College of Arts and Humanities takes historic step into its first school year

The new College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) at Clemson University launched its first day of classes, welcoming 1,035 majors and graduate students to campus at the start of the Fall 2023 semester.

CAH’s students hail from 40 states and 13 countries around the globe, in keeping with the College’s new slogan, “Meet the world.”

“‘Meet the world’ means we want as many of our students as possible to have an experience abroad. But it also means we bring the world into our classrooms and onto campus by hiring outstanding faculty and offering students the full length, breadth and depth of the human experience,” said founding Dean Nicholas Vazsonyi. “We want our students to emerge as coherent thinkers, articulate writers, and able to stride the world with awareness and confidence.”

The College is home to 11 undergraduate and four graduate degree programs and is home to the Departments of English, History and Geography, Interdisciplinary Studies, Languages, Performing Arts and Philosophy and Religion.

“Students in the College of Arts and Humanities develop perspectives and skills to lead the workforce of the future by spending years with a world-class faculty dedicated to exploring and understanding the human condition,” said Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Robert H. Jones. “This new college drives meaningful discovery to address societal needs and transform lives statewide and beyond, intersecting core principles of the humanities’ canon to evolving, real-world opportunities.”

We are an elite arts and humanities program with small class sizes, faculty who know and care for our students, and with a nurturing environment where students are treated like individuals. But we enjoy the benefit of being embedded in Clemson’s high-powered research environment where faculty are pushing the limits of our knowledge.

Nicholas Vazsonyi, Dean of the College of Arts and humanities

The College continues its departments’ tradition of contributing significantly to the University’s core academics, contributing 22,771 credit hours to general education in the Fall 2023 semester. Overall, CAH will offer 41,714 credit hours through 834 courses in its first semester, supported by 208 full-time faculty as well as part-time lecturers. The College also welcomed 959 students as minors in its programs.

“Our College is beginning with enormous momentum and unique advantages,” said Dean Nicholas Vazsonyi. “We are an elite arts and humanities program with small class sizes, faculty who know and care for our students, and with a nurturing environment where students are treated like individuals. But we enjoy the benefit of being embedded in Clemson’s high-powered research environment where faculty are pushing the limits of our knowledge.”

The College also celebrated its first day of classes with the completion of the Daniel Hall Renovation and Expansion. The building, which has housed Clemson’s English and Languages programs for decades, has finished its transformation into a modern facility featuring state-of-the-art classroom technology, multiple student collaboration spaces overlooking the Reflection Pool, and a third-floor skywalk over the Cooper Library bridge.

In addition to the refurbished Daniel Hall, the College maintains its presence in historic Hardin Hall, the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, Sirrine Hall and Strode Tower.

The new College emerges from and builds on the success of the former College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, which enjoyed record enrollment and a record fundraising total of $8.23 million in its final year.