The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $900,000 to Rhodes College to support its innovative initiatives to educate students and citizens about social and cultural determinants of health. The new initiatives made possible by this grant will empower humanities and social science faculty to build out curriculum that more robustly incorporates issues of health equity and to strengthen and create public humanities partnerships in the Memphis region.

Visiting assistant professor and internationally-renowned music director, conductor, and scholar Zak Ozmo's Arts Entrepreneurship class, which has brought together students from a vast array of disciplines, seeks to broaden students' understandings of careers in the arts and expand their professional networks. The class includes a lectures series featuring Memphis leaders who work at the intersection of arts and business and is open to the entire Rhodes community.

Karl Erickson, assistant professor of art and art history, and Emily Burkhead, a senior urban studies major, will have their films featured at the annual Indie Memphis Film Festival to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 4.

Although Africans had a presence in the Americas in the 1500s, it is the year 1619—with the arrival of Africans in Virginia— that is commonly used as a starting point for teaching about slavery in the United States. The story of these captives 400 years ago has set the stage for discussions about the institution of slavery and its aftermath. Professors Trimiko Melancon, Gordon Bigelow, Kijan Bloomfield, and Charles McKinney are joining in Oct. 21 with a panel discussion on campus.

Dr. John Copper, who is a globally renowned scholar in Asian affairs, has published a new book titled Donald J. Trump and China, which assesses the relationship between the United States and China.

Rhodes excels among national liberal arts colleges in the number of graduates accepted into medical schools. Over the past six years, 86 percent of its graduates with a GPA greater than 3.4 and an MCAT score above the 57th percentile have been accepted into medical schools.The 2019 application cycle includes 44 Rhodes graduates offered admittance to medical schools, with Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, George Washington University, and University of Chicago among the list.