Message from the Dean

Dear CHSS and Montclair colleagues,

I am honored and delighted to be with you. I am proud to count myself as a Red Hawk, espousing all that this University stands for and embracing its momentum to “elevate” a greater and broader segment of the population and “in so doing, help make the world a better place.” Your warm welcome and the many rich conversations I’ve already had fill me with gratitude and energy for our work together this coming year.

As I continue to get to know you and learn about CHSS and the university, I count on your continuous candid input, advice, and guidance. I will always receive them as invaluable gifts.

The work ahead of us is important, energizing, and will require our collective wisdom and maturity. The poet David Whyte ^[1] defines maturity as “the ability to live fully and equally in multiple contexts, most especially the ability … to courageously inhabit the past, present, and the future all at once. The wisdom that comes from maturity is recognized through a disciplined refusal to choose between or isolate [the] three powerful dynamics that form [our] identity.”

Indeed, I look forward to working with all of you to articulate and tell the story of CHSS—a story that honors its proud past, accounts for the hopes and fears of the present, and harnesses the full potential of the humanities and social sciences to guide us and future generations towards a humane, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Now, more than ever, we need the humanities and social sciences to guide our thinking, expand our students’ mindsets, and reinject idealism in all our endeavors. We need the humanities and social sciences to ensure that progress in technology remains at the service of our highest aspirations for social justice and human thriving.

I will use this forum to share my thoughts and the work we are engaging in. So please stay tuned and feel free to email me with any thoughts, ideas, or feedback.

Again, thank you for welcoming me. I look forward to getting to know each of you and, together, serving Montclair students and the broader community through the expertise and ethos of CHSS. Have a great week, everyone!

With my best regards,

Fatma

Hawk Murmurations is the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ weekly newsletter from Dean Mili. Each issue offers reflections on higher education, highlights from across our college community, or updates on key initiatives. We invite you to check back weekly to stay connected with the work and ideas shaping CHSS.