Farewell
In my final dean’s note, I want to express my appreciation and gratitude to the Boston University community for your contributions to and passion for our noble mission. When I came to Boston University three years ago I knew that I was coming to a university with a progressive history of education to enable social… More
Honoring CAS Community Builders
The ceremonies of Commencement bring us together and remind us of the periodicity of academic life, the renewal and optimism of youth, the dedication of faculty, staff, and alumni volunteers, and the ties we share with generations who came before us over our 145 years of graduating classes. I am filled with pride for our… More
Faculty Kudos
I want to reflect on our outstanding faculty who have received University, national, and international recognition this year.… More
Inequality and Higher Education
The College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board comes to campus this week for our spring meeting; the theme of this meeting is access, diversity, and inequality. I chose this theme to discuss with our board members and guests our new CAS diversity plan and learn what they are doing to improve diversity and… More
Common Ground Across the Two Cultures: a Rigorous Education in the Arts and the Sciences
This Saturday, a memorial service will be held for longtime Boston University faculty member, chair, and dean Robert S. Cohen, who died last June. Bob Cohen, who was a philosopher, a physicist, a renowned editor, and an academic administrator, epitomized rigorous education in the arts and the sciences. A member of both the physics and… More
Preparing the BU Hub for Our Newest Class of Students
This coming Friday, the College of Arts & Sciences will host the first of four Open Houses, which are designed to persuade our outstanding admitted students to enroll in Boston University for the fall and to begin what we hope will be a lifelong connection to our university. This is an exhilarating time for these… More
Liberal Undergraduate Education is Vital to Our Future
Over Boston University’s spring break, I had a chance to read and reflect on a report recently published by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAA&S), “The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America.” The report argues for the enduring and increasing importance of undergraduate education for the nation’s future, and offers recommendations… More
News from the Graduate School
This week’s Dean’s Note is guest-authored by Emily Barman, Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. As the new Associate Dean of the Graduate School, I am grateful for this opportunity to discuss the state of graduate education in the College of Arts & Sciences. Graduate education is an important part of… More
Teaching and Advising to Support a Pluralistic Democracy
Liberal education aims to help both individuals and democratic society flourish as free people in the largest sense of the word. Our educational mission in the College of Arts & Sciences is to accomplish this within the context of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial population of students, faculty, and staff who are of both genders and varying… More
The Promise of Innovate@BU
Walking to work past the old Radio Shack building at the corner of Comm. Ave and St. Mary’s St. over the past few months, I have been observing the construction of something new in that corner storefront space. I have eagerly anticipated its conversion into the BUild Lab – the IDG Capital Student Innovation Center… More