Announcing the Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate Program

December 16, 2024

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community:

I am pleased to announce the Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate Program, an annual faculty distinction intended to increase the visibility of the arts and humanities. Each year, a faculty member—or in certain designated years a visiting artist or scholar—will be named campus laureate through a submission and review process overseen by the Office of the Provost. In line with the goals of the Academic Master Plan, the Rutgers–New Brunswick Laureate will use their work to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across campus and engage the broader New Brunswick community.

Full-time Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty members whose research focuses on the arts and humanities are invited to submit proposals outlining the work they intend to pursue during the laureate year. Laureates will be eligible for a half-time course release and may request funds up to $20,000 in support of their efforts throughout the academic year during which they hold this title. Instructions on how to submit a proposal can be found here, along with more detailed information on the program as well as on the submission and review process. Proposals are due by Friday, January 31, 2025, and must be endorsed by the faculty member’s dean or designee.

The laureate program will explore a specific theme over a three-year cycle, with each of the first two years designated for a member of the Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty and the third year meant to identify an external laureate. The theme for this inaugural cycle will be Climate Change, reflecting one of the signature initiatives that has emerged from the AMP, as embodied above all by the work of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute. 

The idea for a laureate program was put forward by the New Brunswick Faculty Council, to whom I am grateful. Having enthusiastically accepted their recommendation, I subsequently charged Jason Geary, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives and Dean of Mason Gross School of the Arts, to convene a committee of faculty from across the arts and humanities to outline the details of such a program. It is on the recommendations of this committee that the New Brunswick Laureate Program is based. Therefore, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to those colleagues who gave of their valuable time and expertise: 

• Ousseina Alidou, Distinguished Professor, Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Language and Literatures (SAS)
• Adam Dalva, Assistant Teaching Professor, Writers House, Department of English (SAS)
• John Evans, Associate Professor, Department of Dance (MGSA), New Brunswick Faculty Council Representative
• Kristin Grogan, Assistant Professor, Department of English (SAS)
• Maureen Hurd, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Department of Music (MGSA)
• Steffani Jemison, Associate Professor, Department of Art & Design (MGSA)
• Christina Knight, Assistant Professor, Department of Art History (SAS)
• Shawn Snyder, Assistant Professor, Rutgers Filmmaking Center (MGSA)

I am excited by the idea that the arts and humanities will take a leading role in bringing together the campus and New Brunswick communities and in fulfilling the goals of the AMP. The New Brunswick Laureate Program promises to amplify the excellent work being done at Rutgers–New Brunswick in the arts and humanities while shining a light on the power of these disciplines to help us confront the most pressing challenges of our time.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick