Dean's Welcome
I am pleased and honored to join the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education as Interim Dean for Spring 2011. Dean Juan Carlos Mercado asked me to assume this position while he serves as Acting Provost, and I thank him and President Lisa Staiano-Coico for their support and encouragement.
Some of the courses and programs in our division are cutting edge and lead the college in charting new intellectual territory. Our new Master's Program in the Study of the Americas, now entering its second year, is one such area, with such essential courses as Race and Gender in the Americas and Geopolitics and Diplomacy. Our Autobiography and Life Experience Program gives college credit for life experience, coupled with rigorous writing and reflection upon that experience, because as we know from Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth living”.Our undergraduate offerings this semester include an array of interdisciplinary courses focusing on the great city of New York – Reading New York City: African American Cultures, Listening to the City, and Brooklyn. And of course we offer much more: you will find everything here from Storytelling and Performance, to Plagues Past and Present, to Latin American Cinema,and beyond.
This spring, we are collaborating with the Women’s Studies Program to host “Celebrating Women,” a series of cultural events celebrating women in the arts. We are also hosting our fourth Book Talk series, which brings highly acclaimed authors to our campus, providing our students and the general public the opportunity to engage with them on the art of the written word. I hope you will join us for these special events, which are helping us become a premier destination on the cultural and intellectual map of lower Manhattan.
As Interim Dean, my goal is to continue and improve upon CWE’s legacy of providing an exemplary educational experience for our students, and to insure that our students are inspired by the intellectual challenges and rewards of what is often called, in educational jargon, “life long learning.” At CWE it is not jargon; it is at the core of what we do, and what we want -- for ourselves, our children, and the world – namely, to enrich our lives and give them greater meaning through the ongoing pursuit of knowledge and inquiry.
Our well designed academic programs, our steadfast promise to working adults, the outstanding achievement of our faculty, the deep commitment of our staff, and the breadth of experience that our student body brings to the classroom all combine to make the CWE experience unique. We are proud of what CWE has to offer, and we invite you to explore our website to find out more about us.
Interim Dean
