Dianne Harris has officially been named the new dean of the College of Humanities.
Currently the director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Harris has a background in landscape architecture and is an architectural historian. She is heavily involved with the development of humanities programs nationwide and is the founding director of Humanities Without Walls, a program that funds 15 humanities institutes in the Midwest.
Heidi Camp, the assistant dean for advancement at the College of Humanities, said Harris joining the U will be a “breath of fresh air.”
“She has a whole new perspective on things,” Camp said. “The College is in very solid shape and ready to have someone take it up to that next level.”
Camp noted Harris has a different managing style that is focused on faculty advocacy, which Camp feels will help students in the long run.
“She is very approachable and very engaging, and I think she’s going to be very involved with students in a way we’ve not seen in the past,” Camp said. “We’re going to start seeing more creative innovation in the classroom to help students build that bridge from the passion that they have to practical applications in life.”
Eric Hinderaker, a history professor and participant in the search process, said they chose Harris because they “were impressed with every aspect of her.”
“Dianne Harris is somebody who will be able to provide good leadership as we think about new curriculum and new ways to resource undergraduate students,” Hinderaker said. “This is someone who is well-positioned to build our achievements and who can lead our college forward in an energetic and imaginative way.”
Robert Newman, the current dean, will be leaving on July 1 to take a position as director and president of the National Humanities Center. Newman has served as dean since 2001.
“He’s been a great leader. He’s done a lot of innovation, and so there’s a very strong legacy to build on,” Hinderaker said.
Sam Hawe, a junior in international studies, hopes that bringing in a new dean will help strengthen the Humanities College as a whole and create more inclusivity in the department.
“I’ve seen a lot of humanities classes go down in quantity, particularly in the Middle Eastern programs and foreign language programs,” Hawe said. “I’m hoping the new dean will be a beneficial force to reconstructing and expanding the smaller programs within the humanities college.”
@cynthia_luu