THE JUSTICE
●
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010
3
STRESSBUSTER
ACADEMICS
Watson chosen as new Dean
■ Prof. Malcolm Watson will
replace Prof. Gregory Freeze as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. By HARRY SHIPPS JUSTICE EDITOR
Prof. Malcolm Watson, current chair of the Psychology department, will become the new dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences effective July 1, according to a May 6 University press release. Current Dean of the GSAS Prof. Gregory Freeze (HIST) will be stepping down, effective at the same time. In an e-mail to the Justice, Freeze wrote that he was due for his sabbatical and wants “to return full time to my research and teaching.” Watson wrote, in an e-mail to the Justice, that his name was suggested for the post after Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe called for the nomination of faculty members, although he wrote that he “did not aspire to the position and took some time to decide to accept a nomination.” In the past, he served as the department director of Graduate Studies, but he has not recently been directly involved with the GSAS, Watson wrote in his e-mail. He went on to write that in his 33 years at Brandeis, he has normally worked with both doctoral and master’s degree candidates. Watson wrote that “the biggest task for GSAS is funding for the graduate programs to keep the entire program in the black.” In a separate e-mail to the Justice, Freeze wrote that “primarily by increasing the enrollments in master’s and certificate programs,” the GSAS was able to transform a $1.8 million deficit in the 2008 to 2009 academic year to a $739,000 surplus during the 2009-2010 academic year. In his e-mail, Watson identified six priorities that, he wrote, “will guide me as I make decisions on what we do in the GSAS office.” Included in these priorities are the maintenance of an organized and functioning GSAS staff; the continued funding for graduate programs; an increase in advertisement and marketing of graduate programs as a means to recruit new graduate students; ensuring that graduate programs meet the needs and provide a service to students that is worth their time, effort and money; frequent evaluation of the standards used by departments and programs in awarding Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees; and ensuring a high quality of life for graduate students. In his e-mail, Freeze counseled that in order to maintain a high level of educational quality while increasing enrollment, the GSAS must generate a larger applicant pool. According to the University press release, Freeze oversaw the review of graduate programs as part of the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee and Brandeis 2020 committee. Freeze wrote that he supported most of the committee’s proposals, which, he said, have more to do with improving efficiency than with cutting or downsizing. Watson wrote in his e-mail that the recommendations of the CARS and Brandeis 2020 committees “are part of the need to keep the graduate programs on a strong financial footing.” Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, “Dean Freeze has done a sensational job. … Prof. Watson has been a terrific citizen of the University, and I expect he will continue the strong leadership that Dean Freeze has shown.” In his e-mail, Freeze wrote, “We are on the right track, have an excellent staff at GSAS, and found an excellent replacement in Professor Malcolm Watson.”
ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice
Relieving stress Students relax before finals by experimenting with henna tattoos at Stressbuster, a program organized by Student Events designed to alleviate stress for students before the final exam period. Interested students could also get a free massages during the event. Stressbuster took place Wednesday, May 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Great Lawn.
GRANT: Scholarship program will grow CONTINUED FROM 1 to college. The press release states that Brandeis students will be connected to Boston-area and Waltham youth through college preparatory mentoring with the help of some Science Posse scholars, a Saturday morning science lecture and discussion series by Brandeis faculty and internships. The Science Posse program will also work to create a version of the United States Biology Olympiad, originally a Biology competition
for high school students. The outreach program will instead target Boston- and Waltham-area middle school students. Brandeis professors and students will develop examination materials and laboratory exercises appropriate for a middle school biology competition, and the top 50 schools will advance to the “finals” at Brandeis, according to the press release. To apply for the funding, Epstein said in an interview with the Justice that he had to “describe what we had done with
the first four years of HHMI support,” explaining that the goals of “improv[ing] ‘General Chemistry’ and implementing the first Science Posse program in the country” had been achieved since the project’s creation. In the press release, Epstein noted that minority enrollment in introductory science courses has increased as a result of the Posse program, and several Science Posse students have become campus leaders. Usman Hameedi ’12, one of the first students to be accepted into
the Science Posse program, wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he would like to see the increase in funding provide Science Posse students with more internship opportunities. “By having internships that truly test our knowledge, we can show that we are much more than our grades. In addition, these internships can help future Science Posse students develop a passion for the sciences in a way that a textbook could never accomplish,” he wrote.
AMST: Department will transform to program CONTINUED FROM 1 University, initially recommended transforming the American Studies department into an interdisciplinary program in its final report, released in February. Provost Marty Krauss accepted this recommendation in March. The first motion to change the major was approved at the April 15 faculty meeting. Prof. Joyce Antler, the chair of the American Studies department, said in an interview with the Justice that the transition from a department to an interdisciplinary program would not alter the American Studies curriculum in any way. “There are no changes being made to the curriculum. Nothing is going to change except in terms of growth,” she said, explaining that professors would continue operating in their current offices and junior professors would ultimately be tenured in American Studies. Antler explained that the transformation into an interdisciplinary
program entailed that as American Studies faculty retired, they would not be replaced with new American Studies faculty and that the major would grow “by drawing on expertise throughout the University.” Antler also said that, in an effort to enhance the major, the faculty would add “affiliates,” which Antler said are faculty members from other departments that can make valuable contributions to American Studies. She said that this year, the American Studies faculty included Profs. James Mandrell (ROMS), Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman (ENG), Arthur Holmberg (THA) and Carmen Sirianni (SOC). “We looked to people to fill in gaps where we didn’t have faculty,” Antler said, further explaining that she envisioned the addition of 15 to 20 affiliates within the next two years. At the April 15 faculty meeting, Antler said in a statement to the faculty that the American Studies faculty was in no way protesting this recommendation but that they
wished they had been incorporated into the discussion about transforming the department into a program. “We understand that all the parties in the complete B2020 process acted according to their beliefs about Brandeis’ best interests … But for those of us on the other side of that table, these procedures never allowed us to communicate our ideas about alternative structures; curriculum possibilities; the timing of the transition; and more,” the statement read. Antler said that she did not believe this change would affect the number of students interested in the major. “I don’t think the students will see any difference or think about American Studies differently. Students don’t care if a major is a program or a department,” she said. The American Studies faculty recently revised the core requirements for American Studies majors, eliminating the “Foundations of American Civilization” class (AMST 10a) and
incorporating the content of that course into AMST 100a and 100b, changes that Antler said the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approved in the middle of the spring semester. However, Antler emphasized, “It would be wrong to tie together the changing of the status to the changing of the curriculum,” explaining that these changes were unrelated to the recommendation from the 2020 Committee and were merely designed to give students a broader option of courses. Jennifer Abidor ’11, an American Studies major, said in a phone interview with the Justice that she thinks this change will ultimately diminish the value of the major itself. “American Studies is interdisciplinary because it represents all facets of American society, but having it as a department defines it as a unique program. I think that transforming it into a program detracts from American Studies as a legitimate course of study, which it definitely is,” said Abidor.