Seize the Day, Then Let it Go

As I reflect on my decade as CASL Dean I am reminded of the song “Time” by Pink Floyd; “And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.” In many respects it truly feels as though the longer I served in this position, the more I felt as though I was just really getting started. But alas… I cannot tell you all how incredibly fortunate I am to have had the privilege of serving the college that helped to shape me into the person that I am today. It is almost incomprehensible to me how this transformation happened. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such a life path. I am very much aware that I owe much of it to the faculty, staff, and my student peers here in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. It is my sincere hope that I am leaving the college, and its legacy of student focused and personal support in a strong position. The last ten years have been challenging, but they have also been fun and rewarding. The college: undertook efforts to enhance its operational efficiency; embarked on a strategic planning initiative; introduced new academic programs and retired others; built a vibrant study abroad program; introduced a new first year program (Foundations) for incoming students; consolidated our physical footprint in the CASL Building; opened its renovated Natural Sciences Building; introduced new high impact learning opportunities including mentored research for students; ramped up its efforts to highlight the accomplishments of its faculty, staff, and students; dramatically increased sponsored research in the college; raised many millions of dollars in donor support, and is rebranding itself as a place where applied learning (Practice-Based Learning) is prioritized; all in the face of shrinking enrollment and limited financial resources. The college has also made many spectacular faculty and staff hires, all of whom fully understand and appreciate what CASL is all about and all of whom work diligently to ensure its continued success. I have also been blessed with the most incredible team in my office. I do not use the term “team” lightly here. To a person, they have been my partners in administering and planning for this very complex and diverse entity known as CASL. I hope that they know how much I appreciate them! Of course, we would not have been able to do the many things that we have done, or navigate the challenges that we have faced, without the support of you, the CASL alumni. I know how proud you are of your alma mater and how much you value the education that you received in the college. I am grateful to you all for your ongoing support and encouragement and for the inspiration that you’ve provided me over the last ten years. I cannot state emphatically enough how important this has been. I’m reminded of the Bob Seger quip from his great “Live Bullet” album recorded at Detroit’s Cobo Hall. During a musical interlude for one of his longer songs he tells the audience that ““I was reading in ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine the other day where they said Detroit audiences are the greatest rock and roll audiences in the world. I thought to myself, shit, I’ve known that for 10 years.” I echo this sentiment because I’ve also known something for 10 years—that CASL is the most incredible place at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. It has been a wonderful, amazing 10-year ride and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve you all!

We're Doing Amaizing Things in CASL!

Hello all! It is wonderful to be communicating with you all once again. Happy, very belated New Year! I am excited to be writing to you to share news of the wonderful success that we are having around our new Practice Based Learning initiative. You may recall that last year our work on high impact practices, including PBL was highlighted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as a model to be considered by other colleges and universities. Likewise, if you’ve spent any time reviewing the UM-Dearborn strategic plan, you will see that PBL has now become the centerpiece of our campus identity (https://umdearborn.edu/strategic-planning). I am very excited that the college is leading the way in this exciting new approach to teaching and learning. Last year, the college identified four themes around with to organize our PBL work (Justice; People and Technology; Health; and Storytelling) and we developed three brand new freshman level courses (all interdisciplinary in focus) to introduce students to both these areas and to this way of learning. The results are now in, and I cannot state emphatically enough just how amazing these experiences were for our students. Don’t want to just take my word, take a look at these recaps of the courses: Storytelling: Podcasting and Storytelling https://umdearborn.edu/fall-2022-exploration-storytelling Justice: Mapping Justice/Injustice in the Motor City Mapping Unequal Environments in the Motor City Google Photo Album Health: Nanomedicine https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jfJpTf9S2DbYH_d8T4EmClzUKLzzCEl9/view I’m certain that you will agree that these courses, along with the faculty and students engaged in them, exemplify the very best of CASL. The PBL initiative gives me great hope for the future of our college and affirms that the work that we are doing is as transformational as ever. Thank you for your ongoing support of the college, of our students, and of the work that we are doing!

Timely Reminder

With the end of the fall semester and the holiday season now in full swing I have been served a number of poignant reminders that not everything or everybody is “happy and gay” this time of year. It is, of course, very easy to get caught up in the excitement and joy of the season—the promise of time spent with loved ones, the happiness of gift giving, the celebrations and time away from work and/or school. But it is also the case that the end of the academic semester and the holiday season can be a time of great anxiety and distress for many. The stress of finals and planning for holiday gatherings, the guilt some have for not being in a position to buy those expensive gifts that their loved ones are hoping for, the sense of loss associated with those who are no longer with us during this season of family and friends, etc. Sadly, for many of us, the holidays are anything but joyful. I suppose that all of us are aware of this reality to some degree. Even those beloved holiday shows that are a part of so many family traditions (It’s a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer) are all filled with many moments of angst, depression, deep sadness, and even suicidal thoughts. Our campus community has been prioritizing mental health this academic year and the need for aid/assistance within our community is staggering. Students, faculty, and staff are all reporting greater amounts of stress, anxiety, and depression than ever before. The new realities of the workplace, the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic, the disruption of our traditional patterns, along with the normal stresses of day-to-day life, have many individuals reeling. Fortunately, the university is working diligently to make resources available to those in need and current wait time for assistance is zero. Not everyone, however, is this fortunate. So, as we all go about our lives during this holiday season, and, for that matter, as we go about our lives on a daily basis, please remember that there are many who might be struggling. The bit of patience that you exhibit, that smile of recognition, that small act of kindness, may just be the thing that helps that individual get through their day. Please take a few moments to check in on your family and friends and to remind them that they are loved and remember that there is a new 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline now available nationwide for those in need of immediate assistance. I wish you all the happiest of holidays and a healthy and prosperous 2023!

Making the Grade!

It is so wonderful to be back on campus and to see things returning to a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy. It is hard to believe but beyond the incoming freshman class and rising sophomore class (who primarily took courses remotely) we also have juniors who do not know our campus very well as they were only able to experience it for part of the academic year pre-pandemic. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending time roaming the CASL Building and helping the students orient themselves to their surroundings. There is most definitely a buzz in the air connected to our return to campus. Fingers crossed that we will be able to continue this level of campus presence! Another buzzworthy topic of conversation in CASL is a recent piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education (the nation’s leading source of news about higher education) highlighting the work that the college is doing in the area of high impact learning practices (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2pwsplmnqirhul3/ReimaginingStudentExperience-Fischer.pdf?dl=0) These pedagogical practices (such as Practice Based Learning, Study Abroad, Writing Intensive Courses, Internships, and the like) are clearly linked to retention, student learning, and academic success and they have been front and center in all that the college has done over the last 8 years and factor prominently in its strategic planning moving forward. That CASL is succeeding in its efforts and that others are aware of this success is manifest in this wonderful piece by the Chronicle. Kudos to my faculty and staff colleagues for their hard work and initiative in this vitally important area. Our students are truly benefitting, and your efforts are being noticed both on campus and off! There is much to be proud of, and excited about, in CASL!

What's Going On

Fifty-one years ago this week, Marvin Gaye’s brilliant album What’s Going On was released. Electrified by the civil rights battle raging around him and angered by the stories he heard from his brother who had recently returned from Vietnam, Gaye determined to craft an album that spoke to his community’s anger and alienation. The result, a dramatic departure from the typical Motown fare that dominated the nation’s airwaves, was one of the most poignant and influential records of all time. To this day, songs like "What's Going On," "Mercy Mercy Me" and "Inner City Blues," continue to stir listeners and, sadly, convey the unhappy day-to-day reality (changed little over the ensuing fifty-one years) for millions of our nation’s citizens. The recent mass murder of African American shoppers in Buffalo provides yet further evidence of how little has changed in our nation when it comes to race relations and the plight of American minorities. Anyone who expresses surprise that something so evil could take place in this country is merely fooling themselves. Violence (physical, political, economic, cultural, and social) perpetrated against non-whites is as American as it gets. This violence has, as of late assumed a new form as well—a war to control history and what is taught in schools about American race relations and the nation’s often ugly past. Sanitizing history does not negate it, nor does it help our nation heal. As with any problem that must be solved the first step is to acknowledge that a problem exists. Growing up, as I did, in a segregated neighborhood surrounded by white neighbors who freely used disparaging terms to refer to anyone who did not look/act like them, I remember vividly how Marvin Gaye’s songs along with those of Stevie Wonder and others, songs that played all day long on the transistor radios blaring from neighborhood windows or in neighborhood backyards, provided me with the opportunity to shift my perspective and to consider the world around me differently. When coupled with trips across the city, trips that frequently took me into neighborhoods that reflected a very different socio-economic reality than the working-class neighborhood that I grew up in, these songs provided me an education that had largely been kept from me and, I am grateful to report, enabled me to recognize and challenge the narrow mindedness and bigotry that surrounded me. It opened my eyes and ears to the reality around me and these experiences inspired me to want to become an historian and to share what I had learned with others so that, someday, our children and our children’s children might, by acknowledging the wrongs done and trauma caused, find a way for our nation’s racial wounds to heal. That dream seems further off than ever after the events of the last weekend but as Marvin Gaye reminded us fifty-one years ago, we cannot stop asking the question, What’s Going On?

Ukraine and UM-Dearbron

Like many of you, I have found myself riveted to the news coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Certainly, as an historian, I find myself spending much time thinking about the deep historical roots of the conflict and considering the knotted tangle of circumstances and cultural tensions that have led to this horrific moment. The images flashing across our television screens of cities on fire, of dead and injured civilians, and of terrified refugees are heartrending. It is also the case that my interest in the invasion stems from some personal familiarity with the country—I had the great privilege of travelling to Ukraine in 2017 along with my colleague, Ania Muller, and a group of UM-Dearborn students. Though safely ensconced in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv (a city which, as of this writing, has still not yet been the target of Russian attacks), we were all very aware that we were in a nation that was at war. Only three years removed from the Russian annexation of Crimea and reminded daily of the violence of the ongoing war against the Russian-backed separatists in the eastern portion of the country, the students and I had a front row seat from which to view a determined people in struggle. Indeed, the photo below was taken in Lviv and (sadly) illustrates the point. I have spent no little time wondering whether the young girl in the photo (and the rest of the group of children that she was with) might now be holding the real version of the weapon they played with on that sunny late spring day in 2017. It has been very interesting communicating with these students about their memories and about what is currently happening in Ukraine. Our thoughts, of course, are with those we came to know during our time in Ukraine. We hope for your continued safety and for the preservation of your wonderful nation. Perhaps what makes the current situation even more compelling to me, and the one that prompted this post, is my family tie to the region. Though Polish in lineage, my family traces its roots back to a region that is today part of Ukraine. The reasons for their departure from the region and any tangible links that I may still have to the area have all been lost to history but I, nonetheless, feel personally connected to the conflict and to the history that undergirds it. This last fact quickly led me back to UM-Dearborn and to our student body, so many of whom have been impacted by similar, though (sadly) much less reported, conflicts around the globe. Wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, conflict in Lebanon, and decades of violence in Palestine (to name but the most obvious examples but one might also mention the wars being waged in poor neighborhoods across our nation) have touched the lives of our students and their families in deep and profound ways and served as the impetus for them to leave their homes, their loved ones, and the lives that they knew to take refuge and to pursue a new life here in America. These conflicts and the bloodshed they spawn/spawned, because they involve non-European peoples, have generally not been the subject of intense news coverage or the focus of the sorts of human-interest stories we see flowing out of Ukraine and yet their impact has been equally as traumatic and devastating for many of our students and their families. The grit and determination that they’ve demonstrated as they’ve overcome these traumatic experiences inspires me every day. As we watch the situation in Ukraine unfold, please take a moment to think about others across the globe who find themselves grappling with similar circumstances and to the resiliency and spirit shown by our students and their families. I know that I speak for us all when I say that we all long for the day where no one is subjected to the horrors and terror of war.

Season's Greetings

Normally, this would be the blog post where I recount all the great things that have happened in CASL over the past year (and there have been many). But instead, I was inspired by something that I heard over the weekend to put my historian hat on and to talk briefly about something altogether different. While out running some errands recently I happened to overhear a mother talking to her daughter. The mother and daughter were dressed for the holiday season and as they shopped, they were taking turns reciting the lines from Clement Clark Moore’s famous poem, “The Night Before Christmas.” I am certain that most everyone is familiar with this most famous of American poems; “’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…” What most are not familiar with, however, is the historical context in which the poem originated or how it was a first, and very powerful, step in the taming of the Christmas season. The poem (originally called “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” was first seen in 1823 and is believed by many to have been written by Clement Clark Moore. Moore, a New York City patrician, was the scion of a wealthy and well-connected family. He made his money in real estate (he sold a portion of the estate that he inherited and developed it into what is today the Chelsea district of New York City) but also held a post as Professor of Ancient Languages at the General Theological Seminary (which his money helped to found). Moore and his elite friends found themselves jostling uneasily with a burgeoning and disorderly (and not infrequently drunken) urban democracy in America at large but profoundly noticeable in New York City especially (the city’s population doubled between 1810 and 1830, jumping to nearly 250,000). That an increasingly large portion of these city dwellers were poor and that many were also of foreign birth who brought with them strange religious beliefs and cultural practices, made matters all the worse in the minds of people like Moore. The potential for unruly behavior (and thus threats to the social order) were increasingly a part of daily life in New York. At no time was this more pronounced than during the Christmas season as it was customary in many of the European countries where these new arrivals originated for the holiday to be marked by misrule, the upheaval of class norms, and aggressive begging (the traditions of wassailers and the wren boys offering two such examples). This begging often took a threatening tone that sometimes went as far as breaking and entering and the trashing of the homes of the well-to-do. Uneasy with the chaotic and less than deferential tumult of the Christmas season, Moore determined to “tame” the holiday through prose. Moore’s St. Nicholas, like his working-class compatriots in New York City, also breaks into houses. But whereas the members of the mob demanded tribute and destroyed property, St. Nick is, “a right jolly old elf” and instead leaves gifts. As Moore writes, “A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.” The middle-class imagery in Moore’s poem is both obvious and abundant: the nuclear family; the tidy and warm dwelling; the lawn; the single-family house. The contrast to the world that was increasing encroaching on his Chelsea estate (a world of crowded, drafty, run-down boarding houses with rooms occupied by multiple, often sick and always very poor families) could not have been sharper. Moore’s work was but an opening salvo in the effort to domesticate Christmas, but its impact was both immediate and long lasting, to the point where its familiar refrain is now deeply embedded in our culture and in the hearts and minds of many as they celebrate what we now know as perhaps the most family-oriented (and most domestic) holiday of all. So, like Moore’s St. Nicholas, as I approach the end of this brief history lesson, and ere I drive out of sight let me say “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”