With her departure from a position she held for years, Dean Faye Duchin looks at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences as the rising star amongst all the school at Rensselaer. From music to civilization and technology to ethics, the School of H&SS is reasserting itself with outstanding programs that have made headlines in prominent newspapers and reviews throughout the country. “I would say the state of the school is excellent and impressive,” said Duchin.
Earlier last month, President Jackson announced the formation of the Rensselaer Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Fellowship Program which will award competitive fellowships to advanced Ph.D. students in the school. The fellowships will provide full tuition and a $16,000 stipend for each of two years and possibly a third year. “This shows the president’s increasing commitment to further graduate programs in the school,” said Kim Fortun, associate dean of graduate studies. “RPI can’t be a first-class technological university without these programs,” she added.
The arts department is introducing a new B.S. curriculum in Electronic Arts. The program, which builds on existing arts components in the Electronic Media, Arts, and Communication degree, will be offered to incoming students next year.
“The EMAC program is not really an art program per se,” said iEAR Chair Neil Rolnick. Unlike the EMAC curriculum, the new one will not have a communications component and will have a stronger foundation of art in its introductory courses. Ten new students are expected to join this program next year.
“We have a group of exceptional students,” said Rolnick. Many of the graduate and some undergraduate students have had their work displayed in galleries and international museums, and performed in various halls across the U.S.
The faculty in the arts department is no less exceptional than its students. “Our students have attracted some of the most renowned artists in the field,” said Rolnick. Four new positions were filled this year with artists well known for their work in the fine arts, interactive arts, visual arts, performance art, and music work. Moreover, there is an active search going on for a chair for the department. “We have some very high quality candidates,” said Rolnick. He estimates that the school will hire four more artists and faculty members in the span of the next two years.
The Electronic Media and Performing Art Center is not something far from the minds of the students and faculty in the arts department. Plans are underway to move their offices from the DCC basement to West Hall by the beginning of next semester. “With the renovation of the West Hall, the intent is
it synergize with the EMPAC into an art corridor,” said Fortun. However, before the move, a lot of renovation work has to be done in West Hall, which will be very costly and might take longer than planned.
Some of the new projects by the students and faculty in the school include the Tactical Media Lab where students and Associate Professor Igor Vamos work together on media intervention ideas; and an art-community outreach program that Professor Branda Miller is spearheading to bring and facilitate technology and creativity to the Troy community.
Since its beginning in 1984, “iEAR Presents,” which hosts artists from all around
