Introducing Dean GerShun Avilez
CLA is thrilled to welcome GerShun Avilez as the college's 13th Dean. Dean Avilez is prominent cultural studies scholar who specializes in contemporary African American and Black Diasporic literature and visual culture. His research spans a wide range of fields, including political radicalism, spatial theory, gender studies, and medical humanities.
In this video, Dean Avilez reflects on his research, interdisciplinary book project, and vision for creating a unified CLA.
At its heart, CLA is a college committed to the value and importance of liberal arts for all of us—all students and all citizens of the state.
Dean GerShun Avilez
Research
"Even though I am a full-time administrator, I still am an active researcher. My training is in literature, so I wrote about novels and plays and poetry. But I'm a scholar who's also interested in the relationship between different kinds of art. We often turn to art because it's beautiful, because it moves us, because it can make us laugh. And art does all those things, but art can also help us understand the world in which we live."
Upcoming book project
"I have a new book that I'm working on right now on art and health. In particular, I'm interested in thinking about how Black artists understand notions of health and illness. One of the reasons I'm really excited about this book project is that it's interdisciplinary. The book looks at literature, social science, and medicine together. Its emblematic of the kind of work that is going on in the college and that can go in the college."
Vision for the college
"All of our [departments] and centers make us strong, ensuring that our students who come here are getting what they want and what they need. There's support in and outside the classroom. And we're providing curricula that are innovative and exciting for them, but also ensuring that they graduate feeling as if they're ready for the world."
"Also very important to me is community engagement. And I think CLA can show the entire University how to be of the community, to be in it, to be active, and recognize that as much as we have to teach each other, we have a lot to learn from the members of the state of Minnesota."
"I'll be working really hard to help us develop a sense of identity that makes us feel like we all belong together, and we're all working together toward a common goal."
