As the new Dean of Arts at UBC, I’ll maintain this blog to chart my steep learning curve; to weigh in on issues that impact the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Creative and Performing Arts; to comment more broadly on post-secondary education; and to respond to events and developments in the Faculty of Arts.  

You may know the term ‘gravitas’: possessing a quality of being weighty, serious, and solemn.  It’s a quality deans may be expected to possess, but it has never fit very well in my case.  Too often the work of deans is hidden behind layers of protective inaccessibility – this blog tries to peel those layers back and to share what it is I do with anyone interested (is there anyone interested?).