Message From the Dean
Dean Kenneth A. Gould
It’s an exciting time to be part of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Brooklyn College. We are working together this year to advocate vigorously and at all levels for the centrality of the humanities and social sciences in higher education. Part of that effort is further refining and promoting our identity as the intellectual hub of the college, the center for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and teaching rooted in strong disciplines, and as stewards of the fundamental core of what it means to be a college-educated citizen.
This academic year we welcome four new full-time, tenure-track faculty to our school: Assistant Professor Matthew Lindauer in Philosophy, Assistant Professor Seung-yun Yang in Communication Arts, Sciences and Disorders, Associate Professor Michael Hughes in the library, and Professor Madeleine Thien in English. We also welcome Robyn Spencer, visiting professor of women's and gender studies, in History. Please reach out to them as they learn to navigate our institution. We are also now beginning searches for three new tenure-track HSS faculty in the areas of linguistics, Puerto Rican and Latino studies, and audiology.
In addition to these new faces, we have some familiar faces taking on new roles. Associate Professor Rosamond King has taken the helm of the Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities. Associate Professor Prudence Cumberbatch is chair of Africana Studies, Associate Professor David Brodsky is acting chair of Judaic Studies, Professor Robert Lurz is chair of Philosophy, Assistant Professor Lauren Mancia is director of Studies in Religion, and Assistant Professor Mobina Hashmi is director of Women's and Gender Studies.
Assistant Professor Mike Menser is directing the Center for the Study of Brooklyn this academic year, and Assistant Professor Diana Pan is facilitating a newly formed interdisciplinary working group on Asian-American studies. We also have new initiatives brewing from the interdisciplinary working group on documentary, and the student-led interdisciplinary working group on native/indigenous studies that formed this semester.
In addition to events from the Wolfe Institute, and our departments and programs, we have some exciting public programming from the Brooklyn College Listening Project, led by professors Jessica Siegel, Maddie Fox, Joseph Entin, Miguel Macias and Phil Napoli, and the Haitian Studies Institute, led by Professor Jean Eddy Saint Paul. Many of our transfer students will be generating compelling work collaboratively with faculty through the Mellon Transfer Student Research Program led by professors Alan Aja, Joseph Entin, and Jeanne Theoharis.
Our school is also launching the Brooklyn College Conversation series this semester with a public discussion of youth violence prevention strategies featuring Professor Alex Vitale and Councilman Jumaane Williams on December 13 in the Student Center. The series is part of our school's commitment to public intellectualism and bringing the insights of our faculty to bear on contemporary public issues impacting our community.
Thanks for your ongoing efforts to strengthen the School of Humanities and Social Sciences' reputation for academic excellence, public engagement, and cutting-edge innovation.
