Correction appended
Department chairs in the humanities should aim to "open the door" to students and strengthen their departments' presence at the College, according to art history professor Adrian Randolph, the newly-appointed associate dean of the faculty for the arts and humanities. Randolph, who will serve a four-year term in the position, replaced French and comparative literature professor Kate Conley, according to a statement sent to all faculty members by Dean of the Faculty Michael Mastanduno on June 6.
Randolph will work with three other associate deans in the social sciences, sciences and interdisciplinary studies under the supervision of Mastanduno. The team will welcome a new dean of the faculty for international and interdisciplinary studies in the near future, according to Randolph.
"I think we need to make sure that present students and prospective students know that Dartmouth is among the very best places to study the arts and humanities," he said.
Randolph began teaching at the College in 1995, was awarded tenure in 2001 and served as the chair of the art history department in 2002. He has received national and international accolades for his work in Italian medieval studies and Renaissance studies.
In addition to working as a professor, Randolph previously served as the chair of the Committee on Priorities and chair of Dartmouth Centers Forum, a collective of groups across campus that organizes programming around an annual theme, he said.Randolph stepped down as director of the Leslie Center for the Humanities, an interdisciplinary space for the promotion of the humanities, and Mastanduno will oversee the process of appointing a new director.
As chair of the Arts and Sciences Committee on Priorities, Randolph also worked with College President Jim Yong Kim and Provost Carol Folt to establish the College's budget, Folt said in an email to The Dartmouth.
"Professor Randolph brings considerable academic depth and perspective to the role," she said. "He is creative, positive and energetic."
Randolph's previous position at the Leslie Center complements his new position as associate dean, according to Folt.
As associate dean, Randolph will work with 14 department chairs in the arts and humanities on issues ranging from curricula to programming.
"The chair is the key administrative figure because they are dealing with schedules and figuring out the best faculty," he said.
Randolph said he plans to keep curriculums "up to date" and to ensure that they "represent the ambition of the faculty" by collaborating with department chairs and other associate deans. Although various aspects of the departments may require improvement, Randolph said he will meet with faculty members to address their concerns.
"The humanities in higher education in general are in a state of self-questioning," Randolph said. "I am not convinced that this is always necessary or positive. But thinking broadly about the liberal arts education, it is the proven way to produce individuals who become leaders in their field."
While many students express interest for the arts and humanities, those coming from other disciplines may feel intimated by or detached from the departments, he said.
In order to increase student accessibility and "seem a little less arcane," Randolph said he intends to promote the arts and humanities without "rhetoric that would perhaps like to streamline education" and without relying on "laurels."
Randolph hopes to use his position to make meaningful changes for students, he said. As associate dean, Randolph will hear recommendations for future departmental improvements, he said.
"[Students] don't have to know what [deans] are doing," Randolph said. "If we work well, you just know that Dartmouth is great. You see us in having great professors."
Randolph said he is committed to ensuring that Dartmouth has the best faculty, research and creative productions from books and articles to performances and sculptures in the humanities.
"I always see research as quality control," he said. "You need to have great research to have great teachers because that is the way that students can be guaranteed knowledge that is fresh."
Although deans are not required to teach, Randolph said he hopes to find a balance between his responsibilities as an administrator, teacher and researcher by teaching one class in the fall. The diminishing professorial role that occurs during his time as an associate dean is "one of the negatives" of his new position, he said.
The four-year term enables associate deans to become involved in the administration for relatively short periods and return to their teaching roles, according to Randolph.
"Teaching while you are a full-time administrator is the thing that tends to vanish," he said.
Randolph received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his master's degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London in 1989, according to Mastanduno's statement. He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1995.
