Gantry cranes and container ships at Seagirt Marine Terminal

We are a multidisciplinary research group devoted to study, stewardship, and stories of working waterfronts, coastal infrastructures, and oceans under conditions of globalization and environmental instability.

Transoceanic shipping and the planet’s hydrosphere define the global scope of the group’s interests, but we place particular emphasis on the marine environments of the Port of Baltimore, the greater Tidewater region, and the Atlantic world. We offer events and programs, courses, partnerships, and research opportunities.

News & Announcements

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Ocean Culture

Research Professor Harris Feinsod was featured in the spring issue of Arts & Sciences Magazine, discussing his work in blue humanities and the Tidewater Initiative. Read the article.

Celebrating & Honoring the Life & Literature of John Barth

On April 6, 2025, The Tidewater Initiative was pleased to participate in a memorial for John Barth, groundbreaking and prolific author, revered teacher, and professor emeritus in The Writing Seminars […]

Nadia Nurhussein edits a new edition of The Pedro Gorino

Nadia Nurhussein has just published a critical edition of Captain Harry Foster Dean’s memoirThe Pedro Gorino, originally co-authored with Sterling North in 1929. Read more about it on the publisher’s […]