UBC has appointed Dr. Clare Haru Crowston as the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts. Her five-year term will begin no later than January 1, 2023.
Dr. Crowston is currently a professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she serves as the Associate Dean for the Humanities and Interdisciplinary Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Clare Haru Crowston to the Faculty of Arts,” said current Dean of Arts Gage Averill. “Dr. Crowston’s administrative expertise will be essential, but it’s her commitment to collaboration, equity, inclusion, and innovation that I believe will build on transformations in the Faculty, with opportunities to enhance our research, learning, and local and global engagement.”
Prior to her current role as Associate Dean, Dr. Crowston served in the Department of History as Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Chair and as Department Chair. She has also served on various Faculty and university-wide committees, which include years of service on the Faculty Senate and campus budgeting reform committee, as well as ex officio service on the Dean’s Advisory Council, Dean’s Cabinet, and the college executive committee. In these roles, she has demonstrated a commitment to academic and research excellence, through innovative curriculum development, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and faculty development; as well as promoting and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion, and Indigenous engagement.
“I look forward to collaborating with outstanding students, faculty, and staff as we continue to build an inclusive, just, and accessible institution that partners with local communities and prepares leaders for a rapidly changing world.”
“It is a great honor to be named as the next Dean of the Faculty of Arts at UBC,” said Dr. Crowston. “I am inspired by the extraordinary breadth and depth of transformational work taking place across the many disciplines, learning spaces, artistic venues, and research initiatives it encompasses. I look forward to collaborating with outstanding students, faculty, and staff as we continue to build an inclusive, just, and accessible institution that partners with local communities and prepares leaders for a rapidly changing world.”
Dr. Crowston received her B.A. from McGill University in 1988 and her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1996. Her research interests lie in early modern history, in particular the history of women and gender, and of working people in early modern France. She has authored the books Credit, Fashion, Sex: Economies of Regard in Old Regime France (Duke University Press, 2013) and Fabricating Women: The Seamstresses of Old Regime France, 1675-1791 (Duke University Press, 2001), the latter of which was awarded the Berkshire Prize for the best first book in history by a woman in North America and the Hagley Prize in business history. She is also the author of numerous book chapters and articles, and co-author of the textbooks A History of Western Society (13th edition, Bedford St Martin’s) and A History of World Societies (12th edition, Bedford St. Martin’s).
Current Dean of Arts Gage Averill will wrap up his term on April 4, after 11 years of leading the Faculty, to take on the position of Provost and Vice-President, Academic pro tem, for UBC Vancouver. There will be an interim leadership period in the Faculty of Arts which will begin on April 4, 2022 with Professor Stefania Burk serving as Dean pro tem, followed by a transition on July 1, 2022 to Professor Janice Stewart as Dean pro tem.
Read the announcement regarding Dr. Crowston’s appointment from the Office of the Provost and VP Academic.
