Happy 2022! I am happy to see us back in person teaching, learning, making art, making music, and engaging in the life of the mind.
Congratulations to all Arts & Humanities staff, students, alumni, and faculty for a successful 2020-2021 academic year!
In higher education we talk a great deal about teaching skills like critical thinking, textual analysis, information literacy, civic responsibility, and ethical judgement.
We are all hopeful that with the arrival of spring and the swift pace of vaccinations in Sonoma County and among our community that we will see each other in person soon!
The troubling events yesterday — the storming and pillaging of the Capitol building in Washington DC and the dire increase in Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths here in California — put the death of a promising student in a larger perspective. It is going to take all of our efforts to build trust and faith in institutions of government both locally and nationally. It is going to take all of our efforts to make our institutions work. Our new Chancellor, Dr. Joseph Castro, wrote after the events yesterday, "The CSU — the country’s largest public university system — is preparing a new generation of diverse and ethical leaders who will help to strengthen our state and nation in the years to come.” This is our challenge and I am confident that all of us in Arts & Humanities — every student, faculty member, and staff member — will endeavor in our commitment to build a thriving and inclusive future.
One year ago, I gave to everyone in the Dean’s office – including myself – a sturdy pair of binoculars as a holiday gift.
Welcome! We begin the 2020-2021 academic year in the sixth month of the global Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.