Dear Arts & Sciences Alumni, Parents, and Friends,
As I reflect on what would have been our 2020 Commencement weekend, I am struck again by the degree to which recent events have upended our world. And yet, our ability to adapt and innovate has never been clearer. Like all of you, we at BU’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences have been doing our best to adjust to the “new normal.” Every day, we work to find new ways of serving the needs of our thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. And while the road ahead is long, I am heartened by the dedication of our faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni as we tackle this challenge as an Arts & Sciences community, a BU community, and a global community.
In this inaugural edition of arts&sciences extra, you’ll learn how we are responding to the pandemic and continuing with our teaching and research mission. You’ll hear about the CAS students who won top prizes for their innovative technological solutions at BU Spark! demo day, persevering in their efforts remotely once the pandemic shut down campus. You’ll read about the CAS researchers hard at work to understand and ameliorate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from all angles: developing an app to let people know if they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 while protecting their privacy; studying how to tailor social distancing policy to an American public that cherishes individualism; and creating and staffing a psychological support hotline for the medical personnel on the front lines. And you’ll take a journey with historian Andrew Robichaud into a lost world—back to the cities of 19th century America where people lived in daily proximity to cattle drives, slaughterhouses, and roving hogs.
Especially in difficult times like this, society needs the liberal arts and sciences. Understanding human history and the history of our planet, doing foundational scientific research, and connecting thinkers from different disciplines to solve problems are essential functions of a healthy and free society. They are also activities that enable us to prepare for future global challenges. And ours is the kind of learning that prepares the next generation of citizens to live and work in, adapt to, and lead the complex, ever-evolving societies of the future. I am confident that our newest graduates—the Class of 2020—will be a testament to these values as they go forth into the world.
As always we are calling on our alumni and friends who are able to share job opportunities and internships—be they virtual, paid or unpaid. Our alumni provide our current students and recent graduates with critical links to careers paths as they enter the job market and, as you can imagine, this support is more vital than ever in the current environment. Please use the link here to connect with our Center for Career Development on how to post a position. This is another important and highly valued opportunity to give back to the A&S community.
Thank you for taking the time to read about what is going on at CAS and BU. From all of us in the college and graduate school, I want to wish you and your loved ones a safe and connected summer.
Sincerely,
Stan
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Stan Sclaroff
Dean of Arts & Sciences
Boston University