Zach Fredman, dean of faculty affairs, chair of the Division of Arts and Humanities, and associate professor of history at Duke Kunshan University, has been named to a Duke faculty committee that will contribute to a broader institutional vision for the arts and humanities.
Fredman said he was honored to represent DKU as part of the initiative. “The arts and humanities have been tremendously successful at DKU because of the excellent work of our students, faculty and staff. I am eager to draw on my experiences in Kunshan as I work with this committee to develop a bold institutional vision for the arts and humanities across the global Duke network.”
The committee is part of the year-long Provost’s Initiative on the Arts and Humanities, led by Duke Provost Alec D. Gallimore, bringing faculty, staff and students together to examine the role of the arts and humanities at Duke and identify priorities for their future development. The initiative will identify and recommend strategic investments in faculty, research and educational opportunities across undergraduate, graduate and professional programs.
The faculty committee, chaired by Victoria Szabo, Duke research professor and interim chair of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, brings together scholars and practitioners from fields ranging from literature, history and dance to law, medicine, engineering and business. Its work will include mapping connections among arts and humanities curricula and experiences across Duke, identifying opportunities for stronger integration and considering approaches taken by peer universities.
Fredman brings experience in both the humanities and academic affairs to the committee. A historian of U.S.-East Asian relations and modern China, he joined DKU in 2018 as part of the founding faculty cohort for its undergraduate degree program.
“Humanistic inquiry and artistic practice enrich our students in countless ways,” Gallimore said in announcing the initiative, emphasizing their importance as graduates enter a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
The initiative is being led this academic year by Leo Ching, professor of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and Schiff Family Dean of Humanities and the Arts in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, and Deborah Rutter, Duke’s vice provost for the arts. Alongside the faculty committee, a student committee will bring undergraduate, graduate and professional student perspectives into the discussions.
By the end of the academic year, the Provost’s Initiative on the Arts and Humanities will make recommendations to the provost for an institutional vision for the arts and humanities, including a structure for convening cross-school engagement.
Read Duke University’s announcement about the initiative.
By Ziyu Zhang
