New York City become, but we already have classes that integrate
Lang’s commitment to civic liberal arts?
critical thinking and coding, and we have new faculty.
has been the bell hooks residency at Lang. Bell and I have been colleagues for years, first getting to
As far as we can tell, we may be the only school that’s exploring this topic right now. Outside of being Lang’s dean, you’re also a faculty
know each other in Kentucky. We’ve brought her to
member. What are you teaching this term?
The New School four times, I believe. The first time,
I love to talk about what I’m teaching, because it’s
people waited more than an hour in a line that went
important to me. I can’t be a good dean if I’m not in
down Fifth Avenue in order to hear her talk with
the classroom. My background is in American and
Melissa Harris-Perry. Each residency, she has had
African-American literature, so I’ve taught those
conversations with a wide range of people—Laverne
courses, but I’ve also taught a freshman seminar.
Cox, Eve Ensler, Samuel Delany, Janet Mock, Cornel
In my 19th- and 20th-century American literature
West, etc. These are on YouTube and are still very
class, we begin with Walt Whitman and Herman
popular and important. She never stops thinking
Melville, then on to Harriet Jacobs, who wrote a
critically and always finds pleasure and humor in her
slave narrative and hid in her grandmother’s attic for
dialogues with others.
seven years to avoid a predatory white slave owner.
What new areas are students at Lang exploring
We’ll eventually end up with Langston Hughes and
these days?
Marianne Moore.
We began the Journalism + Design program a few
What was behind your decision to play so many
years ago. It prepares students to be journalists of
roles on campus?
all kinds and to help shape a sector that is of critical
I get to know the college through student eyes that
importance to democracy and in radical disruption right now. We’re also exploring what it would mean to offer courses in “coding and liberal arts.” Technology is a part of our lives, and we are beginning to grasp the impact of social media, data, and algorithms in almost everything, from private conversations to national elections. Reading and writing have long been core to a liberal arts education. Perhaps technology is a third strand that should be woven into what we offer at Lang. I’m not sure what it will
way. It’s really easy to think you know the college when you’re the dean, but I don’t know it any better than my students do, and if I don’t stay in touch, I’ll be oblivious to their needs. Being an advisor also requires that I know the curriculum from the student perspective and to spend time in conversation with one student at a time. But this is why we’re here—to change lives one at a time. It’s about human learning and the relationships that nurture learning, for them and for me. It keeps me happy.
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Lots! The most popular program in recent years
The New School
Is there any specific programming that supports