Using Financial Aid to Promote Diversity, Inclusion, and Excellence
One of the greatest privileges of serving as Dean is meeting with alumni of the College of Arts & Sciences who have been very successful in their careers, credit much of their success to their Boston University education, and wish to support our work in educating current and future students. Alumni who received scholarships for… More
Thank You for Your Commitment
As we complete the final tasks of the semester and prepare for our holiday break, I want to thank the hardworking faculty and staff in the College of Arts & Sciences for making 2017 a year full of achievement. Some of our major CAS-wide successes this year included the opening of the CAS Think Tank,… More
The Importance of Learning a Second Language to a Liberal Education
This week we will open electronic voting to eligible faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences on the question of whether basic proficiency in a second language will be a specific degree requirement for the Bachelor of Arts when the BU Hub goes into effect as the university-wide general education program. It is therefore… More
Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks and I have much to be thankful for. Thank you to the CAS faculty for teaching and mentoring our students, producing groundbreaking research, and serving our community and the world. Thank you to our staff who serve the students and faculty by keeping the classrooms clean, the labs… More
Undergraduate Education: Expanding Beyond the Classroom
An education in the arts and sciences–of the broad plus deep, “t-shaped” sort that we provide our students in the College of Arts & Sciences at Boston University–trains students to frame experience through theoretical, disciplinary lenses, to interpret and evaluate the sources and meaning of evidence, and to appreciate the lessons taught by history and… More
Building Out Our Intellectual Themes
Early in my time as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, I began to formulate themes to describe and guide the future of the arts and sciences at Boston University. I presented these themes in our first faculty meeting last academic year, and I have written about each theme in this forum over… More
Climbing the Mountain: The BU Hub
Climbing a 14’er is one of my favorite challenges, and the view from the top is always worth the effort. It involves much preparation, double-checking my list of essential gear, getting up early and setting off in the early morning darkness, and starting out on the trail uncertain about whether the summit can be reached… More
Civic Activism and Liberal Education
One of the most important things that a liberal education offers students is training in the habits and capacities needed to be informed and engaged citizens, which may mean engaging in direct political action. During Alumni Weekend, I was privileged to interview Tipper Gore (CAS ’70) before a large crowd in the Tsai Auditorium. When… More
Focus on Faculty
Our first CAS faculty meeting will be Wednesday, September 13, at 3:30 pm in the Law Auditorium (new location). In addition to my overview of our goals for the year, it will feature the introduction of new faculty and remembrances of faculty members we have lost in the past year. According to our new bylaws,… More
Our Mission in Dangerous Times
This fall we find ourselves in a new, more dangerous and divisive social and political context than this time last year. We face multiple social divisions that challenge us to reaffirm our commitment to evidence, truth, and ethical leadership.… More