Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina has announced that Margaret Himley, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence, professor of writing and rhetoric, and co-director of the LGBT Studies Program and minor in The College of Arts and Sciences, has been named associate provost for international education and engagement.
The associate provost for international education and engagement, within the Office of Academic Affairs, will lead the critically important international component of the University’s vision of Scholarship in Action, supporting the global ambitions of the University’s schools/colleges and faculty and students, building broadly on SU’s strong reputation and assets in international education and research. This new position advances both the goal of developing global citizenship in SU students, and the University’s strategic growth in key international geographies that are becoming accessible for both academic programs and broader substantive partnerships. In particular, the associate provost position will allow for greater integration of academic directions and learning outcomes with the operational dimensions of SU’s international programs, centered in SU Abroad.
“I am thrilled that Professor Himley has agreed to assume this critically important new role at the University,” says Spina. “I have full confidence that she will be a broadly collaborative leader in extending and enhancing the University’s engagements around the world to provide substantive educational, experiential and research opportunities for our students and concomitant opportunities for our faculty. I anticipate that Margaret will make a big difference in the lives and professional careers of our students, as well as create an entirely new set of opportunities for our faculty.”
“I am so excited to have this opportunity to work with others—on campus and at the SU Abroad centers—to deepen and expand the global dimensions of our learning, teaching and research,” says Himley. “Never before have our lives been so deeply entangled with others across the globe, with all the challenges and opportunities that entails.”
As a scholar of writing and rhetoric, Himley has written extensively on early written language acquisition, on theories of language and subjectivity, on pedagogy and curriculum, and on the challenges facing higher education, preparing students for writing and reading, for living and for working in an increasingly transnational and multi-mediated world.
As director of undergraduate studies and associate chair of the Writing Program, Himley spearheaded a three-year initiative to develop a critical literacy curriculum that addresses the rhetorical situatedness of writing, reading and researching in an ever more complex world, where students learn to communicate across differences as they engage with the larger topics and issues that dominate our times.
Throughout her more than 25 years at SU, Himley has taken on leadership roles to help SU address issues of teaching and learning, while also introducing vibrant new areas of scholarship to the University.
As LGBT Studies Program founding co-director—along with Andrew London, professor of sociology in The Maxwell School—Himley collaborates with faculty from across campus and abroad to develop courses for the minor, bring speakers to campus and sponsor presentations and conferences. The minor introduces students from all schools and colleges to the interdisciplinary field of LGBT studies.
Most recently, as a Chancellor Leadership Project, the LGBT Studies Program organized two major conferences on LGBT scholarship from a transnational perspective. The second of the two conferences, “LGBT/Queer Studies: Toward Trans/national Scholarly and Activist Kinships,” this past July at SU Abroad’s Madrid Center, featured participants from 27 countries and five continents, and several prominent speakers and organizations in the international LGBT scholarly and activist community.
In 2005, Himley received a Chancellor’s Citation, recognizing the outstanding contributions made by faculty and staff to the University’s mission. In 2010, Himley was named a Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor.
Himley’s appointment as associate provost for international education and engagement is effective immediately.
