The University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has added two new departments: the department of social and critical inquiry and the department of geography, sustainability, community and urban studies.
The Board of Trustees approved the establishment of both departments at their meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Anne D’ Alleva, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, brought both proposals to the board, emphasizing the importance of combining smaller units and programs to create stronger research, engagement and resources.
Both departments will be effective as of July 1, and they are set to launch at the beginning of the fall semester.
Department of Social and Critical Inquiry
The Department of Social and Critical Inquiry will join four units: American Studies Program, Asian and Asian American Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program. These four separate units offer large courses that serve a significant percentage of UConn’s general education requirements, alongside degree programs that allow students to further engage in the fields of study.
Katharine Capshaw, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and professor of English and African Studies, said the department will recognize the smaller programs and their ongoing academic and programmatic contributions to undergraduate and graduate student communities.
“The new department plans to build opportunities for undergraduate research, intersectional approaches to the curriculum, and partnerships with communities in the state, among other efforts,” Capshaw said.
Capshaw added the new department will create a structure that facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations and engagement with social justice.
“Students have long expressed a desire for curricular and programmatic offerings that are responsive to the distinctiveness of culture and identity, and that enable them to pursue initiatives and intellectual projects that will help change the world for the better,” Capshaw said.
A total of 31 existing faculty are expected to form the department. The new department is expected to increase the recruitment and retention of historically excluded and marginalized students, faculty and staff, according to the proposal.
The proposal said the merging of programs will provide more efficient administration and curricular processes, including the ability to tenure faculty, reduce administrative burden in course scheduling and develop new interactions across all areas of research, teaching, service and community engagement.
Department of geography, sustainability, community and urban studies
The department of geography, sustainability, community and urban studies will also strengthen current programs and become the administrative home for the environmental studies program
Currently, the geography, urban and community studies and environmental studies serves approximately 200 student majors, 100 student minors and 25 graduate students.
Bandana Purkayastha, associate dean of social sciences, regional campuses and community engagement, said the interdisciplinary hub will bring together the strengths of many departments and programs, emphasizing research and community engaged work.
“Students who are seeking opportunities to learn more about interdisciplinary human-centered approaches to climate change, human destruction of natural systems, sustainability [and] the questions of environmental social and racial justice, will find courses and research opportunities in this new unit,” Purkayastha said.
The department will be formed by existing faculty and staff, including the 16 faculty members from geography and urban and community studies.
“Professors from many social science and humanities departments are collaborating on offering courses and research opportunities for students,” Purkayastha said.