School of Arts and Sciences

Past Messages from the Dean

From August to May, the Dean distributes a monthly newsletter that includes updates for faculty and staff. Each newsletter also includes a message from the Dean. Messages are archived below from the past three issues.

To see the most recent message from the dean, please visit the faculty and staff news page.

November 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I am occasionally asked what I do in my role as a dean and, more specifically, what my typical day is like. Though I usually answer that there is no such thing as a typical day in the life of a dean, the truth is that it would be just as accurate to say that most of my days are filled with meetings. Meetings with my team, meetings with faculty, meetings with senior leadership, meetings with staff, meetings with students, meetings with visitors to the campus, standing meetings, ad hoc meetings. You get the picture.

But when I moved into administrative work, I made a promise to myself that I would not completely forego one of the primary reasons I went into academia to begin with, which was how it would provide me with regular opportunities to learn new things, not just in my chosen discipline of literary studies, but across the spectrum of scholarly and creative pursuits. In the last week or so I’ve been delighted and enriched by my attendance at a number of the events that happen regularly on our campus, and I want to share with you some of those experiences as a way of celebrating the vibrant intellectual and cultural life at Brandeis.

I joined a standing-room-only crowd of students, faculty, and staff at Rapaporte Treasure Hall to listen to a powerful conversation between AAAS Professor Shoniqua Roach and the extraordinary Hortense Spillers, groundbreaking Black Feminist scholar and Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor at Vanderbilt University (who earned her PhD in English from Brandeis in 1974). The exchange, so skillfully managed by Professor Roach, was moving and far-reaching, touching upon several aspects of Professor Spillers’s enormously influential scholarship and her important centering of gender and sexuality within the broader discourse of critical race studies. They left us with many rich and provocative ideas to chew on further.

I was completely riveted by a brilliant presentation by Dr. Pamela E. Harris, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, on “The Role of Undergraduate Research Experiences in Developing a Sense of Belonging.” Dr. Harris regaled us with her personal story as a Mexican-American immigrant and first-generation college student (whose parents had not completed high school), charting her path from taking 7 th -grade level math in her first year of community college to earning her PhD and her long romance with the beautiful science of mathematics. Her enthusiasm for her work was infectious and, even though I’m sure I didn’t fully grasp some of the mathematical concepts she discussed, it was impossible not to appreciate how the deep engagement she brought to her work with students was central to the success of those students, many of whom have similar backgrounds to her own. It was a truly inspirational event.

As part of its series celebrating the recent publication of Professor Ramie Targoff’s widely heralded book, Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance, the Mandel Center for the Humanities hosted a panel of three of our Brandeis colleagues, Professor Matthew Fraleigh (GRALL), Professor Ilana Szobel (NEJS), and Professor Harleen Singh (GRALL/WGS), on the topic of “Women’s Writing in a Global Frame.” We were privileged to listen in on a rich conversation about how gender informs and shapes literary production in early modern Sinitic Japanese poetry, contemporary Israeli and Palestinian texts by disabled women writers pushing for visibility and inclusion within their communities, and how the category of “the literary” demands a broader scope within the context of South Asian women artists. It was, alas, all too brief a time to delve deeply into any of these large and important areas of inquiry, but the discussion left me hungry for more, and I look forward to continuing these conversations.

On a recent evening I attended a fascinating lecture by former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, and Ambassador to the European Union, Stuart Eizenstat, who came to Brandeis to talk about his new book, The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements that Changed the World. Having served in six administrations (both Democratic and Republican) and played significant roles in some of the most important peace negotiations of the last five decades, there are few career diplomats who could offer the broad and deep perspective on the role of the US in international affairs. In both his formal presentation and the ensuing conversation with Professor Eva Bellin, Ambassador Eizenstat offered rich and surprising insights into the absolutely crucial role thoughtful, empathetic, open-minded and sustained diplomacy must play. As we are all too painfully aware now, these lessons seem more important than ever.

And speaking of timely, I also paid a visit to the Kniznick Gallery in the Women’s Studies Research Center to take in their Fall exhibit, “Wrongs & RIGHTS,” which has been co-curated by Laura Dvorkin and Maynard Monrow of the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. Bringing together five decades of work supporting the intergenerational battle for reproductive rights, the exhibit presents more than twenty pieces across a range of media created by artists from diverse backgrounds and identities to present this powerful struggle in moving and meaningful ways. Definitely worth a visit!

Of course, there are many more events, performances, and exhibits like these throughout the year and my examples are not meant to suggest that others are less important, interesting, or valuable. I do think it’s a helpful reminder, however, of what a rich, intellectually stimulating community we have at Brandeis and how fortunate we are to have colleagues engaged in such interesting work and with connections to others from outside our own campus.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey
October 2024

Dear Colleagues,

As I wrote in my earlier communication, following the announcement of President Liebowitz’s resignation, the uncertainties that inevitably come with institutional change can be unsettling for all of us, irrespective of our feelings about that decision. When such internal ruptures are accompanied by escalations in international conflicts, along with anxieties about the looming presidential election, the overall impact can be quite destabilizing and distracting. This is true, of course, not only for faculty and staff, but also for our students.

Now that we are a little over a month into the new academic year, and work is beginning to pile up for everyone, I ask that you invest some of your time and energy in our shared project of helping our students feel supported and welcomed as members of our community. Research has demonstrated that a sense of belonging is one of the most significant factors in student persistence and success. We all have a role to play in creating that sense of belonging for our students, irrespective of their backgrounds, identities, or affiliations. Our colleagues in the Center for Teaching and Learning have created this slide, which lists an array of resources available to students in need of specific kinds of help. Please consider beginning one of your classes in the next week or so by showing this slide to your students and taking a moment to let them know you care about them and are here to offer your own support. And certainly one important way to demonstrate our care is to be present for our students by committing to spend time on campus, in our offices, at co-curricular events, and elsewhere. I know you’ve heard this from me before, but I really do believe that being on campus is essential to building and sustaining our community.

As I have indicated in some of my earlier communications, there are an array of programs offered by different groups and units across campus focused on current events. We have collected and listed those events at the following links: the conflict in the Middle East and the upcoming elections. These pages are regularly updated with new events and programs; if you know of anything we haven’t managed to capture on either of these pages, please let us know so that we can include them.

While I am on the general topic of students’ sense of belonging, I also want to mention the specific challenges we are facing with respect to the increased need for various kinds of accommodations. I am aware of the additional burdens these accommodations can place on faculty. We will continue to to foster a collaborative relationship with Kim Johnson and her team in the office of Student Accessibility Support, providing the support our students need but also the support our faculty deserve. I want to encourage you to learn more about the principles of Universal Design and how you might incorporate these principles in your own classroom. It does take an initial investment of time and effort, but the more we can prepare for these issues of access ahead of time, the fewer ad hoc accommodations will be necessary in the long run.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to wish a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year to all who will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah this week. As John and Yoko used to sing, Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey

September 2024

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to greet you at the start of the new semester. As is the case for many of you, I am guessing, the feelings of excitement and anticipation that I experience at the beginning of each new academic year never get old. Despite the challenges we have ahead of us, the opportunities for renewal and discovery that come every fall always fill me with hope.

And there are, to be sure, many significant challenges in the coming year, as we continue the collaborative process of evaluating how we allocate our staff and faculty budgets that we began last spring. I remain committed to supporting the extraordinarily dedicated work all of you do, both faculty and staff, in support of our primary missions of teaching and research. As I told our incoming class at the Fall Convocation, they have chosen to attend a university that is distinctive in important ways, most significantly in its compelling combination of an internationally-renowned research institution, filled with some of the world’s most accomplished artists and scholars, and an equally distinctive commitment to offering a broad-based and intensive liberal arts education. I believe strongly in both of these facets of Brandeis’s identity and will continue to work with you to preserve and strengthen them.

I look forward to seeing many of you on campus in the next few weeks, including at first the Faculty Meeting (Sept 6), where we introduce our new colleagues, and the Mandel Celebration for New Faculty Books (Sept 12), not to mention many of the other early Fall receptions and events.

Speaking of new faculty, in the School of Arts & Sciences, we are delighted to welcome the following colleagues this year:

  • Jasmine Alvarado, Assistant Professor of Education
  • Daniel Álvarez-Gavela, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
  • Michael Berman, Visiting Professor of Anthropology
  • Bradley Cardozo, Lectuer and Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Transpacific Studies
  • Paneshe Chigumadzi, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies
  • Beatriz Cobeta, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies
  • Jorah Dannenberg, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
  • Joseph Delfino, Lecturer in Computer Science
  • Grazia Ting Deng, Lecturer in Anthropology
  • Manju Edachira, Madeleine Haas Russell Postdoctoral Fellow in Critical Caste Studies
  • James Heazlewoord-Dale, Lecturer in the University Writing Program
  • Devadatta Ganesh Hedge, Lecturer in Mathematics
  • Lu Heintz, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts
  • Michael Heller, Associate Professor of Music
  • Krysten Hill, Jacob Ziskind Poet-in Residence in the Department of English
  • Alex Johnson, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
  • Marjan Kamali, Fannie Hurst Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English
  • Yael Kenan, Lecturer in the University Writing Program
  • Connor Kennedy, Instructor in Mathematics
  • Ethan King, Lecturer in the University Writing Program
  • Jonathan Krones, Associate Professor of Engineering
  • Clara Lyon, Associate Professor of the Practice of Music and Violinist in the Lydian String Quartet
  • Michael McGlin, Assistant Professor of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies
  • Joshua Meisel, Assistant Professor of Biology and Ting Tsung and Wei Fing Chao Endowed Chair in Neuroscience
  • Shahriar Mirzadeh, Lecturer in Mathematics
  • Ju Hyoung Mun, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
  • Liora Norwich, Leon A. Jick Chair and Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program and Associate Professor of the Practice
  • Yesmar Oyarzun, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
  • Josh Wolk, Professor of the Practice of Journalism
  • Wen Yu, Assistant Professor of History

Learn more about these impressive and highly accomplished scholars and teachers on our website.

In addition, I extend a warm welcome to new part-time faculty who are joining us this fall:

  • Kimberly Barton (Sociology)
  • Megan Burns (HSSP)
  • Karen Cohen (NEJS)
  • Katie Colford (Fine Arts)
  • Kim Craig (Anthropology)
  • Marissa DiGirolamo (Psychology)
  • Ashley Dunn (WGSS)
  • Ketian Guan (Economics)
  • Sean Hwang (Economics)
  • McKee Krumpak (Mathematics)
  • Ryan Lundell-Creagh (Psychology)
  • Eileen McNamara (Journalism)
  • Christopher Ostrom (Theater Arts)
  • Samantha Pickette (NEJS)
  • Marty Samuels (Biology)
  • Karry Sarkissian (GRALL)
  • Joseph Silcox (Sociology)
  • Mercedes Villalonga (Psychology)
  • Yuya Wang (Economics)
  • Maggie Wong (Fine Arts)

The establishment of the new centralized administrative structures supporting the Creative Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will certainly require some changes in past practices. We will be monitoring how well these units fulfill their expected functions over the course of the coming year, making adjustments where they are necessary and possible. Thank you in advance for your patience and collaboration in what will be a learning experience for all of us.

Other ongoing projects for which we will providing regular updates and inviting further feedback include (but are certainly not limited to) the Brandeis Core 5-year review, the Working Group on AI in Teaching and Learning, and programming around the conflict in the Middle East and the upcoming presidential election. So please stay tuned.

I am committed to remaining available and accessible to all of you. If you have something you’d like to discuss with me—or if you simply want to tell me about yourself and your work—please don’t hesitate to reach out to make an appointment. I am also continuing the practice I began last year of having monthly open invitations to join me for lunch at the Faculty Club. The first of these is scheduled for noon on September 12. No need to sign up, just join us at the large round table we’ve reserved for these lunches.

Wishing you all a rewarding and successful semester.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey

May 2024

Dear Colleagues,

This month marks the end of my first academic year as Dean of Arts and Sciences and it seems like a good time to take a step back and reflect on the experience.

I think it’s fair to say that I did not anticipate how challenging a year it would be. Between the significant tensions that arose on campus in the wake of Hamas’s attacks and Israel’s military response and the budgetary challenges we are now facing across the university, I don’t know that I can point to a solid week of my tenure thus far that could be described as “business as usual.” Not that there ever is such a thing as a typical week in the deanery, where we are always trying to strike a balance between managing the predictable routines of the academic year and addressing the unanticipated crises or opportunities (big and small) that inevitably arise. And, of course, there is always the need to carve out time to think and plan beyond the most immediate and obvious demands—there never seems to be enough of that.

As I’ve observed to some of you over the year, while I would never have wished for any of these substantial challenges, the silver lining to all of them is that they have accelerated the pace at which I’ve been able to get to know many of you and to learn about what matters most to you; to see just how dedicated you are to the work we do at Brandeis—and how good you are at it; and to understand what makes this place so special.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my first year and, while I don’t want to rehearse them here, I do continue to learn from them even as I keep making new ones. I am grateful to those who have given me the grace to acknowledge my errors and the space to make amends, even as I do appreciate your willingness to call me on my missteps—really! I can’t get better at my job if I don’t know where I need to improve. I strongly believe that we must model humility and open- mindedness to our students and feel it is among my chief responsibilities as Dean to set an example.

Most importantly, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the people who make it possible for me to fulfill my duties, starting with the team in the DAS office. Kathleen McMahan works quietly but oh-so-effectively behind the scenes, ensuring the smooth internal operations of our office and keeping me on task, expertly assisted by Brynn Sibley and Kayla Whitehurst. Shannon Kearns is simply superb at all things operational and administrative. First Wendy Cadge and now Charles Golden have been extraordinary deans, partners, and counsellors in the work we do in support of graduate studies. Without Joel Christensen (assisted by Alicia Hyland and Heather Young) and Olga Papaemmanouil (along with Lauren Buckley) I honestly do not know how I would have gotten through the year—their wisdom and perspective, not to mention their hard work, have been essential. I am grateful for my partnership with Dean of Academic Services, Lori Tenser. And I am delighted to welcome our new A&S development officer, Hannah Taytslin Devine, who will be a key partner in our increased fund-raising efforts going forward. I also want to thank Division Heads Bulbul Chakraborty, Caren Irr, and Aïda Yuen Wong for all their work and support, with a special shout-out to Bulbul as she steps down from the role at the end of this academic year. Finally, I want to recognize the dedication of all the departmental and program leaders, too many to mention here.

Thanks to all of you. I am so proud and thankful to be your colleague.

Wishing you all a restful, restorative, and productive summer. I look forward to seeing you back on campus in the Fall.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey