Nine faculty members will develop the School of Civic Life and Leadership’s vision and curriculum while leading the search for a new dean.
In an email to faculty and staff of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean Jim White announced the inaugural faculty of the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Drawn from the ranks of tenured faculty in the College, these nine faculty members will articulate the vision for this new school and build the necessary infrastructure to begin the school’s operations.
Sarah Treul Roberts, Bowman and Gordon Gray distinguished term professor in political science and faculty director of the College’s Program for Public Discourse, will serve as the interim director and dean of the school until a permanent director and dean is hired. The Program for Public Discourse will become part of the School of Civic Life and Leadership.
Joining Treul Roberts are:
- Inger Brodey, associate professor of English and comparative literature.
- Kurt Gray, professor of psychology and neuroscience.
- Fabian Heitsch, professor of physics and astronomy.
- Mark Katz, distinguished professor of music.
- Matthew Kotzen, professor of philosophy.
- Christian Lundberg, associate professor of communication.
- Jason Roberts, professor of political science.
- Molly Worthen, associate professor of history.
These appointments are effective immediately. The faculty members serve in half-time appointments, remaining part of their home departments. “These faculty have my gratitude for agreeing to take on this endeavor and the extra responsibilities it entails, especially in the middle of the semester and with a timeline that is accelerated beyond the norm for establishing a new school,” White said.
White charged the group with defining the vision for the new school, identifying the committee members who will lead the search for the permanent director and dean of the school, initiating the groundwork for developing the school’s curriculum and building the administrative infrastructure that academic units need to operate effectively.
White emphasized that the creation of the new school will be driven by the faculty. “I have every confidence that the foundational work done by our pioneering nine will lead to a school that showcases Carolina’s strengths in discourse, civic life and democracy,” he concluded.
By University Communications