Vision

Strong programs in arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences undergird the intellectual and cultural life of all great universities by fostering the core values of a liberal arts education: discovery, creativity, diversity, innovation, imagination, and transformation. The College of Arts & Sciences must be truly outstanding for the University of Delaware to achieve prominence as a university.

a)  We will recruit prominent members of the faculty of international stature in strategic multi-disciplinary research areas, while continuing to improve core disciplinary strengths. Diversity is one of our core educational values; our search committees will actively and aggressively recruit faculty with racial, gender, cultural, and intellectual diversity.

b)  We will establish effective faculty mentoring programs to ensure success and retention of our junior faculty members.

c) We will establish a distinguished visiting scholars program to enhance cross-disciplinary programming and national visibility in the humanities and social sciences. We will also establish a distinguished visiting artists program to enhance programming in performing and creative arts.

 

 

d)  As we continue to globalize our curricula, we will increase the professional development funding available to faculty for research and professional activities that are explicitly international in scope.

a) We will establish competitive summer research fellowships for Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences and fund Ph.D. students in these disciplines for five years to enhance recruitment, improve time-to-degree, and raise the quality of graduate student research. We seek to establish named, endowed fellowships for M.F.A. students.

b) We will strengthen recruitment of graduate students from underrepresented groups in all disciplines by enhancing support for bridge programs such as the Arts and Humanities Summer Institute and working with others on campus to strengthen university-wide services and support for underrepresented graduate students.

c) We will increase the research and professional development funding available to graduate students, especially for international travel and research opportunities.

a) Through effective mentoring and advisement, we will encourage our undergraduates to find their passions and maximize their potential, and we will expand the opportunities for  discovery learning through undergraduate research, service learning, and international study. We seek funding to provide support for study abroad scholarships, summer research stipends, and supplies for students working on such projects.

b) Building on our success in mentoring and advising underrepresented students majoring in the sciences through our NUCLEUS program, currently funded by HHMI, we seek funding to sustain our science access center and expand our model across the college.  

a) With seed funding from the Unidel Foundation, we have established a Delaware Design Institute to support cross-college collaborations on design projects engaging faculty and students from a diverse array of disciplines. The Institute will provide a forum for tackling real-world problems requiring the application of innovative processes and creative design thinking. 

b) We will sustain the activities of the Research Institute for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, established in 2009 through seed funding from the Unidel Foundation. Its mission is to foster multi-disciplinary research teams and innovative interdisciplinary teaching collaborations, support the professional development of graduate students through initiatives such as the NEH Challenge Grant in American Material Cultures Studies, and engage local communities as well as campus audiences in investigations of the cultural, historical, philosophical, and creative dimensions of human experience.

c)  We will establish a Center for Political Communication, which will extend the College’s successful programming surrounding the 2008 national presidential election, support interdisciplinary faculty research on public policy issues, and sponsor high profile lectures featuring speakers of national and/or international renown. 

d)  We will strengthen the social sciences by (1) actively pursuing interdisciplinary opportunities in collaboration with the Provost’s Task Force on Social Science Initiatives; (2) contributing to programs sponsored through the Institute for Global Studies , including expanded support for visiting scholars and exchange programs that allow UD scholars to conduct research abroad; and (3) pursuing the creation of Departments of Black American Studies and Women’s Studies.

e)  We seek to endow a School of the Performing Arts to create a higher profile for our Departments of Music and Theatre on campus and enhance our appeal to talented students who wish to pursue both academic interests and artistic passions.  An endowed School will also garner greater visibility nationally as well as regionally for our performing arts productions.