Message from the Dean
The Humanities and Social Sciences foster critical thinking, creative expression, and intellectual curiosity. In classrooms, laboratories, studios, and on stage, students are prepared for a variety of careers with the skill set and tools to prosper in a fast-changing world. I am proud to lead this division as dean, and I know that the programs offered in the Humanities and Social Sciences are integral to preparing students for the fierce urgency of the contemporary world.
Our division includes nine departments: English, History, Media Culture, Performing and Creative Arts, Philosophy, Political Science and Global Affairs, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, and World Languages and Literatures, as well as many interdisciplinary majors and minors. These academic departments and interdisciplinary programs provide a rich curriculum to more than 11,000 students through general education, undergraduate majors and minors, and associate, certificate, and graduate programs.
Our faculty are world-class scholars, artists, and researchers whose work commands national recognition, including a Presidential Early Career Award, a Pulitzer Prize, Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, National Science Foundation grants, book prizes, invited exhibitions, and compositional commissions. Yet their most profound impact unfolds in the classroom. By translating their cutting-edge discoveries into innovative teaching, they invite students directly into the heart of inquiry—challenging minds, opening doors, and transforming lives.
Whether your path leads to public policy, healthcare advocacy, media production, behavioral research, law, or the creative sector, your career will be fortified and defined by your capacity to understand people, organize collective effort, and bring clarity to chaos. We do not just prepare you to enter the workforce; we equip you to shape it, innovate within it, and lead with purpose.
I welcome you to the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. Explore our course offerings, engage with our excellent faculty, and discover our beautiful campus.