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.”

Remembering

As the nation marked the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, I spent no little time reflecting back upon that day and what it was like to be on our campus as this horror played out in real time. Before doing so, I would first like to recognize a former student of mine from my time at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Scott Rohner (http://www.legacy.com/sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=94827&location=1), whose life was cut short on that fateful day. I will forever remember his vivacious spirit, his intellect, and his magnetic smile. Rest in peace my friend. I recall vividly the events of that day and think back with tremendous pride on the way our campus community came together in support of one another. The day began like any other, with me dropping my daughter off at the Child Development Center. The equilibrium of the day shifted dramatically and quickly thereafter. When the first plane flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 AM I had just settled into my office in the old campus apartment complex. Quickly, faculty, staff, and students gathered around a small television set in the department office to watch the unfolding events. All gasped in horror at what they were seeing, and many turned away after the second plane flew into the South Tower just seventeen minutes later. There was nary a dry eye among us. The broader campus was quickly enveloped in an ominous silence and sense of foreboding and the anxiety felt by many of our students, faculty, and staff, especially those from the local Arab community, was palpable. In spite of the horror and confusion playing out in New York, in Washington DC, and in the skies above Pennsylvania, and the anger and finger pointing that quickly began to manifest across the country and, more notably, just beyond the boundaries of our campus (Dearborn’s Arab community quickly became the target of violence and hateful, ignorant, acts), the University of Michigan-Dearborn remained calm and united in its determination to offer a place of refuge, tolerance, and comfort for our students, faculty, staff and extended a supportive embrace to the local community. While many local businesses and schools closed in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, university leadership determined to remain open and to continue to promote the campus message of inclusiveness. It was inspiring to wander the campus and hear faculty and students engaged in emotional conversations about what was happening in their classrooms and to see everyone taking extra steps to make sure that everyone that they encountered feel safe and welcome. The day really showcased the very best of our campus and it made me incredibly proud of my alma mater. While the world has changed in many ways since that day and our lives will never be quite the same, I know that one thing has remained constant—that our beloved university remains a place of opportunity and that all are welcome here! I wish you all peace and contentment.

A Semblance of Normalcy

Happy Spring to you all! I hope this message finds you all healthy and well. With the pandemic starting to loosen its grip on us, the university is beginning to take its first tentative steps toward normalcy. Nothing epitomizes this more than our recent live Commencement ceremonies to honor both the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021. It was thrilling to be back on campus, resplendent as it is this time of year with flowers and budding trees, and to see our students (albeit from six feet away and masked) in the flesh. The ceremony was nothing like our usual Crisler Center spring event but in many respects, it was all the sweeter because of that. Unlike virtually all our peer institutions, UM-Dearborn decided to hold live ceremonies (there were ten in total), with students, two guests each, and a handful of university officials attending the event. Held outside, in the parking lot behind the Fieldhouse (I suggested to the students that the parking lot, their perpetual nemesis throughout their time as students, might become a favored spot as a result—they didn’t buy it), the event was both a celebration of our students but also a celebration of life and of the fact that we are nearing the end of a very dark chapter. The students and their guests were so appreciative of the effort taken to give them a live ceremony and I was reminded of just how transformative a UM-Dearborn education is for our students and their families. It was so very inspiring! These ceremonies mark but a first step in the campus’ march toward a post-COVID reality. Planning is underway for a fall academic year that will look much more like the pre-pandemic academic terms, with live classes, on-campus activities, and athletics. Faculty and staff are eager to return to greet our students, especially those who are new to campus (both our incoming class and last year’s students who spent their freshman year learning remotely). Students, of course, are equally excited about the prospect of meeting new friends or meeting friends made remotely, in person. I am very proud of the work that both the college and university did to ensure the continuation of a quality education for our students. Our faculty and staff have been amazing, and UM-Dearborn is often pointed to as an example of a university that responded to the crisis of pandemic efficiently and robustly. I am certain that the transition to our post-COVID reality will be as exemplary!

One Year On

I hope that this missive finds each and every one of you both healthy and happy. It has certainly been an incredibly trying year. Having just passed the one-year anniversary of the cessation of most face-to-face instruction at the university, I can honestly say that I could never have imagined that we would all still be working and teaching remotely one year later. The pandemic, of course, has been very challenging for all of us. Many of us have grappled with COVID or have watched friends and loved ones battle the disease. Others of us have lost loved ones, such our own beloved Bernie Klein (former Chancellor and Professor Emeritus of Political Science), to this scourge. More still, including many of our students and their families, have experienced job loss and financial difficulties. Technology needs, spotty internet connectivity, and access to faculty and other campus supports challenged many more. And then there is the mental anguish, isolation, and loneliness that have become the norms for so many of us and that have inflicted much anguish and despair upon our community. There is absolutely no doubt that we have all undergone a (hopefully) once in a century trial by fire. In spite of all of that, however, I have witnessed and experienced so many incredible things over the course of our pandemic year. I’ve been inspired by the fortitude of the CASL faculty and staff and of our students. They have all dug deeply and have given every day their all, refusing to buckle in spite of the many, many, challenges thrown their way. Faculty came together to assist each other as they transitioned to remote learning, to step in when their colleagues became ill, and to continue the work of the college and the advance of our strategic plan all without missing a beat. Staff, in spite of the sudden shift to remote work, kept the university’s day-to-day operations running seamlessly and continued to support both faculty and students without any diminishment of service. Our students....well what can I say about them? We’ve long known that UM-Dearborn students possess incredible amounts of grit, determination, and fortitude; it is their calling card, it is drives them to succeed. The pandemic revealed this trait all the more as they dug in, adapted to new course delivery modes, found innovative ways to keep connected with each other and continued their research and university and community service. Many of our students, faculty, and staff did all of this while caring for/educating their children and siblings or while caring for ill relatives. I cannot begin to say how inspiring they all are. As I write this, the COVID infection rate is falling, and the number of vaccines administered here in Michigan is climbing by the day. In response to the improving situation, the university is planning for a fall semester that will look much more like things used to look prior to the pandemic (though things will never be exactly as they were). I remain hopeful that the worst of the pandemic is behind us and that we will soon be able to gather as a community again on our campus and to bask in the presence of one another. I, for one, cannot wait! In the meantime, if you happen to know any UM-Dearborn students, faculty, or staff please take a moment to thank them for a job well done and for keeping CASL moving forward! Stay safe! We are almost there!

No Compliments Here

With the holiday season well underway and the strangest year in living memory almost behind us (we got this!), I wanted to take a moment to offer my salutations to the CASL family (students, staff, faculty, alumni, and supporters) and to wish you all the best new year ever. I hope that you are feeling well and that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. The college is, fortunately, finishing the fall term strongly, with few cases of COVID impacting our community. Certainly, the continued separation and isolation that we are experiencing are taking their toll on many of us, but in the main, our community has been fortunate in avoiding the worst effects of this pandemic and many are eyeing with great eagerness the vaccines that are now within our reach. Having said that, however, now is not the time to let down our guard. As we are all too aware, this pandemic has had a devastating impact on us as a nation and as a global community. Sadly, many of us know family members and friends who have been afflicted with COVID and far too many of us know someone who has succumbed to this terrible disease. So please, please, please continue your efforts to keep yourself and others safe. As Judy Garland reminds us in her beautiful 1944 rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Someday soon we all will be together, if the Fates allow.” “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” In the Eighteenth Century it was common for people to speak (in a sadly ironic way) of receiving “Christmas Compliments” from their friends and family members during the final weeks of the calendar year in recognition of the fact that the prevalence of diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, and colds rose dramatically during the holiday season as families and acquaintances gathered together to celebrate the season. It is my fervent hope that all of my readers and the broader CASL community are spared “Christmas Compliments” during this COVID Christmas. Please accept in their stead my wishes for the Happiest of Holidays and a Healthy 2021!

Now More Than Ever

Recently, as I was running an errand and enjoying just being able to drive someplace in my car, I happened upon an old song by the Doors, Strange Days. The song begins with a lamentation, “Strange Days have found us. Strange Days have tracked us down. They’re going to destroy our casual joys. We shall go on playing or find a new town.” Though released in 1967, the words struck me as being especially relevant to our current circumstances. We are indeed living in Strange Days! The beginning of the new 2020-2021 academic year is like nothing that any of us have ever known. Our campus is largely dormant and still. Most faculty and staff are working remotely, the University Center is closed, there are no fall athletics, and only about 8% of our classes are actually meeting on campus—mostly labs and some specific courses tied to special equipment needs. For once, parking is not a problem at the Dearborn campus! All kidding aside, this new reality, is a trying one for many. The need to learn and master new technologies, erratic and/or no access to consistent internet, a lack of direct face-to-face contact and the isolation that can accompany virtual learning, the necessity of reimagining course curriculum and laboratory components, the demands on our community members resulting from the disruptions in our childcare and k-12 environments, the financial difficulties brought on by COVID, and the worries about the pandemic and the health and well being of one’s students, family and friends, are all weighing heavily on the minds of CASL community members. At the same time, however, the promise of a new academic year and the excitement of welcoming new students into the college offer us all a much-needed distraction from the worry and uncertainty. More important still in accounting for the enthusiasm I am seeing around the college, however, is the realization that, now more than ever, the things that the college has to offer in terms of curriculum and faculty scholarship, are of critical importance. Indeed, if one hopes to understand and really address the myriad problems confronting our state and our nation, one must begin with the arts, sciences, and humane letters. It is CASL that offers students the opportunity to understand the history of race relations in the United States and the ways in which racism is stitched into the very fabric of our being. Likewise, CASL courses help to explain the gender and racial determinants of health disparities and give students the chance to connect these disparities to public policy and structural economic issues. As hundreds of thousands flee their homes in the American west in advance of unprecedented fires, as the gulf coast is being hammered by hurricane after hurricane, and as local weather patterns become more extreme, courses offered in the college facilitate student understanding of environmental change and how to prevent/counter this change. And, of course, the novel coronavirus itself (and other disease) and the ways that it spreads and impacts human health, is also a core area of study in the college. These and so many other critical contemporary issues (the psychological consequences of the pandemic, the best ways to balance economic security and public health, the use of data to better understand/predict the path of the pandemic, the tools necessary to critically understand/analyze the flood of information (both valid and not) washing over us on a daily basis, etc., etc.) are all areas of study and research here in the college. The consequences of this current pandemic are profound and far reaching but the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters is very well positioned to help both our students and the world outside of our classrooms make sense of what has happened and to inform our choices regarding what course to chart going forward. It is this realization that fuels much of the enthusiasm that I am seeing this September. CASL embraces the challenge we are facing and is eager to help our students and our broader community with the myriad problems that they are confronting. Here’s hoping that the next song I hear when I am driving (if it must be from the same era) is Here Comes the Sun!

Our Position

I hope that this missive finds everyone safe and well! If you are anything like me you have grown weary of the constraints that the COVID-19 pandemic imposed upon our lives. While I appreciate spending the time near my family along with my vastly reduced commute time and not having to play parking spot roulette if I venture out for a mid-day meeting, I also find myself spending no little time worrying about my faculty and staff colleagues and about our students. I also worry about the future of higher education in the United States and about the future of institutions like the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Public regional universities are not wealthy places. They always operate close to the bone, serving the overwhelming majority of the nation’s college students. They do not possess multi-billion-dollar endowments (UM-D’s, for instance, stands at around $60,000,000) and the bulk of their operating budgets are allocated toward faculty/staff salaries and benefits and student aid/support. They tend not to generate millions of sponsored research dollars nor are they supported the way that they once were by state tax dollars; they are tuition-driven institutions. And yet, it is in these very schools that the vast majority of American college students, many of them the first in their families to ever attend college and an increasing number from underrepresented populations, study, learn, and earn their degrees. These universities are, in short, the primary driver of American social mobility and equity. The COVID pandemic, while posing but the latest challenge to these schools, may be the most deadly. Indeed, the nation is already seeing small colleges and universities shuttering their doors as well as even the nation’s best known and well-funded colleges/universities adopting severe cost-cutting measures. Higher education as we knew it, will never look the same.

While prospects for schools like ours may look ominous, UM-Dearborn is better positioned than many to not only ride out this storm but to emerge stronger. First off, campuses like ours are well acquainted with environments of scarcity and finding ways to make due with less. Indeed, recent campus initiatives around digital education, student support, and careful stewardship of scarce resources enabled a relatively smooth transition to remote learning and for the campus to quickly establish the necessary reserves to cover its immediate needs. Likewise, the lack of university housing, dining, clinical medical programs, and a big time athletic program, also positions the university well to weather this latest shock. Our history as a primarily commuter campus also benefits us and may, in fact, entice new students to study with us as they wonder about the efficacy of spending more money for a residential experience further from their homes in this uncertain time. Finally, our connection to one of the world’s great universities also stands as reminder of both the power of a Michigan degree as well as the durability of the university granting those degrees.

Don’t get me wrong, the immediate future is filled with a great many challenges for both the university and the college but I firmly believe that if any regional public university can survive this storm, this one can. Will it look the same as it did back in March of this year? Undoubtedly not. Still, it will continue to do what it has done throughout its history; provide access to the very best public education available to a population that deserves exactly that. There is lots of work ahead and I look forward to sharing our progress with you as the university navigates this most challenging of times.

What's Old is New

As the aggressive spread of COVID-19 prompts detailed planning across our campus and across the country writ large, I have been struck by much of the emerging rhetoric connected to border control and the foreign origins of this threat (while not inaccurate) and its disturbing parallel with the xenophobic and nativist bombast that was commonplace in the United States in the early years of the 20th century. The American response to the evolving threat posed by COVID-19 (largely focused on travel restrictions aimed at foreign nations) and the resort to the old trope of associating disease and “foreignness” (the title “Wuhan” Coronavirus is widely used, for instance) should not surprise anyone. Indeed, recent national debates over the desirability of immigration (especially when it originates in non-European nations) are charged with claims that, “the race which has made our country great will pass away” and that our nation is faced with an, “invading hostile army” of “criminal immigrants” that are “mentally or physically defective” and all but ensured that such a response would emerge.

While the circumstances surrounding this recent association of foreigners and danger are new, the rhetoric itself (sadly) is deeply ingrained in the nation’s history. From Ben Franklin’s characterization of Pennsylvania Germans as “stupid” and “swarthy” to Prescott Hall’s (a founder of the Anti-Immigration League) early 20th century lamentations that, “You cannot make bad stock into good by changing its meridian, any more than you can turn a cart horse into a hunter by putting it into a fine stable, or make a mongrel into a fine dog by teaching it tricks,” to the aforementioned comments of our current president, the stereotype of an immigrant horde imperiling the United States has been a constant and is one that jeopardizes the very values that this nation was founded upon.

If my experience on this campus has taught me anything, it is that a diverse and inclusive community is a far stronger one than one that is homogeneous and exclusive. I am encouraged by the university’s thoughtful planning and embrace of this ideal and encourage all of us not to forget the lessons of history and/or to allow ourselves to be swayed by the nativist thinking that has so long defined our nation’s history and that is now re-emerging during this time of stress.

Welcome Provost Alcock!

I was very excited to read the announcement of our new Provost, Professor Sue Alcock, who will begin her responsibilities on January 1. As Chancellor Grasso recently noted, “Sue has a long and distinguished career in the academy having held numerous administrative and academic roles. She is a world-acclaimed scholar and teacher who will bring great insight, perspective and industry to our senior leadership team,” Grasso said. “Sue has served at some of the best universities in the world. Her experiences at Brown University, and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor and Flint), have prepared her to immediately step into this position and make a significant impact on our campus.”

Equally as important, from the perspective of the college is Sue’s academic training and area of focus. Alcock is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor (https://www.provost.umich.edu/programs/thurnau/ )
and professor of classical archaeology and classics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, in Ann Arbor and she is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (often called a “genius grant” https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/strategy/ ). The author of 13 books and more than 50 articles (she has been cited thousands of times), Alcock’s background will serve CASL well and will ensure that the liberal arts and humanities will be well represented in university-level discussions.

Sue follows in the footsteps of Kate Davy whose efforts profoundly transformed the campus in many positive ways. I am grateful to Kate for her bold and creative leadership and look forward to working with Provost Alcock in moving our campus forward!

Retaining and Sustaining our Students

With the chorus of “Welcome back to campus!” ringing in my ears I am sitting down to consider the current state of CASL. The beginning of the fall semester is always an exciting time here in the college; there are new classes to teach, new colleagues to meet, and new students to welcome into the CASL family. Sadly, however, over the past few years, the number of new students (both traditional and transfer) enrolling in the college has been declining, in some areas very significantly. While the CASL community takes some solace in knowing that this trend is evident in virtually every college of arts and humanities across the country, its impact on our college is significant. This decline poses major challenges for CASL…weak enrollments in many areas across the college, cancelled courses, and constrained finances which have impacted our ability to hire new faculty and staff and to invest in the college’s many strategic priorities.

Accordingly, last year, the college invited one of our faculty members, Ellen Judge-Gonzalez (the Director of our SOAR Program), to examine the college’s efforts around the retention of our students in the hope of generating ideas that will help us to keep the students that we do recruit, convince them to stay here in CASL, and to help move them toward graduation. The results of Ellen’s great work were recently shared with the college at large

CASL White Paper on Retention
https://umich.box.com/s/sb3ntqhs0ejopf2tb6p1q4pn2f7xmdza

CASL Former Student Experience Survey
https://umich.box.com/s/vwe1mvoc6jwup60fl4lvlok4m64xgbw6

and will serve as the basis for a CASL-wide conversation on retention. Holding onto just a small number of these students will have a very positive impact on the college’s bottom line and, even more importantly, on our students’ ability to fulfill their dream of a college degree.

The report is sparking a great deal of buzz in the college and faculty, staff, and CASL alums are all taking up the challenge of thinking about ways that they can (both individually and collectively) make the college a more welcoming and supportive environment for our students. Last evening, for instance, the CASL Alumni Affiliate set up a table in the CASL Building to hand out cookies and other snacks to students as they arrived back on campus. As we all know, even the smallest of actions can make a tremendous difference in making a student feel both welcome and supported and that such feelings go a long way toward encouraging a student to continue on with their studies here at the university.

Over the course of the 2019-2020 academic year I will be highlighting the importance of retention work to our faculty, staff, and alumni and the college will be launching new initiatives designed to enhance our retention and four-year graduation rates. I look forward to reporting out on our new initiatives and on the results of these efforts and invite you to share ideas that you might have!

Hands on Learning

Late last year I was invited to join our Geology Field Study students for their trip to Cyprus in the spring of 2019. Having just returned from that trip I have to say that it was an incredible experience for our students, and for myself. Beyond the geological sites that the students visited and interpreted (led by one of our amazing faculty, Dr. Jacob Napieralski), they were also exposed to Cyprus’s rich culture and history, including some time with the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus and a trip through the UN Buffer zone that separates the Greek Cypriot side of the island from the Turkish Cypriot side of the island. As always, it was amazing to watch the growth in the sophistication and confidence of our students as they analyzed the sites they visited and as they navigated their way around a new cultural milieu. That the experience was transformational for the students is undeniable:

“As it was my first time traveling alone I was very nervous and unsure of how it’d end up. I’ve learned so much and I’m so grateful to you all for making it one of the most amazing and unforgettable experiences of my life.”

“I was so nervous but this was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!”

Comments such as these are typical as our students reflect upon their study abroad experiences and they speak to the power of immersing our students in High Impact Learning Practices like Study Abroad. I am so proud that CASL is able to provide such experiences for our students and to assist them in making travel of this sort affordable. I am also reminded of the commitment of our talented faculty to work closely with our students and to push them to do things they never knew that they could do. As I’ve indicated in any number of different forums, I am committed to ensuring that the college expand these opportunities for our students and that we do all that we can to make such experiences accessible and affordable. I look forward to sharing more stories from the global education front with you in the future.

CASL Faculty Rock!

The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters is abuzz these days. The most recent round of Fulbright Faculty Scholars was recently released and three college faculty were named as recipients (Daniel Davis—who will be working in the Philippines, Bill DeGenaro—who is off to Jordan, and Anna Muller—who is beginning a new project in Poland). This would be an amazing achievement for most universities collectively let alone for one college within a university. Just to provide some context, in 2017-2018 Faculty at Michigan State University (a university that far surpasses the University of Michigan-Dearborn both in size and in its research portfolio) were awarded six Fulbrights while our colleagues in Ann Arbor were awarded twelve.

The fact that three of CASL’s faculty were named Fulbright Scholars reminded me of just how accomplished our faculty are. Not only do our faculty excel in the classroom but they are exposing our students and the world to their leading-edge research and scholarly findings. This comes as no surprise to me or to anyone else who has had the privilege of sitting in one of the courses offered by CASL faculty members but it is always wonderful to have what you know to be true validated by outside sources.

Though the college’s enrollment decline continues to challenge our budget we have been consistent in ensuring that the resources that we do have are allocated in ways that promote both the success of our students and the success of our faculty. The recognition of these three scholars by this very prestigious body confirms that the college is making an excellent investment. Congratulations to our Fulbright recipients! We wish you much success in your work!We are all extremely proud of you!

Welcoming our new Alums!

Dear CASL Alums,

Please join me in welcoming to the alumni family the students graduating this fall.


Our soon-to-be new alums are now busy finishing up their course work but they will soon be challenged with finding their way as they adjust to life after college. For some this will mean graduate or professional school. For others this new life will focus on employment. In all cases, however, the pressures one feels to make a difference can often feel daunting. I want to reassure our newest alums that they are in good company; we all experienced the same sense of excitement and angst that many of them are now dealing with. As they will soon realize (if they do not already) is that they are joining an illustrious group of very successful and devoted alumni.

Whether you’re a seasoned CASL alum, like myself, or a recent addition to the family, CASL alums remain committed to our chosen profession, to fundraising efforts on behalf of the college, to networking with our graduates, and to engaging with diverse groups of supporters. Other CASL alums serve as mentors, or work as dedicated faculty and staff, supporting the mission of the University and the College in a variety of ways. There are, of course, a great many CASL alums who choose to assist the college financially (both in small and large ways), and this doesn’t go unnoticed. Among the most impactful area of support is student scholarship money. No fund exemplifies more the impact that our alums are having than the “Get to Graduation.” This initiative, funded entirely by generous CASL alums and designed to assist those students who have exhausted their financial aid eligibility or who have encountered some sort of unanticipated financial crisis that imperils their graduation, remains close to my heart. To date we have assisted nearly twenty students in their quest to achieve their dream of earning their CASL degree. Please consider supporting this initiative. Your gift, no matter the amount, makes a huge difference for these students.

During this season in which many naturally focus on joy and giving, I sincerely thank each of you for your generous spirit. Whether you feel your role played in correlation to CASL is major, or minor, it ultimately advances the humanities, arts, and sciences.

I look forward to continuing to learn about the work and efforts of our alums.

Can't Do it Without You!

As I embark upon my second term as Dean I have much to be grateful for. The college is engaged in promoting its strategic initiatives and in fostering student and faculty success. This is energizing! I am eager to continue this work.

Among the most important of our initiatives, though, remains our effort to enhance and strengthen the CASL community and to more fully engage with our alumni. Last week, I was reminded once again just how much our alums care about this campus and our students and how much they give to their alma mater when I attended the CASL Alumni Affiliate Scholarship Recipient reception. This annual event is one of my favorites and I always leave inspired after hearing about the great work that our students are doing and I am always deeply moved by the adversity that many of them have had to overcome. Equally as important is the deep feeling of pride that washes over me as I see the members of our college’s Alumni Affiliate interacting with the students and with each other. These volunteers give countless hours and much energy in service to CASL and they inspire all they come into contact with. Last week’s reception marked the 22nd year for the scholarship and brought the total amount of scholarship money distributed to CASL students to just under $200,000! That is an amazing feat for an unpaid voluntary board and the impact of this selflessness is profound.

As I mentioned to those in attendance at the event, I am incredibly blessed to work alongside of such committed alums and am both inspired and humbled by their devotion to the college. I also shared with the students just how proud I am of them (both as their Dean and as a fellow alum) and how eager all those in attendance were to see just where their lives would lead them. As I told those in attendance (and I firmly believe this to be true), the ability of this campus to transform lives is something I haven't found anywhere else that I’ve ever been or that I am aware of. It is the most salient characteristic of the university and it is something that we should all be incredibly proud of.

I concluded the evening by inviting the scholarship recipients, as I would invite you, to consider giving back to CASL and to the university. This need not mean a financial contribution (though those are always welcome). There is always the need for mentoring, advising, and there are myriad other opportunities to reconnect with your campus and to share your experience and knowledge. Should you have the time and inclination to give back I strongly encourage you to reach out to our Alumni Affiliate (https://umdearborn.edu/casl/alumni-friends/alumni-engagement/casl-alumni-affiliate-scholarship/scholarship-reception) or to the university’s Alumni Relations office (https://umdearborn.edu/alumni). Now, perhaps more than at any other time, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and its students could benefit from your engagement!