After twelve years of service, I’ve elected to step down from my role as Director of the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities and return to my position as Pauline McFarlin Walter Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Tulsa. This was a tough decision, but one I had to make for personal reasons. I will continue as Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies as well as the Principal Investigator of the “Sovereignty and Democracy in Indian Country” initiative. Meanwhile, Dean Greteman will begin an internal search for a new OCH director.
I leave this role only with a sense of abiding gratitude for the colleagues, collaborators, and supporters who helped transform the OCH from a modest affair run from my English office into a world-class organization that has been recognized by the Social Science Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Mellon Foundation. My proudest achievement, however, was securing the award for leadership in the public humanities from the international Consortium for Humanities Center and Institutes. My first book, Am a Snob?, was built around the idea that the arts and humanities can only thrive by connecting the work done on campus to the larger challenges and questions that face our communities. I’ve never lost sight of this core commitment to the public role of the humanities and am grateful for those who helped us create an institution dedicated to this principle.
During my time at OCH, we moved from campus to the heart of Tulsa’s Art District where we have matured into a cultural hub that has hosted over 50,000 visitors, 500 programs, and 100 faculty, student, and public fellows. Thanks to the generous support of our donors and the founding endowment gift of Patty D’Arcy (BFA ’49), the OCH rests on a firm financial footing and is poised to continue its efforts with the energy and ideas a new leader will bring.
In returning to the faculty, I look forward to restarting my own research while working more closely with our students. I’ll have more to say about some these new initiatives, but for now wish only to again thank all our partners, fellows, and funders who made our work possible.
