»Message from the Dean Patrick Fuery

These are exciting times to be a part of the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. The rapidity of change defines the world of the 21^st Century, making graduates in these areas more valuable and more necessary to society than ever before. Why more valuable? Because how we participate, negotiate, and understand change is crucial for progress and success.

Wilkinson College is in the process of developing a range of initiatives that will allow its graduates to not simply rise to the challenges of this new era, but to be active agents of change. Over the next year we will be developing CRASsH – Chapman Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities – that will bring together faculty and students to work in interdisciplinary groups to investigate key themes in innovative ways. This initiative is designed to build a unique system of support for students, faculty, and the wider community, and in doing so realize one of the fundamental goals of our disciplines – to help Wilkinson graduates become creative and innovative thinkers who willingly engage in the complexity of issues facing local, national, and global citizens. As Wilkinson continues to build its identity as a college of research, we will be developing fresh perspectives that address and challenge traditional categories of knowledge.

Gen Y – the generation of the beginning of the 21^st Century – will introduce and be involved in change at an unprecedented level. This is a generation that will change jobs, on average, over ten times; it utilizes rapidly evolving technology in a unique fashion. This is the generation of Wilkinson graduates – and these are the sorts of issues that our graduates are so well placed to engage in and address. I look forward to working with you, students and faculty, in the participation of the New Liberal Arts - interdisciplinary, research driven, creating bridges of ideas across all the domains of knowledge and society.

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