Emory College of Arts and Science’s newest dean, Barbara Krauthamer, sat down with the Wheel recently to discuss everything from her focus on undergraduate mentorship and advising resources to her favorite places on campus. Before coming to Emory, Krauthamer was the dean of the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts.
This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
The Emory Wheel: What drew you to Emory from UMass Amherst?
Krauthamer: Emory had been in my sight line for a couple of reasons. I had seen over the past few years the faculty that were being hired into the College … so that caught my attention, that there was some very strategic and successful hiring going on of really just world class scholars coming to Emory … And then with President Fenves' arrival from the University of Texas, it was clear to me that there was a lot of exciting activity happening on campus, and that was really attractive to me. When I was contacted about the opportunity of serving as dean of Emory College, I was thrilled and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of what was clearly a very lively academic environment.
TEW: One of your first objectives as dean was to hear from the community. What's the most memorable interaction you’ve had so far?
Krauthamer: [On Sept. 20], I had the chance to speak with the College Council and swear in the new members … and I really was delighted to see that there were about 70 students in the room participating in that kind of student engagement with the life of the College. It was really, really striking and I think sort of reflects … the level of students' commitment to making the College a really robust place for them. I appreciated being invited to that and having the chance to hear from the students.
TEW: What are some of your top priorities for Emory College this year?
Krauthamer: After getting to know the College … my top priority is to look at the advising and support resources that are available to our students to make sure that we in the College are doing absolutely everything we can — and doing it at the best, most effective levels — to serve students, to provide academic guidance, to connect with other kinds of support resources, to provide the kind of mentoring and guidance around things like study abroad, finding an internship, all of that work that the Pathways Center is now doing and to really make sure that Pathways and undergraduate advising are just at the top of their game.
TEW: You're coming from UMass, where you were the dean of humanities and fine arts. I'm wondering how this experience shapes how you're approaching this role. Any growth you want to see in the areas of humanities and fine arts at Emory that you're taking from your time at UMass?
Krauthamer: One of the things I think that's exciting that I've been learning about at Emory is the expansion of programs in film and media … Atlanta is a really exciting place to be thinking about education and research in film and media, because Atlanta has the largest growing film industry in the country. So thinking about that as an area for development is really exciting, and also, closer to home on campus, Kevin Karnes, the associate dean for arts within the College, has been working really successfully to create spaces for students on campus … In the Cox center, there's an arts creative space that students can use and that's for all students, whether they're in the College or in nursing or in Goizueta. Also created in the basement of the Schwartz Center, a music lab space where student musicians could practice so you don't have to be a music major, you could just be a student in a band or an a capella group who needs a practice space. I was really excited to learn about the ways that the College is expanding access to these kinds of spaces and resources for students outside of formal classes.
TEW: We’ve heard concerns from other administrators, such as President Fenves, about low retention rates of students at Emory in recent years. What are your thoughts on Emory's retention and graduation rate and do you have plans to address these concerns?
Krauthamer: Absolutely. So I think there is really important work to be done to increase our four year graduation rate and our retention rate, so students who stay from year one to year two, and then even students who stay from year two to year three. Certainly my interest and attention to advising and to the Pathways Center is for me the way into addressing those issues, and also working closely with the faculty and leaders of all of our departments in the College to think about ways that we can involve faculty more intentionally in working with students not just in the classroom but in all of those other ways the faculty can be great mentors and guides and advisors to students who are thinking about their future.
TEW: I also know that you're a historian and you study the American South in the period of enslavement. In recent years, Emory has taken steps to address the role it played in enslavement and displacement of African Americans and Indigenous Americans. I'm wondering, as you're looking at this history at Emory specifically, where do you see room for the University to take further action to address this past?
Krauthamer: There's always room for learning about the history of enslavement and especially now that it's become even a contentious issue in some regions to teach and talk about African American history. So I'm really appreciative of the work that's happened at Emory, both on the Atlanta campus and on the Oxford campus. Emory stands out throughout, let's say the history of the past 10 or 15 years at our University, of being a leading institution of higher education in that area of having those frank conversations about what the history of the institution was and how it should be acknowledged and remembered. I am so excited about the selection of Professor Walter Hood from the University of California at Berkeley who will be designing the twin memorials at Emory. He is just a brilliant scholar, a brilliant designer, worked on the International African American Museum in Charleston, worked on a monument at Princeton University, one at the University of Virginia. He is so steeped in the research and history of African Americans who are enslaved and emancipated in the United States. And so bringing his talent and his voice to the work that we're doing at Emory is just going to be a great opportunity for everyone to be involved in that learning process and in thinking about how important it is to acknowledge that history.
TEW: Are there any other diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that you hope to embark on during your time as dean here?
Krauthamer: Yes, absolutely. I'm always thinking about the diversity of our student population, our staff and faculty. The College's faculty has seen a real increase in diversity … over the past five years, and so that's something that is always really important to sustain. This just can't be an episodic experience of focusing on student diversity, staff diversity and faculty diversity. But beyond that what for me is really important is making sure that we have an inclusive community, that it's not just who is part of our campus community and our College community, but how we function as a community and is there really a place for everyone at the table, whether that's in a class, whether that's in a club or an organization, like a student newspaper, or in the College as a workplace. So thinking really broadly about how out of the Dean's Office we can support students and faculty and staff to create really diverse and inclusive communities is absolutely a top priority.
TEW: Since your time here, have there been any unexpected challenges or any obstacles that you could think of?
Krauthamer: I'm still in the honeymoon. The biggest obstacle was navigating 105 degrees … Honestly, it's been things like learning my way around campus, which is beautiful. It's also been really fun to wander around campus and find places, whether in buildings or outside, that are just really beautiful places to stop and sit and think your thoughts and just relax for five minutes. Or sometimes I'll find a spot and I'll think, “I'm just gonna sit here and check my email because it's just a beautiful place to sit and I can watch people coming and going.”
TEW: I'd love to hear where you've been drawn. Do you have a particular space, maybe a favorite coffee place, you like?
Krauthamer: I'm not a coffee drinker, but … that outside level on the Carlos Museum where you go out to the external stairs. Sitting there has just been a really lovely place to just collect my thoughts. Going over to the circle that's by the dining hall and the student center, sometimes I just sit there on a shady bench and watch students come and go. I've also been really delighted: The French and Italian department … has set up their student lounge to look like a European cafe. They have cafe tables and chairs and art on the wall. I keep finding just all these spaces in buildings that I think, “I kind of just want to sit here for a few minutes and see what life is like in this particular space.”
