Year In Review Message From The Dean 2022-23

Message From The Dean

AS WE TURN THE PAGE ON THE 2022–23 SCHOOL YEAR, I am reflecting on all that I learned in my first year as dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. I am proud to lead this college of artists, intellectuals, creators and critical thinkers who study the human experience with a focus on how we have evolved as diverse peoples and how we can advance the public good.

Now more than ever, the world needs the arts and humanities for their role in helping us to recognize our interdependence, act with empathy and create a more just and joyful world. People all across the United States, and indeed the world, are looking for models and best practices for how to respond to and solve the grand challenges of our time—threats to democracy, global inequality, climate change, health disparities, censorship, racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia and xenophobia, to name a few. ARHU is up to the challenge.

Our college uniquely and powerfully prepares students with the essential critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative and analytical skills that the world so desperately needs. We provide the context and insight that inform how people take action and feel seen and understood in the face of an uncertain future.

ARHU faculty are partnering with colleagues across campus on nine of the recently funded Grand Challenges projects on topics including racial and social justice, education, pandemic preparedness and ethical technologies. As a college, we are boldly and innovatively meshing our artistic strengths with science and technology fields through the Arts for All initiative, and melding our humanities focus with business through the Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities.

We know we must refine and repackage our academic offerings to raise enrollments in the arts and humanities. While we will continue to offer our excellent academic programs, we are also committed to creating new interdisciplinary ones. Our recently launched majors and minors, such as the humanities, health, and medicine  minor, are already energizing students and providing new inspiration for career pathways that bridge industries. I want us to lean into the intentional act of partnering across our traditional academic silos to support this positive trend.

This year will bring further reflection and innovation to ensure we are adequately meeting the moment. Building on the university’s Fearlessly Forward strategic plan, which was rolled out in 2022, we are launching into a college strategic planning process to help us to reimagine learning, invest in people and communities, take on grand challenges and partner for the public good. I am excited to work with you on charting a positive future for ARHU.