The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences
The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences cultivates trailblazers and leaders. Here, you'll study the modes of expression through which we record and interpret the human experience.
“We can't expect the world to get better by itself.”— Gwen Ifill
Our students view society through the multi-faceted lenses of language, narrative, art, music, film and contemporary media. You'll hone your creative abilities through real-world projects and on-the-job learning experiences.
As a pioneering Black woman journalist, Gwen Ifill '77 '93HD broke through barriers of prejudice and stands as a model of professional excellence and a purposeful life. The Ifill School aims to carry on that legacy for the next generations. Our mission:
- We are a community of educators and learners guided by intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and generosity of spirit.
- We derive strength from our differences and pursue civic engagement through humanistic inquiry that values language, lived experience, artistic expression, and imagination.
- We give voice to our stories, past and present, individual and global, told and untold, to influence a future whose questions have yet to be asked.
How will you do the hard work of imagining a more just future?
Our Faculty
You’ll study with faculty who are thought-leaders and award winners, researchers and professionals in their fields.
About the School
Meet Gwen Ifill
Best known as a successful and much admired television news anchor, Gwen Ifill launched her career here at Simmons.
Ifill Forum
The Ifill Forum is our annual signature event in honor of Gwen Ifill and her legacy as a ground-breaking Black woman journalist. We invite alumnae, community members, students, faculty, staff, and friends of Gwen Ifill to experience an event where important national voices come together for a conversation of a pressing issue. The Ifill Forum seeks to ask the questions that Gwen herself would be asking of our world today.
Statement of Solidarity for Racial Justice
Read the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences' statement of solidarity for racial justice.
Mentoring
Among Gwen Ifill’s legacies is a commitment to mentoring and to nurturing a diverse and talented next generation.
Student Opportunities
We cultivate a diverse and talented generation of trailblazers who are poised to become leaders in their professions and in their communities.
Current Faculty Resources
Information for our current faculty, including funding opportunities.
The Gwen Ifill School in the News
2024 Simmons Faculty Awards Celebrates Stellar Researchers and Educators
Simmons faculty from various disciplines received awards in undergraduate and graduate teaching, research, service, and a commitment to DEI at the 2024 Faculty Awards.
Simmons Faculty Reflect on the Upcoming Presidential Election
Faculty from the Department of Politics and Policy at Simmons recently presented a virtual panel discussion on the upcoming presidential election.
Award-Winning Illustrator Roger Mello Visits Simmons
Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello visited the Simmons campus for a presentation in Professor Cathryn Mercier’s Picturebook class.
Simmons Hosts “A Conversation of Remembrance” to Honor Gwen Ifill ’77, ’93HD
The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities, and Social Sciences and the Simmons Alumnae/i Association honored the legacy of trailblazing news anchor and journalist Gwen Ifill ’77 ’93HD. Ifill’s brother Dr. Roberto Ifill and her college classmates joined Simmons faculty, current Simmons students, Ifill School Dean Ammina Kothari, and President Lynn Perry Wooten to commemorate this extraordinary alumna.
Dr. Ammina Kothari Selected as Dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities, and Social Sciences
As dean, Dr. Kothari will play a pivotal role in the leadership of the Ifill School, a vital part of Simmons' forward-looking academic structure that is designed to accelerate student pathways and growth in meaningful careers.
Why the World Needs Simmons: Insights on Contemporary Feminism from Professor Suzanne Leonard
Suzanne Leonard , Professor of Literature and Writing, and the director of the MA in Gender and Cultural Studies, teaches courses on Feminist Media Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and American Literature at Simmons. The co-editor of Imagining We in...
Professor Bob White Receives 2022 Alden Poole Faculty Mentor Award
Bob White, Professor of Communications in the Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities, is the 2022 recipient of the Alden Poole Faculty Mentor Award. This award recognizes a faculty member in the Ifill College who has had a...
Tracy K. Smith Delivers 2023 Robert M. Gay Memorial Lecture
Professor Smith read selections of her various poems, touching on timely themes of love and desire, justice, loss, and human connection across time. Critics have praised Tracy K. Smith's expansive storytelling, flawless language, and her engagement with the paradoxes of...
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The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences
The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences cultivates trailblazers and leaders. Here, you'll study the modes of expression through which we record and interpret the human experience.