Catching Up With Dean Edwards: School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University

Dean and Professor Brian T. Edwards, Tulane University

Dear School of Liberal Arts Community,

This is a special fall at Tulane and of course for New Orleans. As we embark on the new academic year, we pause to remember all that was lost two decades ago during Hurricane Katrina and in its aftermath: the lives, the homes, and the institutions that were forever altered. Here at Tulane, there were large changes that followed in the wake of the devastation. Later that fall semester, President Scott Cowen would announce a series of structural changes that would lead to the creation of the School of Liberal Arts, which would formally launch in time for the start of the 2006-07 academic year. In the meantime, the 2005-06 academic year was spent “winding up the old and also about preparing for the new,” according to the School’s first interim dean, George Bernstein.

Nineteen years later, Tulane’s School of Liberal Arts is the home of 35 dynamic departments and programs, and more than 350 full-time faculty, teaching across a wide range of disciplines and interdisciplinary areas. Our faculty are producing important new research, making remarkable discoveries, creating innovative and inspiring art, and teaching the next generation of students during a period of political and technological transformation. You can read more about the department’s Summer 2025 accomplishments about some of their accomplishments from this past summer.

For me, the new academic year always brings optimism. Welcoming new students and new colleagues to the Tulane community is one of the great joys of serving as dean of the School of Liberal Arts. Summer after summer, we move from the celebrations that mark the passing of yet another remarkable cohort of graduates each May to the arrival of those who come to replenish our wellspring.

Last month, we inaugurated a new tradition: the School of Liberal Arts Assembly held during orientation week. We gathered incoming first-year students in McAlister Auditorium, along with the chairs and directors of all 35 of those departments and programs, to speak about the values of a liberal arts education and introduce them to the vast array of opportunities that our academic programs have to offer. With more than 1,100 classes each semester in our school alone, the possibilities are endless.

This year, we welcome 14 new tenure-line and professors of practice to the School of Liberal Arts. They are an exceptionally talented group, who in so many ways suggest how the liberal arts is evolving over time. From unexpected and innovative combinations — such as Brad Bolman, who researches the intersections of the human and non-human in both dogs and fungi and joins us as an assistant professor of History and Environmental Studies; to expanding our global strengths in Central, South and East Asia while building our strengths in the departments of Political Science and Communication, as do new faculty Valeria Umanets, Tupur Chatterjee, and Jane Pyo; to new research approaches and methods, such as Alexis Palmer, who is an expert in data analytics and political trust. In the arts, we welcome the dynamic João Enxuto, whose interdisciplinary art and research explores the digital realm.

There are many more new colleagues to welcome and learn about here in this issue, and each and every one reflects our huge ambitions and our commitment to bring world-class researchers into the undergraduate classroom. Whether you’re a colleague, a student, or an alum — or a member of our extended community — I hope you’ll engage with us over the coming year as there is much to be excited about with so many events, activities and gatherings ahead!

See you soon,