Dean’s Corner: January 2025

Dear Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Friends,

One of the hallmarks of an outstanding Humanities program is the frequency and caliber of the guests who come to lecture and share their expertise. Outside perspectives enrich the academic experience and intellectual vitality of an institution, and foster the kind of dialog that is essential as we try to better understand our world and the people who live and have lived in it. Visitors also have the opportunity to get a closer view of what we offer and stand for, and get a taste of the excellence of our faculty and students.

We in the College of Arts and Humanities have an unprecedented series of speakers who are slated to come and share their work with us this Spring. The following is just a brief rundown. I hope you can join us for all, or at least some, of these events.

Pathways in the Humanities and Social Sciences Lecture Series

Our speakers will include Pulitzer Prize winner Ilyon Woo and 2024 National Book Award winner Percival Everett. They will be speaking as part of our new Pathways in the Humanities and Social Sciences initiative, directed by Associate Professor David Coombs, of our English department.

Pathways is an initiative to highlight and enhance the role of the humanities and social sciences at Clemson. Supported by a Cornerstone Grant from the Teagle Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Pathways is animated by two fundamental goals: 1) to foster intellectual community among Clemson Faculty by highlighting shared lines of inquiry and creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and discussion, and 2) to encourage Clemson students to explore fundamental questions about what makes us human and how we live together in a free and democratic society.

Law and the Humanities Series

In addition to the Pathways speaker series, the annual Law and the Humanities series, now in its fourth year, is this year featuring former SC Governor David Beasley on March 4. Governor Beasley, who accepted the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the World Food Program in his capacity as its Executive Director, will address the series theme which this year centers on the issue of Food Insecurity. The series is generously sponsored by Chris Loebsack of the Charlotte-based Law firm of Loebsack & Browlee PLLC, and is organized by the Humanities Hub, directed by James Burns, Professor of History.

I am so proud of and grateful to our faculty leaders who aspire to elevate Clemson’s intellectual climate to ever greater heights, and who have had the energy and dedication to organize these events.

Woo, Everett and Beasley are not the only exceptional speakers we look forward to having on campus this semester, but they highlight the intellectual firepower that students can expect to encounter during their Clemson Experience. I look forward to a stimulating and exhilarating semester ahead.

Go Tigers!

Nicholas Vazsonyi, Dean

College of Arts and Humanities

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