Our Logo

Squirrel Above the Sea of Fog

Our logo, the Black Squirrel Above the Sea of Fog, was dreamt up by faculty member Dr. Shane Strate in Fall 2022 and illustrated by Melissa Halozan, History staff member. Inspired by current discourse surrounding the tensions caused from universities focusing on funding STEM programs and ignoring humanities, the Black Squirrel plays into this conversation. Standing above a sea of fog, the heroic squirrel can try understand what is underneath, but the fog is thick and unpredictable. Similar to the fog is the study of humanities and historical studies. Sometimes when studying history, you uncover one answer but then it makes previous work confusing or contradicting. Answers are not going to be as concrete as solutions may tend to be in the study of physical sciences. The noble black squirrel remains strong through this struggle, however, resting on their walking stick and gazing at the world in front of them. This logo is based on the German Romanticism art - Wanderer above the Sea of Fog - by Casper David Friedrich. Dr. Strate really likes this painting.