Fredrick Harris, a professor of political science, and Sarah Cole, the chair of the English and comparative literature department, have been appointed divisional deans in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Harris became dean of social science on July 1; Cole will become dean of humanities on January 1. Working with the executive committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and other academic deans, they will oversee departments, research centers, and institutes in their divisions.
Harris, who has taught at Columbia since 2007, is the director of the Center on African American Politics and Society. “The social sciences are needed more than ever to understand the social, political, economic, cultural, and historical forces that shape our times,” he says.
Cole joined the Columbia faculty in 1999 and specializes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literature. “I believe very strongly in the importance of the humanities both inside and outside the academy,” she says. “This will be a chance to showcase the wonderful, innovative work going on in the thirteen humanities departments at Columbia, along with our many centers and institutes, and to help connect what they do with the larger community, in New York City and well beyond.”
