Administration Appoints Controversial Humanities Dean Search Committee

(Via UC Rebel Radio)


We have just received some information about the Humanities Crisis at the University of California, Irvine. Since we last published the documents in which several departments were identified as "need[ing] attention" by the current Dean of Humanities, Vicki L. Ruiz, it seems like she has announced her resignation from the post.

Moreover, it now looks like the committee in charge of overseeing the hiring of the new Dean is made in great part from those departments that were "protected" under the new budget guidelines, and not from the "needs attention" list. In fact, the search committee that's been announced includes only one faculty member from the "Needs Attention" departments: Prof.Nasrin Rahimieh. Several of the rest are not from the School of Humanities at all, but from science and other schools. 

Below is the letter sent out to the School of Humanities Members: 

________________________________

Dear Colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce the formation of a search committee charged with assisting us in appointing a Dean of the School of Humanities. 

A national search will be conducted to identify the most qualified candidates for this position. Interested UCI faculty are highly encouraged to apply. 

The committee will evaluate nominees and make recommendations based on the suitability of candidates. The committee is chaired by Steven Topik, Professor, Department of History. 
Additional committee members include: 

Jonathan Alexander, Professor and Campus Writing Coordinator, Department of English 

Samantha Cohen, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of English 

Susan Egan, Assistant Dean, School of Social Ecology 

Christopher Hughes, Professor and Chair, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 

Kenneth Janda, Dean, School of Physical Sciences 

Anthony Kubiak, Associate Professor, Department of Drama 

Julia Lupton, Professor, Department of English 

William Maurer, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Department of Anthropology

Glen Mimura, Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Study, Department of Film and Media Studies 

Deanna Nunez, Director of Administrative Operations, Bren School of ICS 

Maria Pantelia, Professor and Director, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, Department of Classics 

Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor and Director, Center for Persian Studies and Culture, Department of Comparative Literature 

Jacobo Sefami, Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese 

Cecile Whiting, Professor and Chair, Department of Art History 

We are soliciting your assistance in the recruitment of our future dean, and request that you submit any suggestions, applications, and/or nominations to: 

Professor Steven Topik Chair, School of Humanities Dean Search Committee 

C/O JiWon Kim, 509 Aldrich Hall, Zot Code 1000 or Email Address: jiwon@uci.edu 


We welcome your participation and look forward to the search committee's assistance in concluding a successful search for this important position. 

Chancellor Michael Drake and Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost Michael Gottfredson