshak, respectively.
One of several things these four past and current students have in common is that each has pursued a course of study that includes strong elements of the humanities and/or the arts. Whether through languages, cultural studies, literature, art, history, philosophy, or combinations thereof, each of these globally recognized scholars achieved the highest ranks in her academic field by incorporating humanities and arts disciplines into a highly ambitious, impact-oriented undergraduate curriculum.
The humanities and arts provide critical meaning and context to learning in all fields; they are the atmosphere that connects disparate spheres of discipline and study, situating them in the shared space where we all live. They are indispensable to a useful understanding of the most profound questions we face in the world today. Congratulations to these and countless other UGA students and graduates who are poised to take on the complex and creative work of shaping the future.