June

Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than three million slaves living in the Confederate States to be free. In 1865, after two years, the news of the freedom of enslaved people reach Texas. It was not until June 19, 1865, did the state hear of the news that slavery had been abolished.

Since 1946, Hillel of Buffalo has been a center for Jewish life at UB, serving as a nurturing community for generations of Jewish students. To commemorate its 75th anniversary, Hillel hosted a gala in the Center for the Arts in the closing weeks of the spring semester.

A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears. Becoming separate species did not completely stop these animals from mating with each other. Scientists have known this for some time, but the new research draws on an expanded data set — including DNA from an ancient polar bear tooth — to tease out more detail.

Elizabeth Otto, professor of art history and visual studies, College of Arts and Sciences, who previously served five years as HI’s executive director, is the institute’s new director. Her three-year term, however, will begin in fall 2023 following completion of a fellowship from Germany’s Gerda Henkel Foundation, which supports research and scholarship in the humanities.

Abigail Tweedale’s group embodied the genetic information that’s in charge of the development and function of living organisms. They danced as if they were one, instead of parts of a whole, to “We’re All in This Together” from “High School Musical.” “You’re dancing and I’m killing Keira,” Tweedale said as she directed the others during their recent rehearsal in 190 Alumni Arena.

Who is a Muslim woman? What is it really like for women who live in the Middle East? How are they using their voices for efforts of resistance and empowerment? Naila Sahar is answering these questions while breaking down barriers and stereotypes through her research and a course she is teaching — “Women in the Middle East” — in the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies.