Rethinking Tenure and Promotion Assessment in the Humanities: A Blueprint for Transformation and Innovation
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Co-organized by the Center for the Humanities and the Program in Public Scholarship, this event is designed to help humanities faculty and administrators think through how to move beyond traditional requirements for tenure dossiers in the humanities (e.g., monograph and articles) to encompass newer ways of doing humanities research — public humanities, digital humanities, creative practice. How do we enact systemic change to open up traditional ways of evaluating humanities research to allow scholars to produce this exciting new work while moving through the tenure and promotion processes?
This type of systemic change is essential for the health and future of the humanities as we search for new ways to engage with multiple publics and ensure equitable access to the processes of scholarly production to researchers from diverse backgrounds. This one-day event brings together national leaders in humanities organizations, scholars doing innovative work in the humanities, as well as thought leaders at both Washington University and other institutions committed to enacting these transformations.
Confirmed guests:
- Kal Alston, Professor in Cultural Foundations of Education and Women’s and Gender Studies, Syracuse University; Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the School of Education; Chair, Imagining America National Advisory Board; and President-Elect, Philosophy of Education Society
- Ulrich Baer, Director, Center for the Humanities; University Professor, Departments of German and Comparative Literature, NYU
- Antoinette Burton, Professor of History and Swanlund Endowed Chair; Director, Humanities Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Alenda Y. Chang, Associate Professor in Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara; Co-founder, Wireframe Digital Media Studio
- Joy Connolly, President, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
- Heather Hewett, Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, ACLS
- Paula Krebs, Executive Director, Modern Language Association
Program
The morning session begins at 9 am at Hurst Lounge in Duncker Hall. The afternoon session begins at 1 pm. A reception will be held for attendees at 4:30 pm in the Goldberg Formal Lounge (DUC).
9–9:15 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Stephanie Kirk, Director, Center for the Humanities
Mary McKay, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives
9:15–10:30 am
Panel 1: Challenges (moderator Christopher Schaberg, Director of Public Scholarship, Arts and Sciences)
Antoinette Burton, Professor of History and Swanlund Endowed Chair; Director, Humanities Research Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Alenda Y. Chang, Associate Professor in Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara; Co-founder, Wireframe Digital Media Studio
Joy Connolly, President, American Council of Learned Societies
Responses: Kal Alston, Ulrich Baer, Heather Hewett, Paula Krebs
10:30–11 am
Coffee Break
11 am–12:15 pm
Panel 2: Opportunities (moderator Stephanie Kirk)
Kal Alston, Professor in Cultural Foundations of Education and Women’s and Gender Studies, Syracuse University; Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the School of Education; Chair, Imagining America National Advisory Board; and President-Elect, Philosophy of Education Society
Ulrich Baer, Director, Center for the Humanities; University Professor, Departments of German and Comparative Literature, NYU
Heather Hewett, Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, ACLS
Paula Krebs, Executive Director, Modern Language Association
Responses: Antoinette Burton, Alenda Y. Chang, Joy Connolly
12:15–1:15 pm
Lunch on your own
1:15–2:30 pm
Panel 3: Here: Snapshots of Innovation (moderator Christopher Schaberg)
G’Ra Asim, Assistant Professor of English
Jianqing Chen, Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and of Film and Media Studies
Nathan Dize, Assistant Professor of French
Gabrielle Kirilloff, Assistant Professor of English
Raven Maragh-Lloyd, Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and Film and Media Studies
Sarah Weston, Assistant Professor of English
Anya Yermakova, ACLS Emerging Voices Fellow, Center for the Humanities
2:30–3:30 pm
Panel 4: Next: A Roundtable on Supporting Transformation (moderator Andrew Brown, Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs, Professor of Spanish, Professor of Comparative Literature [by courtesy], Biodiversity Fellow, Living Earth Collaborative)
Guided by:
Kia Caldwell, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity, Professor, Department of African and African-American Studies, Dean’s Distinguished Professorial Scholar in Arts & Science
Danielle Dutton, Associate Professor of English, Co-Director, Center for the Literary Arts
Adia Harvey Wingfield, Vice Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity, Professor of Sociology, Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Arts & Sciences
Julia Walker, Chair, Performing Arts Department, Professor of English and Performing Arts
3:30–4:15 pm
Panel 5: Reflections and Next Steps
Joy Connolly, President, ACLS and Paula Krebs, Executive Director, Modern Language Association, in conversation with Stephanie Kirk, Director, Center of the Humanities.
4:15–4:25 pm
Closing Remarks
Feng Sheng Hu, Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences; Professor of Biology and of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences; and Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences
