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.
![Hallway in The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences](/sites/default/files/styles/1440x800/public/2024-05/m-ifill.jpg?h=4975ae63&itok=VqWVdSyN)
“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?
![Headshot of Diane Grossman](/sites/default/files/styles/650x440/public/2019-03/news-dianegrossman.jpg?h=b3660f0d&itok=gOpqmlrP)
Meet the Dean
Diane Grossman is the Interim Dean of The Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences.
![Sheldon George](/sites/default/files/styles/650x440/public/2019-03/M-IfillFaculty.jpg?h=007a0283&itok=lR1KU01B)
Our Faculty
You’ll study with faculty who are thought-leaders and award winners, researchers and professionals in their fields.
About the College
![Gwen Ifill speaking at a past Simmons Commencement](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2019-03/M-MeetGwen.jpg?itok=q9bY_IYi)
Meet Gwen Ifill
Best known as a successful and much admired television news anchor, Gwen Ifill launched her career here at Simmons.
![Judy Woodruff, Dean Brian Norman, Asma Khalid, Maya Valentine and Yamiche Alcindor onstage during the Ifill Forum.](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2019-10/ifillforum1.jpg?h=b3660f0d&itok=GqndS1yq)
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.
![The cupola at Simmons University](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2019-08/news-cupola.jpg?h=b3660f0d&itok=2jaMo9It)
Statement of Solidarity for Racial Justice
Read the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences' statement of solidarity for racial justice.
![Professor and student in conversation](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2019-03/m-ifillmentoring.jpg?h=08cc71c4&itok=x89L79MA)
Mentoring
Among Gwen Ifill’s legacies is a commitment to mentoring and to nurturing a diverse and talented next generation.
![Laura Prieto, 2019-2022 Alumni Chair for Public Engagement](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2019-03/m-ifilllistingengagment.jpg?h=9a412f92&itok=KbAwK-HY)
Public Engagement
The Alumni Chair in Public Engagement is a signature program for how The Ifill School engages the world and demonstrates the role of the arts, media, and humanities to a vibrant, diverse democracy.
![Students gathered in the Ifill School common area](/sites/default/files/styles/360x240/public/2024-06/m-ifillstudents.jpg?h=16fa43df&itok=DjJ8QVmB)
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.