Appointment of the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts
A message from Andrew J. Szeri, Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver
It is my pleasure to announce that the Board of Governors has accepted the President's recommendation to appoint Dr. Clare Haru Crowston as the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts for a five-year term, commencing no later than January 1, 2023.
Dr. Crowston is a Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she currently serves as the Associate Dean for the Humanities and Interdisciplinary Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
She received her B.A. from McGill University in 1988 and her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1996. She joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign as Assistant Professor in August, 1996, and earned promotion to Professor in 2014.
Dr. Crowston's research interests lie in early modern history, in particular the history of women and gender, and of working people in early modern France. She has authored the books Credit, Fashion, Sex: Economies of Regard in Old Regime France (Duke University Press, 2013) and Fabricating Women: The Seamstresses of Old Regime France, 1675-1791 (Duke University Press, 2001), the latter of which was awarded the Berkshire Prize for the best first book in history by a woman in North America and the Hagley Prize in business history. She is also the author of numerous book chapters and articles, and co-author of the textbooks A History of Western Society (13th edition, Bedford St Martin's) and A History of World Societies (12th edition, Bedford St. Martin's).
Prior to her current role as Associate Dean, Dr. Crowston served in the Department of History as Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Chair (2002-2005) and as Department Chair (2015-2019). She has also served on various faculty and university-wide committees, which include years of service on the Faculty Senate (2007-2013) and campus budgeting reform committee (2017-2020), as well as ex officio service on the Dean’s Advisory Council, Dean’s Cabinet, and the college executive committee. In these roles, she has demonstrated a commitment to academic and research excellence, through innovative curriculum development, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and faculty development; as well as promoting and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion matters, and Indigenous engagement.
I would like to thank faculty, staff and students for participating in the search process and for providing valuable feedback to the Advisory Committee. I am grateful to the members of the Advisory Committee for their commitment of extensive time and energy throughout the search.
I wish to express my gratitude to Dean Gage Averill for his eleven years of outstanding leadership of the Faculty.
Thank you to Professor Stefania Burk and Professor Janice Stewart, who will serve ad seriatum as Dean pro tem from Professor Averill's departure until Dr. Crowston takes up her position.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Dr. Crowston to UBC.