This is an open letter from members of the University of Chicago community to the university administration. It is sponsored by UChicago AAUP, but you do not need to be a member to sign (though we encourage you to join, which you can do at this link). 

You can add your signature to this letter at this link—click HERE.  

Dear Dean Nelson and Provost Baicker,

We write as members of the University of Chicago community concerned about the proposed reorganization of the Arts and Humanities Division. These concerns are both procedural and substantive.

Procedurally, any process of such potential gravity, for the division and for the wider university, requires more substantive and transparent faculty deliberation. It should not have been compressed into a period of only weeks in the summertime. It is vital, looking ahead, that such deliberations not be limited to a period when the university is in recess. Departments, which only meet during the academic year, must be active participants in any discussion that bears significant consequence for them.

Additionally, the process has been and remains inappropriately opaque, exposing the entire university to a disturbing precedent of arbitrary and unjustified decision-making from above. The ad hoc faculty committees selected by the dean of humanities have been charged with developing measures to cut costs, many of them drafted by a non-academic consultant. The committees have not been given access to financial information about either the current budgetary situation or the possible budgetary consequences of various options. Moreover, their reports have been deemed only advisory, with the administration reserving the option of bypassing any faculty recommendations, and indeed of withholding the dean’s final report from faculty altogether. 

Especially in light of a recent unexplained decision to cut off PhD admissions in some but not all departments in the division, it is of the utmost importance to reestablish the integrity of faculty governance over academic matters. It is crucial that (1) the dean’s final proposal regarding any major changes to departments’ research and teaching be made available to the faculty; (2) that the dean discuss its contents openly with the faculty; and (3) that the provost continue to engage faculty deliberative bodies, from departments to the College Council and the Council of the University Senate before reaching any final decision. A reorganization of an entire division of the university, including both its research and educational programs, deserves no less consideration and deliberation.

Substantively, we are disturbed by the long-term trend of university disinvestment from the arts and humanities. The cuts as initially proposed reveal how much the division has been reduced already by this longer-term disinvestment. Yet these are fundamental areas of scholarly inquiry, not merely ornaments adorning the “real business” of the university. They form the original basis of the university’s reputation as well as a crucial resource to the wider institution—through language instruction, undergraduate education in the Core, and expert knowledge. We are concerned that we are witnessing the gradual winding down of whole areas of knowledge production without the acknowledgment that such a grave decision has been taken. 

We acknowledge that the university is in a difficult moment, as is higher education writ large. But we believe that the path forward must involve meaningful and broad engagement of the academic community in decisions about our shared fate, not a crash program of “efficiency” cuts to our traditions of expertise, carried out in the dark.

To recapitulate our proposals:

1. No major deliberations should be limited to a period when the university is in recess.
2. Departments must be substantive participants in any decision that affects them.
3. The dean’s final proposal for budgetary adjustments must be made available to faculty.
4. The dean should discuss the final proposal with faculty, and substantiate the economic rationale for these decisions.
5. Any final proposal regarding any division, including the Arts and Humanities, must be developed in substantive consultation with the duly constituted bodies of faculty governance—departments, the College Council, and the Council of the University Senate.
6. Out of a proper process of deliberation, a long-term vision should be developed for the revitalization of the arts and humanities beyond the current emergency measures.

You can add your signature to this letter at this link—click HERE.

Signatures

Augusta McMahon, Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology, Middle Eastern Studies and ISAC

Daniel Morgan, Professor, Cinema and Media Studies

Catherine Kearns, Assoc Prof, Classics

Erica Warren, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPH and Art History

Andrew Ollett, Associate Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations

Agnes Malinowska, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPH and English

Alice Goff, Associate Professor, History

Mario Santana, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Stephen Haswell Todd, Associate Instructional Professor, Humanities Collegiate Division

Sarah Nooter, Edward Olson Professor, Classics

Mehrnoush Soroush, Assistant Professor, ISAC/Middle Eastern Studies

Denis Hirschfeldt, Professor, Mathematics

Tristan J. Schweiger, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPH & English

Andrés Nicolás Rabinovich, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Danielle Roper, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Hilary Strang, Sr. Instructional Professor, Director, MA Program in the Humanities, MAPH

Matthew Harris, Assistant Professor, Divinity School

Celine Bordeaux, IP, RLL

Shadi Bartsch, Helen A Regenstein Distinguished Service Professor, Classics

Veronica Vegna, Senior Instructional Professor and Director of the Italian Language Program, RLL

Travis A. Jackson, Associate Professor, Music

Rochona Majumdar, Professor, SALC/ CMS

Zach Loeffler , Lecturer, HCD

Michael Bourdaghs, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor, EALC

Andrew Pitel, Assistant Instructional Professor , MAPH and Philosophy 

Seth Brodsky, Associate Professor, Director, Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, Music

Ania Aizman , Assistant Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies

John Proios, Assistant Professor, Philosophy

Ada Shissler, Associate Professor, Middle Eastern Studies

Whitney Cox, Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations

Miguel Martínez, Professor of Spanish, Chair of RLL, RLL

Noha Forster, Senior Associate instructional professor , Middle Eastern Studies 

Jason Grunebaum, Instructional Professor, SALC

Alexis Chema, Assistant Professor, English Language and Literature

Julie Orlemanski, Associate Professor, Department of English

Francois Richard, Associate Professor, Anthropology & RDI

Michael Dietler, Professor, Anthropology

Noel Blanco Mourelle, Assistant Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Sarah Pierce Taylor,  Assistant Professor,  Divinity 

Danielle Aubert, Professor of Practice in the Arts, English

Hripsime Haroutunian, Instructional Professor, Middle Eastern Studies

Patrick Morrissey, Assistant Instructional Professor, Humanities Collegiate Division

Gabriel Winant, Associate Professor, History 

Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, Humanities Teaching Fellow, English Language and Literature

Jeremy Schmidt, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Anand Venkatkrishnan, Assistant Professor, Divinity School

Nisha Kommattam, Associate Instr. Professor, Comparative Literature

Kay Heikkinen, Ibn Rushd Lecturer in Arabic, Retired, Middle Eastern Studies

Anna-Latifa Mourad-Cizek, Assistant Professor of Egyptian Archaeology, Middle Eastern Studies and ISAC

Gina Fedock, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Professor, Anthropology

Sascha Ebeling, Associate Professor, SALC / CMLT

Joseph Bruch, Assistant Professor, Public Health Sciences

Christian K. Wedemeyer, Associate Professor, History of Religions, Divinity School

Marianne Bertrand, Professor,  Booth School of Business

Jessica Baker, Associate Professor of Music, Music

Eve L. Ewing, Associate Professor, Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity

Kamala Russell, Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Jade Pagkas-Bather, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medicine

Laura Ring, Southern Asian Studies Librarian, Library

David Woken, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Librarian, University of Chicago Library

Curtis Evans, Associate Professor, Divinity 

Leland Jasperse, Humanities Teaching Fellow, English

Margaret Geoga, Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Studies and ISAC

Daragh Grant, Associate Senior Instructional Professor, The College

Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Larissa Brewer-García, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Jennifer Mosley, Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Benjamin Balthaser, Community member in Hyde Park, None

Andrew Hoberek, PhD 1998, English

Thomaz Amancio, Teaching Fellow in the Humanities,  Romance Languages and Literatures

Megan Browndorf,  Slavic and East European Studies Librarian, Library

Christopher J Smith, alumnus, English

Sarah Newman, Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Jennifer Scappettone, Associate Professor, English and Creative Writing, Romance Languages and Literatures; Faculty Affiliate, CSGS and CEGU; Resource Faculty, Comparative Literature

Matias Spector, Teaching Fellow in the Humanities, Romance Languages and Literatures

Joy Wang, Harper-Schmidt Fellow/Collegiate Assistant Professor, Political Science/Social Sciences Collegiate Division

Sara Dallavalle, Assistant Instructional Professor, RLL

Megan Marshall,   Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Eléonore Rimbault, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Harper-Schmidt Fellow, Society of Fellows

Sarah Osment, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Gabriel Ellis, Harper-Schmidt Fellow & Collegiate Asst. Professor, Humanities

Ben Laurence, Instructional Professor, Human Rights

Jake Fraser, PhD ’18, Germanic Studies

Katja Garloff, PhD Germanic Studies, 1997, Germanic Studies

Anthony Nicholson, Adjunct Associate Professor, Computer Science

Joseph Masco, Samuel N. Harper Professor, Anthropology

Stephan Palmie’, Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of Anthropology, Anthropology

Bruce Lincoln, Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Divinity School, Medieval Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies; associate member Classics and Anthropology

Sophie McMillan-Myers, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Connor Strobel,  Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor, Society of Fellows, the College

Fred M. Donner, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern History, Middle Eastern Studies

Niall Atkinson, Associate Professor, Art History, Romance Languages and Literatures, Committee on the Environment, Geography, and Urbanization

Ariel Fox, Associate Professor, EALC & TAPS

John Marvin, PhD Student, Philosophy/Divinity

John McCormick, Weintraub Professor, Political Science

Jessica Darrow, Associate Instructional Professor,  Crown Family School

V. Joshua Adams, Alumnus, Comparative Literature 

Richard Strier, Frank L. Sulzberger Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, English

Catherine Mardikes, Senior Humanities Bibliographer, Library

Susan Gal, Distinguished Service Professor, Anthropology and Linguistics

Anna Elena Torres, Assistant Professor, Comparative Literature

Amy Dru Stanley, Associate Professor,  History 

Florian Klinger, Associate Professor, Germanic Studies

Isaac Hand, Harper-Schmidt Fellow/Collegiate Assistant Professor, History/Social Sciences Collegiate Division

Darryl Li, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Megan Heffernan, Alumna, PhD ’13, AB ’04, English

Linda M. G. Zerilli, Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor Political Science and Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality,  Political Science/CSGS

Genevieve Lakier, Professor of Law, The Law School

Angie Heo, Associate Professor, Divinity

Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Tyler Williams, Associate Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations

Rebecca Anne Petrush, Associate Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Clifton Ragsdale, Professor, Neurobiology

William Sites, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice 

Gina Samuels, Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Yali Amit, Professor, Statistics

Salikoko S. Mufwene, The Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor,  Linguistics and RDI

Chris Taylor, Associate Professor, English

Michael Kremer, Mary R Morton Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, Philosophy

John H. Muse, Associate Professor, English/TAPS

Alida Bouris, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

W. Clark Gilpin, Margaret E. Burton Professor, emeritus, Divinity School

Monica H. Green, not affiliated (concerned fellow academic), not affiliated (historian by training and profession)

Jonathan Flatley,  Professor, English

Carl Shook, Lecturer, Middle Eastern Studies

Celia Bravo Diaz, Assistant Instructional Professor, RLL

María Cecilia Lozada Cerna, Senior Instructional Professor, RLL

Faith Hillis, Professor, History

Dan Arnold, Professor, Divinity School

Julia Irons, PhD Candidate, Classics

Victoria Saramago, Associate Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Maria Anna Mariani, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Ana Maria F. Lima, Senior Instructional Professor, Portuguese Language Program Director, Romance Languages and Literatures

Aaron Jakes, Associate Professor, History 

Bel Olid, Assistant Instructional Professor,  Romance Languages and Literatures

Daisy Delogu, Professor, Romance Languages & Literatures

Matthew M. Briones, Associate Professor of History, History

Maggie Fritz-Morkin, Ph.D. ‘13, Romance Languages and Literatures

Kodie Bastian, PhD Student, Classics

Georgy Khabarovskiy, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

William H. Sewell, Jr, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Political Science and History

Nabil Al-Tikriti,  NELC 2004 Ph.D. Alumnus,  NELC

Sianne Ngai, George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor, English

William Scheeiket, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor, The Divinity School and the College 

Aaron Gottlieb, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

James A. Shapiro, Professor Emeritus,,  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Duygu Uygun Tunc, Harper-Schmidt Fellow, Social Sciences Collegiate Division

Cathy Cohen, D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor, Race, Diaspora and Indigeneity

Robert L. Kendrick, Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Music

Lisa Wedeen, Professor, Political Science 

Carlos Gustavo Halaburda, Assistant Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures

Adrienne Brown, Professor, English and RDI

Andreas Glaeser, Professor, Sociology

Norma Field, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor, emerita, EALC

Angela S. García,  Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Persis Berlekamp, Associate Professor Emerita, Art History

Anirban Karak, Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences Collegiate Division

Steven Rings, Associate Professor, Music

Anna Schultz, Professor,  Music

Adom Getachew, Professor, RDI and polisci

Leah Feldman, Associate Professor,  Comparative Literature

Nathan Katkin, PhD Candidate, Classics

Katarzyna Bartoszyńska, Alumna, Comparative Literature

Kyeong-Hee Choi, Associate Professor, EALC

Alison James, Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Hakan Karateke,  Professor,  Middle Eastern Studies 

Leora Auslander, Joann and Arthur Rasmussen Professor, Race, Diaspora, & Indigeneity and History

Ulrike Stark, Professor, South Asian Languages and Civilizations

Tara Zahra, Hanna Holborn Gray Professor, History

Jonathan Hall, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor in the Humanities,  History and Classics

Julia Henly, Samuel Deutsch Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Mark Miller, Associate Professor, English 

Jacob Eyferth, Associate Professor, EALC

Edward Shaughnessy, Creel Distinguished Service Professor of Early China, EALC

Josephine McDonagh, Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Chair of the Development of the Novel in English Distinguished Service Professor, Department of English

Christina von Nolcken, Associate Professor, Emeritus, English and Program in Medieval Studies

Marc Downie, Associate Professor of Practice in the Arts, Cinema and Media Studies

Thomas C Holt, James Westfall Thompson Professor Emeritus, History

Robin Bartram,  Associate Professor,  Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice

Larry Norman, Frank L. Sulzberger Distinguished Service Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Justin Steinberg, Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Dana Seitler, PhD 2000, English

Charles C. Bullock, Graduate, Germanic Studies

Elaine Hadley, Professor emerita, English

Charles C. Bullock, Graduate, Germanic Studies

Neil Brenner, Lucy Flower Professor of Urban Sociology, Sociology and CEGU

Noémie Ndiaye, Associate Professor, English, RLL, TAPS

Katherine Fischer Taylor, Associate Professor emerita, Art History 

Brian Leiter, Karl N Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence,  Law School

Colm O’Muircheartaigh, Professor, Harris School of Public Policy

Christopher A. Faraone, Professor,  Classics

Rashauna Johnson, Associate Professor, History

Melinh Lai,  Assistant instructional professor, Cognitive Science

Claudia Brittenham, Professor, Art History and RDI

Margaret Thomas, Assistant Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Paula Harper, Assistant Professor, Music

Katherine Buse, Assistant Professor, Cinema and Media Studies

Kenneth Pomeranz, University Professor, History and EALC

Andrew Brandel, Associate Instructional Professor, The College

Begona Arechabaleta Regulez, Assistant Instructional Professor, RLL

Marie Berg, Instructional Professor, RLL

Kavi Bhalla, Associate Professor, Public Health Sciences

Elizabeth Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, History

Darrel Chia, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPH and English

Tessa Huttenlocher, Assistant Instructional Professor, Sociology

Julia Brown, Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor, Society of Fellows, the College,  The College  

Brianna Parry, Staff, Theater & Performance Studies

Eduardo Leão, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Eman Abdelhadi, Assistant Professor, Comparative Human Development

Benjamin Ruder, Manager, Film & Technical Operations,  Film Studies Center

Marshall Jean, Assistant Instructional Professor, Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences

Jan Goldstein, Norman and Edna Freehling Professor Emerita,  History

Anna Di Rienzo, Professor Emerita, Human Genetics

Paola Iovene,  Associate Professor, EALC

Benjamin Saltzman, Associate Professor, English

Carolina López-Ruiz, Professor, Classics, Divinity School, ISAC

Timothy M. Harrison, Associate Professor, Department of English, John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, Committee for the Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, Divinity School (Associated Faculty), Comparative Literature (Resource Faculty)

Christopher Simon, Associate Instructional Professor, Department of Classics

Marlis J. Saleh, Bibliographer for Middle East Studies, Library

Sarah Fredericks, Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics, Divinity School, CEGU, the College

Elena Bashir, Senior Lecturer, Retired, South Asian Languages and Civilizaions

Rachel Girty, Writing and Research Advisor, Creative Writing

Nick Nurre, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Chad Broughton, Instructional Professor, Public Policy

Max Smith, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPSS

Irena Čajková,  Instructional Professor,  RLL

Dana Glaser, Humanities Teaching Fellow, English and CSGS

Bill Hutchison, Assistant Instructional Professor, Writing Program

Srini Vasudevan, Assistant Instructional Professor, Economics

Nell Pach, Assistant Instructional Professor, Writing Program

Mandira Bhaduri, Instructional Professor of Bangla/Bengali,  SALC

Marissa Fenley, Harper Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor, Theater and Performance Studies

Jennifer Cutilletta,  Adjunct faculty, Crown school

Samuel Catlin, PhD ‘22, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow ‘22-‘23, Comparative Literature

Leonardo Cabrini, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures

Linda T. Darling, Alumna, HIstory

Mary Elena Wilhoit, Associate instructional professor, MA Program in the Social Sciences 

Caine Jordan, Teaching Fellow, History & Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity

Dmitry Kondrashov, Instructional professor, BSCD

Michelle Hoban, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Helga Anetshofer, Lecturer, Middle Eastern Studies

Elizabeth Fiedler, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Peadar Kavanagh, Teaching Fellow in the Humanities, Romance Languages and Literatures

Mickle Maher,  Lecturer,  TAPS

Matt Hauske, alum, PhD 2015, Cinema and Media Studies

Michael Fisch, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Christine Mehring, Mary L. Block Professor,  Art History

Stephanie Soileau, Assistant Professor of Practice, English and Creative Writing

Mark Baugher, Associate Instructional Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures

Jessica Landau, Assistant Instructional Professor, CEGU

Andrea Ray, Teaching Fellow, Committee on Social Thought

Matt Lang, AM ‘16, Senior Editorial Associate, University of Chicago Press

James León Weber, AIP, RLL

Elizabeth Helsinger, Professor Emerita, English

Gabriela Zapata-Alma, Lecturer 2, Crown Family School

Cameron Cocking, Core Writing Advisor,  Core Writing Program 

Nada Petkovic, Instructional Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures

K.J. Hickerson, Assistant Instructional Professor,  Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity

Jared Berkowitz, Assistant Instructional Professor, Law, Letters, and Society

Gloria Goodwin Raheja, PhD alumna. Currently Professor Emerita, U. of Minnesota, PhD graduate, Anthropology, with extensive work in the Humanities Division.

Jeffrey Wolf, Lecturer, English Language & Literatures

Won Kyung Na, Associate Instructional Professor in Korean Language, EALC

Christopher Kindell, Assistant Instructional Professor, Committee on Environment, Geography, and Urbanization

Margaret Olin, Alumna – AB, AM, PhD, English; Art History; History of Culture

Maria Yakubovich, Lecturer II, Slavic

Christopher Gortmaker, Teaching Fellow in the Humanities, English

Francis W. Hoeber, Posthumous editor of the last work of Susanne Hoeber Rudolph (my sister) and Lloyd I. Rudolph, Professors for 50 years, Political Science

Bad Weiss, alumnus, Anthropology

Benjamin Yates, PhD Candidate, Classics 

Tien-Tien Jong Zhang, PhD candidate, Cinema and Media Studies

Jonah Radding, Assistant Instructional Professor, Classics

Peter Onyisi, AB ’03, Physics

Jennifer Brosek, Alumna, Political Science (BA), CIR (MA), former PhD student NELC

David Clingingsmith, PhD Student, South Asian Languages and Literatures

Kerry Boeye, PhD (2010), Art History

Rebecca Zorach, Mary Jane Crowe Professor in Art and Art History, Northwestern, PhD ’99

Sergio Delgado Moya, Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures 

Hussein Ali Agrama, Associate Professor, Anthropology

Fred Kopp, Lecturer, Germanic Studies

David A. Peterson, Assistant Instructional Professor, MACSS

Adam Roth Singerman, MA 2014, PhD 2018, Humanities Teaching Fellow 2018-2020, Linguistics

Aidan Kaplan, Assistant Instructional Professor, Middle Eastern Studies

Hanna Pickwell, Teaching Fellow, Anthropology

Angela Zito, PhD Alumnus 89,  Car Eastern Lang and Civ

Christina Filippaki, Teaching Fellow in the Humanities, Department of Classics and the College

Justine Buck Quijada, Alumnus College ’94, Div SS ’09, currently Assoc. Prof. of Religion, Wesleyan University,  Anthropology

David Diamond, PhD ‘15, English

Brad Weiss, PhD. Alumnus,  Anthropology 

Michele Friedner,  Professor, Comparative Human Development

Diana Schwartz Francisco, Associate Instructional Professor, History

Thomas Lamarre, Gordon J Laing Distinguished Service Professor, Cinema and Media Studies 

Sara Nur Yıldız, Alumna, Near East Languages and Civ (Middle Eastern Studies)

Katie Howe, PhD alumna, Philosophy

Salomé Aguilera Skvirsky, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies

Daniel Suslak, PhD alumnus, Associate Professor, Indiana University Dept of Anthropology

Emilio Kourí, Professor of history, History

Matthew Peterson, PhD alumnus, Divinity

Charles Mathewes, Alumnus, PhD Divinity School 1997

Matthew W. Stolper, Professor Emeritus, NELC (MES), ISAC (OI)

Thuto Thipe, Assistant Professor, History

Glenn Hendler, Visiting Faculty (years ago), English andAPH

Daniel Burnfin, PhD 2022, HTF 2022-4, Lecturer 2024-5, Germanic Studies & Philosophy

Laura Bier, Alumni (MA ‘95), Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Samuel Baker, PhD 2001, English

Eva Pensis, Alumnus, Music & Theatre and Performance Studies

Hans Thomalla, Helen A. Regenstein Professor of Music, Music

Damien Bright, Assistant Instructional Professor, MAPSS

Dipesh Chakrabarty, Professor, History, SALC

Alexander Cowan, Assistant Professor, Music

Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor, Music, TAPS

Kevin Barrett, Lecturer, Crown Family School of Social Work

Erika Supria Honisch, PhD 2011, Music (Music History and Theory)

Florian Walch, Assistant Professor of Music Theory, West Virginia University, PhD Music History and Theory ’23

Hannah McGinty, A.B. 2013, Music

Jim Sykes, Alumnus, Music

Zachary Tavlin, Lecturer,  Humanities Core

David Grubbs, PhD ‘05, Distinguished Professor of Music, CUNY, English

Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD, Director of the Tow Center for Developmental Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cornell University Medical College, AB, SM 1998, Biological Sciences and History

Sarah Brailey, Director of Vocal Studies, Music 

Jeffrey Harvey, Enrico Fermi Distinguished Service Professor, Physics

Erol Koymen, PhD 2022, music

Janet Spittler, Alumna, PhD 2007, New Testament and Early Christian Literature in the Division of the Humanities

Michael Gallope, Visiting Professor (Spring 2025) and Former Harper-Schmidt Fellow, Music / Society of Fellows

Miku Fukasaku, Associate Instructional Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Damon Jones, Associate Professor, Harris School of Public Policy

Steven N. Durlauf, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor, Harris School of Public Policy

Na’ama Rokem, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Comparative Literature

Rebecca Posner-Hess, PhD candidate, Classics

Ina Blom, Wigeland Visiting Professor, Art History

Tommaso Sabbatini, PhD ’20, Music

Jsdon Barabba, Alumnus, Music

John-Paul Spiro, alumnus (M.A.), Philosophy

Crystal Bae, Assistant Instructional Professor, Geographic Information Science

Matthew Kruer, Associate Professor, History and Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity

John Leavitt, Professor, Université de Montréal, PhD 1985, Anthropology

Darlene Castro,  PhD Candidate,  Music

Martha Feldman, Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor, Music

Colleen Grogan, Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta University Professor,  Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice

Tyler Zimmer,  Associate Instructional Professor, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies,  Philosophy 

Pamela Robertson Wojcik, alumni, PhD, English

Will Ardery, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Prachi Sanghavi, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences

Matthew W. Stolper, John A. Wilson Professor Emeritus, OI (ISAC)., NELC (MES), PAMW

Darby English, Carl Darling Buck Professor, Art History

Crystal Beiersdorfer, Lecturer 2 in Department of Cinema and Media Studies and in the College,  Cinema and Media Studies, Media Arts and Design

Cass Turner, PhD Alum, English

Benjamin Smith, Alumnus, Departments of Comparative Human Development and Linguistics

Shannon Lee Dawdy, Professor, Anthropology 

Nick Turner, Lecturer,  Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel, Alum, History

Seth L. Sanders, former Postdoctoral Fellow, NELC

Kari Watson, PhD Student, Music

Marie Satya McDonough, PhD 2011, English

Philip McGrath, Alumnus, Music

Olga Sánchez, Instructional Associate Professor, Music 

Darya Tsymbalyuk, Assistant Professor,  Slavic Languages and Literatures 

Kikù Hibino, Bibliographic assistant, Regenstein Library

Aren Wilson-Wright, Assistant Instructional Professor, Middle Eastern Studies

Alex Kale, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Data Science Institute

John Wilkinson, Emeritus Professor, English

Edgar Garcia, Associate Professor, English

Anne Rogers, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

Gabriel Richardson Lear, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor of Western Civilization, Philosophy, John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought

Gil J. Stein, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, Middle East Studies

David Schloen, John A. Wilson Professor, Middle Eastern Studies and ISAC

Jeffrey Stackert, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of Hebrew Bible, The Divinity School and ISAC

Petra Goedegebbure, Associate Professor Hittitology, ISAC, MES, the College

Kathryn Bandy, Lecturer, Middle Eastern Studies, Middle Eastern Studies

Esmael Haddadian, Instructional Professor, BSCD

Hervé Reculeau, Associate Professor of Assyriology, ISAC/MES

Elaine Fisher, Stanford University, Alum, MA 2007, BA 2005, Divinity School, SALC

David Tavárez, Alumnus (PhD, 2000), Anthropology and History

Theo van den Hout, Arthur Rasmussen Prof. em. of Hittite and Anatolian Languages, ISAC/MES

Ari Almog, Senior Instructional Professor, Modern Hebrew Studies, MES

Blase Ur, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

Sophia Alkhoury, PhD Candidate, Classics

Dr Stacy Hackner, AB ’10, Anthropology

Isabella Spagnuolo,  PhD Student,  Classics & TAPS

Austin O’Malley, Assistant Professor, MES

Julianne Grasso, Alumna, Music

Alican Camci, Alumni, Music

Ananya Vajpeyi,  Graduate Student 1996-2004 (PhD), SALC

Mia Capodilupo, Alumni, Anthropology

Timothy Ng, Assistant Instructional Professor, Computer Science

Patrick Fitzgibbon, PhD, 2024, Music

Samuel Baudinette,  Alumnus, Divinity School

Kelly Holob, PhD alumna, Assistant Director of Fellowships, Divinity School, UChicagoGRAD

Nathan Friedman, PhD student,  Music

Janelle Goodwil, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor,  Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice 

Callie Maidhof, Assistant Senior Instructional Professor and Associate Director, Global Studies

Matt Epperson, Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Katie Kadue, Harper-Schmidt Fellow (2017-21), Society of Fellows

John J. MacAloon, Professor Emeritus, Social Sciences Division and The College

Haun Saussy, University Professor, East Asian Languages & Civilizations

Olga Solovieva, Academic Affiliate, CEERES

Edward L. Shaughnessy, Creel Distinguished Service Professor of Early China, EALC

Susan Burns, Chair, Department of History, Professor, History and EALC, History, EAlC, and the College

Donald Harper, Centennial Professor of Chinese Studies, East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Thomas Lamarre, Gordon J Laing Distinguished Service Professor, Cinema & Media Studies / East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Rachel Hyeryeong Bahng, Assistant Instructional Professor in Korean, East Asian Languages & Civilizations

Xiaorong Wang, Associate Instructional Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Anne Marie Smith, Writing Specialist, Writing Program

Please find here a set of reports compiled by chapter secretary Mehrnoush Soroush:

In early December 2024, at the start of doctoral admission reviews, faculty across the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences learned of a substantial reduction in doctoral admissions targets for the 2025-2026 academic year—most departments seeing targets cut roughly in half. To put this in context, departments in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences have already faced multiple rounds of significant cuts to graduate admissions in recent years. These reductions were initially presented—as several faculty members recall—as temporary measures intended to stabilize the university’s fiscal position. Yet, each successive year has instead introduced further reductions, making prior years appear comparatively favorable.

The recent cuts in gradual admission is the second major contraction in five years. In 2019–2020, the university introduced the so-called Provostial funding model, which entailed a substantial reduction in graduate enrollment across the division—from 588 students in AY 2019–20 to a target of 420 by AY 2022–23, a 28.5% decrease overall. The impact varied by department, with some experiencing admissions cuts of up to 45%. 

The model was named after then-Provost Daniel Diermeier, who left the University shortly after its implementation. Under this model, departments were allocated a fixed number of total enrollments across all years of study. This was intended to encourage improvements in time-to-degree, as future admissions depended on students graduating on schedule. Since then, departments have worked diligently to adapt to the new structure, and no reason or explanation has been given for the sudden discontinuation of the Provostial model this year.

The reduction experienced by humanistic fields has been mirrored by an increasing number of graduate students in STEM fields, as shown in (Fig. 1, Slide 4). It is important to note that these opposing admission trends in the humanities and sciences do not necessarily indicate that STEM fields enjoy more favorable conditions than their counterparts at peer institutions. They do suggest, however, that these consecutive cuts are not isolated decisions, but part of a broader and sustained program by the central administration to reduce humanities programs—many of which have contributed to the university’s global reputation—and to steer the institution toward non-humanistic fields for reasons that have not been openly presented or justified to the faculty.   

Research Method and Data

Faculty at the University of Chicago have repeatedly raised concerns about lack of data and transparency, which has made it extremely difficult—if not impossible—to assess institutional trends beyond one’s own department. The recent 50% cut to doctoral admissions has intensified a collective willingness among faculty—especially in the humanistic fields, including the Divisions of Humanities (HD), Social Sciences (SSD), and the Divinity School—to share information and assess their standing within an increasingly austere financial landscape.

In the absence of official data, this report was compiled by reaching out to individuals across various units who maintained records of departmental statistics from recent years. In some cases, personnel information was supplemented with data from department websites. As a result, there may be a margin of error in the figures presented here, but this does not diminish the broader picture of severe contraction. This analysis would have not been possible without the assistance of a large number of faculty. We appreciate their contribution and insight. 

Doctoral Admissions Trends In the Last Four Decades

Humanistic fields in general have experienced a declining trend since their peak in the early 2000s, while STEM fields have grown steadily since 1984, increasing from a total doctoral student cohort of 1,082 to 1,883 in 2025 (Fig. 1, Slide 4). This data does not suggest that the University of Chicago has performed particularly well in STEM investment compared to peer institutions. It does indicate, however, that the current situation is not simply a reaction to external political pressures, but reflects a deeper, ongoing divestment from the humanistic disciplines—a core component of the University of Chicago’s historical identity.

The effects of this overall reduction have been felt somewhat differently over time across various fields. For example, the Divisions of Humanities (HD) and Social Sciences (SSD) saw a temporary recovery from earlier reductions around 2004, at the same time the Divinity School experienced its largest admission cut. Since then, admission numbers have declined much more rapidly in HD and SSD compared to the Divinity School. (Fig 2, Slide 5). 

Figure 1. Doctoral Admission per Divisions/Units, with a comparison of total admissions between humanistic fields (HD, SSD, Divinity) and STEM fields (PSD, BSD, PME).

Figure 2. Year-over-Year changes in admission targets, comparison between humanistic fields (HD, SSD, Divinity) and STEM fields (PSD, BSD, PME). After a sharp drop in 2001 and a slight recovery in 2004, admission in the Humanistic fields have been continuously reduced. 

Three-year Doctoral Admission Record in Humanistic Fields

Admission numbers across departments range between 1 to 15 in the last three years. While the cuts have affected HDD and SSD similarly, the HD departments admit significantly smaller cohorts of doctoral students on average (Fig 3). 

2024 Admission: Mean = 5.35, Median = 4.00

2025 Admission: Mean = 6.41, Median = 6.00

2026 Admission: Mean = 4.65, Median = 4.00

The admissions target reduction has affected departments unevenly  (Fig 4, Slide 9). For example, Comparative Literature saw a 75% reduction compared to last year’s target, followed by Romance Languages and Literatures, Middle Eastern Studies, and Germanic Studies, each with a 50% cut. The trends at the lower end should not be viewed optimistically either, as some departments—such as Slavic Languages or Theatre, which show no cuts—already had some of the smallest admission targets and cohort sizes. 

Admission Cuts Decision-Making Process

As noted earlier, while the previous rounds of admission cuts to the humanistic fields were generally presented as short term means working towards financial stability, the decision making behind this year’s admission cuts have not been openly discussed and justified. Different ideas, for example, the unionization of graduate students and increasing costs of graduate admission, or the applicant pool size, have been occasionally mentioned in the meeting, but no campus-wide or division-wide explanation has been offered. The data collected for this study shows that no consistent correlation exists between a department graduate student cohort or applicant pool size and the admission cuts.

When compared to the rankings of departments by applicant pool and cohort size, no clear pattern emerges (Fig. 5, Slide 10). Admission targets in some departments—such as Middle Eastern Studies, which has one of the largest cohort sizes (ranked 4th)—were reduced significantly (50%). In contrast, departments with smaller cohort sizes, such as Germanic Studies and South Asian Languages and Civilizations, experienced similarly high reductions (50% and 40%, respectively). Likewise, examining applicant pool rankings does not reveal a consistent trend. For instance, History, with one of the largest applicant pools (ranked 2nd), saw a 20% reduction in admissions—similar to Anthropology, which has a smaller applicant pool (ranked 4th)—and even more than departments with smaller applicant pools, such as Linguistics (ranked 7th).

The only discernible policy in the collected data appears to have been maintaining a minimum of one or two admissions per department, regardless of cohort size or other factors. It is possible that the decision included a planned process of negotiation, through which some departments were able to add one student to their admissions target. This report reflects the total admissions targets after that negotiation.

Dying Fast or Slow?The Intellectual Future of Humanistic Fields In the Absence of A Sustained Graduate Program

As shown here, recent admission cuts have made a longer process of sustained reductions in the humanistic fields—ongoing since 2006—shockingly more visible. Even though some departments may appear to have fared slightly better or worse by comparison, the most striking message from this analysis is that the difference lies between a field’s gradual decline and its rapid extinction. The existential threat posed by this trend is compounded and by the lack of recognition by the administration that a thriving graduate program is a crucial precondition for graduate education excellence, the intellectual vibrancy of disciplines, and the strength of departmental research programs. 

I would be curious to see if anyone could reasonably argue that a rich intellectual and learning environment for graduate students can exist in the absence of a sizable cohort. These cohorts learn from each other at least as much as they learn from the faculty. A strong cohort is a prerequisite for graduate seminars that inspire inquiry and critical thinking. Faculty in the affected departments frequently express a lack of interest in offering graduate seminars that are often attended by only one or two doctoral students. Recently, the division has encouraged co-teaching—a welcome initiative for increasing collaboration among faculty—but this strategy also clearly responds to the challenge of sustaining graduate teaching without graduate students. Of course, this is only a short-term solution. Our data show a dangerous trend of cohort reduction, such that it may soon become impossible to offer discipline-specific seminars attended by even a handful of students.   

Lower admission numbers are already deterring many serious students from applying to our programs. The shrinking size of graduate cohorts also discourages faculty from actively recruiting top talent. On the one hand, the extremely low chance of admission makes applying a frustrating waste of time and money, even for strong candidates, and many faculty are now candidly explaining our admissions landscape to prospective applicants. On the other hand, the prospect of joining a cohort of one—or none—is simply not conducive to building the kind of robust intellectual community that graduate education requires.

It has become widely recognized that despite our highly competitive admissions landscape, departments are increasingly struggling to compete with other offers. Students are understandably choosing universities and departments with better resources. The MES department, for example, regularly turns to its waitlist, as top-choice candidates often accept other offers. Lowering doctoral admissions targets is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy—one that threatens to erase entire fields of knowledge, to the detriment of the university’s standing and reputation. A recent example of such a short-sighted decision was the elimination of the Department of Geography—and gradually, the entire geography program—in 1985, despite its national prominence. Only in the early 2000s did the university resume efforts to rebuild a strong geography presence, when advances in geospatial research made geographic thinking central across disciplines.

Furthermore, doctoral students bring fresh energy into the lifeblood of a discipline by introducing new questions, new demands, and new moral standards—elements essential to helping a field rejuvenate and respond to shifting social realities. While there are always reasonable limits to how many graduate students a department should enroll, it is undeniable that reducing cohort sizes to only a handful is fostering a generation of faculty increasingly disconnected from generational change and contributing to disciplinary fields that struggle to remain socially relevant.

Doctoral students also play a crucial role in faculty and university research programs. The administration’s failure to recognize how diminished admissions undermine faculty research may stem from the outdated assumption that humanities scholarship is produced in isolation, by scholars reading alone in book-lined rooms. In reality, our research increasingly depends on the contributions of graduate research assistants. As cohorts shrink, it becomes virtually impossible for many faculty—especially junior faculty—to secure doctoral student support. Junior colleagues, in particular, cannot and should not be expected to compete with senior faculty for one or two available admission slots. Faculty research, especially when it extends into new fields, interdisciplinary projects, or unfamiliar topics, depends on the collaborative energy of a thriving graduate program.

Looking into 2026-2027 and Beyond

During the Campus Conversation event on March 26th, organized by the Provost’s Office, Provost Baker emphasized that the Humanities budget has not been cut, whether in response to federal policies or prior to them. This statement could be true in isolation, meaning a year-over-year budget comparison without regard to increasing costs or other factors. In reality, doctoral admissions are one of, and perhaps the most palpable, indicators of a prolonged divestment from these fields over the last twenty years, with the most severe cuts since 2010. It is paramount for faculty in these departments and disciplines to think about the future they envision for their fields with an ever-shrinking doctoral cohort. Let’s hope that the shock of this year will motivate more people to engage in campus-wide collective advocacy for a hopeful future for the intellectual fields that have long been the bread and butter of the university’s prestige and identity—rather than fighting over who dies last.