From Interim Dean Rachel A. Walsh, February 2025

We are fully immersed in the winter quarter and all that goes with this time of year, including Black History Month, a full slate of concerts and theater performances, winter sports and, of course, midterms. It’s a busy time that we recognize can be exciting and inspirational at times while perhaps being stressful and even exhausting, too. 

That’s why I want to highlight the resources that CAHSS and DU offer to help you or anyone in our community who may need support, whether they’re academic, social, involving mental or physical health or identity-based concerns. Immediately below this note on the CAHSS home page, we have provided links to “CAHSS Resources & Support” that I hope you’ll review and share as needed. In addition, CAHSS offers free, twice-weekly Mindfulness Sessions in the CAHSS Student Lounge guided by Professor Susan Walter who is a certified meditation instructor (Wednesdays 11-11:30 a.m. & Thursdays 12-12:30 p.m.). 

I’d also like to remind everyone that CAHSS faculty and staff, including me, keep regular office hours each week to offer advice, counsel or answer any questions you might have. I’m available in the CAHSS Second Floor Student Lounge every Wednesday from 12-1 pm. 

One topic that has been on my mind is the work of our CAHSS Support Services teams. Each of the roles providing support to CAHSS departments was filled last month and the Support Services teams are delivering high levels of support to faculty, staff and students. Specific roles and responsibilities for each of the four teams within Support Services can be found on pages three and four of the updated Staff Directory in Digication. 

I am happy to share that progress continues with the key searches, including tenure-track and teaching line faculty positions, as well as for the new Director at the Lamont School of Music and for a permanent Dean to lead CAHSS. This is thanks to the time and commitment of the many faculty and staff members serving on these search committees. They have done an excellent job of highlighting the key attributes of this College to attract the quality of candidates we’re seeking. 

CAHSS also continues to offer outstanding programming this quarter. The Livingston Lecture by the Center of Art Collection Ethics and the Wolzien Lecture by the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies were highly attended by enthusiastic audiences.  

Later this month, the Lamont Jazz Orchestra will present the music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays at Gates Concert Hall and general admission tickets are free! On March 5, thanks to the generosity of the Lamont School of Music, CAHSS faculty and staff can enjoy “CAHSS Night at Lamont,” an opportunity to attend for free a performance of the Defiant Requiem. This moving concert combines the magnificent music of Verdi with the story of courageous Jewish prisoners in a World War II concentration camp and promises to be a powerful performance. For tickets, email Angela.R.Mitchell@du.edu by Feb. 28. 

Thank you for everything you do to support our College, our mission and each other.