Dympna Callaghan, a professor in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, was named a University Professor for her work in liberal arts education.

A University Professor is in charge of implementing SU’s Academic Strategic Plan, a university-wide academic vision, for their home college. Callaghan will particularly focus on incorporating the humanities into the Academic Strategic Plan, according to SU News.

“I have a wonderful opportunity to help enact the bold vision of the Academic Strategic Plan and this to help make SU, the institution to which I have dedicated my entire career, an even better place,” Callaghan said in an email.

Callaghan already held the position of William L. Safire Professor of Modern Letters in the college, and Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly said Callaghan’s work in English and the humanities is already highly regarded worldwide.

“It’s considered the next level of accomplishment,” Wheatly said. “Dympna has been here quite a while and has marched through many accomplishments. This is someone who is regarded very highly by the university community.

She added that Callaghan has had fellowships at other universities, including Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Callaghan was nominated by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Karin Ruhlandt and was approved by Chancellor Kent Syverud and the SU Board of Trustees.

When Wheatly was looking at the list of University Professors, she said she saw there were currently none in the humanities.

“It sends a very important message to those working in the humanities — recognizing the work of those in fields outside the ‘knowledge economy,’” Wheatly said, referring to work done by professors in SU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, among others.

Callaghan said work in the humanities is important, particularly considering “the immense toll of suffering and violence that has characterized especially recent human history.”

She added that in her area of expertise — the English Renaissance — there was a significant cultural emphasis on looking back into the past and that this is still a vital part of education.

Even then, she said, the general focus on the past led to advancements in every area of life, and even created entirely new fields of study — including the modern understanding of science.

In addition to Callaghan’s accomplishments, Wheatly said the professor was instrumental in the development of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Academic Strategic Plan, which will help provide students with a broad and deep education in the liberal arts.

“The idea that technical, mechanical or other skill sets can be adequately developed without the kind of advanced intellectual work taught in the humanities is profoundly mistaken and downright dangerous,” Callaghan said.

Ruhlandt noted that Callaghan will continue in her teaching role, saying that her courses on Shakespeare are always well-attended and well-received by students.

“It would be a disservice to students to take her, one of our best people, out of the classroom,” Ruhlandt said.

The Academic Strategic Plan, Ruhlandt said, will combine the humanities and the social and natural sciences. Callaghan will serve as a liaison between the College of Arts and Sciences and the other SU schools involved in the plan.

Callaghan said she is excited to help put the plan into action. She added she is looking forward to cooperating with other disciplines to provide SU students with the best possible liberal arts education.

Wheatly said she believes Callaghan to be especially well-suited for her role because her research in the field of English literature has been known to incorporate other disciplines, which is the central focus of the Academic Strategic Plan.

“Regimes that wish to enforce conformity prefer unthinking allegiance to prevailing norms,” Callaghan said. “Humanities disciplines question norms, look at all sides of issues and have immense transformative power.”

Published on November 27, 2017 at 9:07 pm

Contact Charlie: cesawyer@syr.edu