After two decades as both a professor and an administrator at Dartmouth, French and comparative literature expert Katharine Conley will be leaving Dartmouth for the College of William and Mary, where she will assume the position of dean of the faculty of arts and sciences on July 1, according to Conley.
Conley served as the associate dean of the faculty for the arts and humanities at Dartmouth from 2006 to 2011 and is currently on sabbatical. Conley said that her experience as a dean at the College will be helpful in her transition to William and Mary.
"I'm looking forward to it," Conley said. "Everything I learned about academic administration at Dartmouth prepared me for this position. It really got me excited about working in an administration in higher education."
She added that the similarities between Dartmouth and William and Mary were also attractive in considering the job offer.
"They both have a strong focus on undergraduates and a real strength in the liberal arts," she said.
Conley had not been actively seeking a new job, but a member of William and Mary's search firm who was personally acquainted with Conley contacted her last summer inviting her to apply for the position, she said.
Conley started teaching at the Dartmouth in 1992, following the completion of her PhD in French at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to attending graduate school, Conley graduated from Harvard College in 1979 as an honors English major and worked in publishing for seven years, she said.
At Dartmouth, Conley taught in the French department with a focus on French literature and the Surrealist movement. For several years, Conley taught a freshman seminar in the women and gender studies department called "Women Surrealist Artists and Writers," she said. She also led several off-campus programs, including the Language Study Abroad programs in Lyon and Toulouse and the Foreign Study Program in Paris.
In addition to French literature, Conley's main academic focus is the Surrealist movement. The movement began in the 1920s and encompassed many fields, including art, literature, film and television.
"It was such a rich, avant-garde movement of that time," Conley said. "It still has a major impact on art and culture and was really a movement that had an international impact."
Conley is a renowned scholar in her field, according to Lynn Higgins, a comparative literature professor and associate dean of the faculty for international and interdisciplinary studies at the College.
"She has an international reputation as someone who has redefined Surrealism in several different ways," she said.
In 2006, Conley made the transition from professor to administrator and served as the associate dean for the arts and humanities. Although she spent most of her time completing her administrative duties, Conley still advised students on independent studies.
Among her first acts as dean was to change the name of her division from "humanities" to "arts and humanities," she said.
"It gave me an opportunity to emphasize how strong Dartmouth is in the arts," Conley said. "Dartmouth can help you build an entire career."
Professors interviewed by The Dartmouth characterized Conley as an attentive dean and professor whose presence will be missed at the College.
"For me, she's the ideal colleague," Russian and comparative literature professor John Kopper said. "She radiates integrity and she's friendly and cheerful."
French and comparative literature professor David LaGuardia attended graduate school with Conley and worked with her for a decade before Conley became dean.
"As dean, she was always concerned about promoting the humanities, and her door was always open to colleagues who had concerns and questions," LaGuardia wrote in an email to The Dartmouth. "Her departure represents a huge loss for the French department and for Dartmouth."
Current Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Arts and Humanities and art history professor Adrian Randolph called Conley a "wonderful" listener.
"It's difficult to lose such a valued colleague and friend," Randolph said. "It's hard to imagine Dartmouth without Kate around, but I can see that she's just going to do a fabulous job there. I utterly understand her taking this very fitting step."
