A Message from Jim Hesselman, Dean of Arts & Letters

I want to start by welcoming Dr. Barbara Kutis as the new Dean of Arts & Letters. CONGRATULATIONS, Barb. I think you will find that even after having been a part of this school for a number of years, it will take you a couple years in this seat to really get to know it.

This school is challenging, rewarding, disparate, united, and any number of other pairs of seemingly contradictory descriptors you may think of. It has been an honor and a privilege to represent the faculty, staff, and students of this school through some very . . . let’s say . . . unusual times.

My wish and hope is that these current times of struggle and reinvention in higher education lead this campus to a new age of relevance and a rejuvenated mission.

There have always been those who think of education as a tool to be used only as needed, like the instructions for an IKEA side table. Also, those who embrace education more in terms of lifelong learning – a never ending expansion of knowledge and truth seeking. This way of thinking is the foundation of a liberal arts education where students get a well-rounded education in many disciplines by tasking general education courses along with their chosen field of study.

Arts & Letters has always been the king of general education courses and offered those disciplines that speak to the heart and soul a little more than some other schools might. Therefore, we have always had the challenge of explaining and defending our “relevance” in an age where these general education courses are being completed in high school. Having come from the Theatre, I have had to defend and justify the importance of my discipline for 40 years and where it could lead you. Well, it not only gave me a career as an actor, director, writer and producer, it led me to being Dean at a top tier university.

For many reasons we seem to be going through an era of “just give me what I need to know to get a good paying job and no more” (the IKEA mentality). Like all pendulums, this will swing back. And when it does, I hope we won’t take it for granted and we will have learned something from this age of extremes, and doubt, and divisiveness. We will have a greater appreciation for full classrooms and the time and cost students choose to spend with us.

We have sometimes been complacent in explaining why the lifelong learning model of constantly seeking and welcoming knowledge in as many areas as you can will enrich your life and propel you toward success. Good education, good teaching, just like good parenting cannot be based solely on “because I said so”. Good teaching is not just the transferring of knowledge, it is the mentoring of those who seek to learn so that they may do the same for others someday – I hope I have done that to at least a portion of the students I have come across!

Congratulations!