Brice Nordquist Named Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement

Brice Nordquist

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has announced the appointment of Brice Nordquist as Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement. The appointment is a milestone in the college’s ongoing plan to increase the number of curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities available for students in the humanities.

In his new capacity, Nordquist will serve as the liaison for A&S faculty, students, and off-campus partners and organizations.

“From this position, I hope to highlight and align the collective strengths of faculty, students and community partners for the development of ethical and sustainable engaged scholarship, pedagogy and creative work for social change,” Nordquist says. “I’ll work to support all A&S faculty and students interested in creating or expanding upon experiential learning opportunities to complement their humanities coursework. These opportunities might range from participatory action research, to engaged course design, public art projects and more. I’m excited to see what we can develop together.”

An assistant professor of writing and rhetoric, Nordquist brings a wealth of experience to the new position. He is the author of the award-winning “Literacy and Mobility,” a book that follows students from different tracks of high school English, to college, to jobs and beyond to investigate relations among patterns of movement and literacy practices across educational institutions, workplaces, neighborhoods, cultures and national borders. Nordquist recently coordinated the University’s inaugural Narratio Fellowship and Artist-in-Residence Program, a collaboration of the North Side Learning Center, the Syracuse University Humanities Center and Narratio.org, a global media platform dedicated to empowering youth through creative expression.

“Brice’s name immediately came to mind for this position,” says Karin Ruhlandt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a distinguished professor of chemistry. “He’s a natural relationship-builder and he understands what it takes to cultivate meaningful partnerships. And because he’s experienced first-hand the excellent outcomes associated with experiential learning, he’s eager to help fellow faculty members find those same great opportunities for themselves and their students. In filling this enterprise-level position, we’re reinforcing the College’s commitment to provide a strong, relevant and contemporary liberal arts education.”

Nordquist will assume his new role on July 1.