We are a multidisciplinary research group devoted to study, stewardship, and stories of working waterfronts, coastal infrastructure, 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. 

The Tidewater Initiative supports opportunities for faculty, graduate, and undergraduate study, as well as extramural collaboration. Our event calendar includes research workshops, readings, public events, and other activities. The Waterfront Working Group is a mobile seminar that meets a few times annually. 

Undergraduates may look for courses that welcome students into the research group, including “Literature and the Sea” (Professors Nadia Nurhussein and/or Harris Feinsod), and “Humanities Research Lab: Port of Call–Baltimore” (Professor Harris Feinsod). We welcome inquiries about undergraduate research assistantships and graduate research associateships affiliated with Tidewater’s evolving Humanities Lab. 

The Tidewater Initiative, established by Harris Feinsod in 2024 with support from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, is a program partner with the Alexander Grass Institute for the Humanities.