New Department in Arts and Sciences Division at Parkland College
New Parkland College Department in Arts and Sciences
Parkland College's Arts and Sciences division announces the creation of a new department: Arts, Media, and Social Sciences (AMSS).
At the request of the Vice President for Academic Services and the Dean of Arts and Sciences, faculty chairs, full- and part-time faculty, and staff in Fine and Applied Arts (FAA), Humanities (HUM), and Social Sciences and Human Services (SSHS) formed a working group in fall 2020 to explore how to more efficiently integrate the three departments with organizational options that best served the student body and staff, while working to save on costs.
The chosen proposal included integrating FAA and SSHS into one department called Arts, Media, and Social Sciences, leaving HUM as is. The proposal, which called for the new department to officially begin in fall 2022, was approved in spring 2021.
"The merging of the Fine and Applied Arts with the Social Sciences department will create a more efficient administrative structure, and more importantly, a close working relationship between the creative and dynamic faculty working in the separate departments," said Joseph Walwik, dean of Arts and Sciences. "We are excited to see the important role this new department will play in continuing to serve the students of Parkland College."
The merger is not expected to disrupt day to day activities for students or staff. No personnel, classroom, or faculty offices changes are required. The AMSS department office will be located in C120, with the chair's office in C121.
FAA and SSHS faculty and staff elected Isabel Scarborough, the current faculty chair for SSHS, for a three-year term as the new AMSS faculty chair beginning in summer 2022. Professor of Art and Design Matthew Watt will serve as assistant chair.
Scarborough holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology, is a Fulbright Scholar, and Parkland's program director for anthropology and sociology. She was awarded a national Community College Faculty Fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies for 2021-2022. She joined Parkland College in 2012 and has served in a number of college committees, including as co-chair for academic assessment. She is passionate about teaching and community outreach.
For more information about AMSS, please visit parkland.edu/amss.