Dr. Dennis Kratz
The School of Arts and Humanities at UT Dallas has three new tenure-track faculty members who will teach and conduct research in their respective fields — Middle Eastern history, literature and philosophy.
“The essence of the humanities is to always encourage people to put their ideas into a larger context. We have found three scholars who not only are going to be strong participants and contributors to specific fields, but also have the ability to put their thinking and their teaching in this grander context of the humanities and values,” said Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and Ignacy and Celina Rockover Professor. “We’re making an investment in people who will make a significant mark in their field, in the school and at the University.”
The school offers degree programs in visual and performing arts, art history, historical studies, history, history of ideas, humanities, Latin American studies, literature and philosophy, and is home to several centers of research and scholarly study. In addition, the school houses the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History — a center for innovative research and graduate education in art history with an extensive partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art.
New Tenure-Track Faculty
Dr. Rosemary Admiral
Dr. Rosemary Admiral, assistant professor of history
Previously: PhD candidate and graduate student instructor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: Middle Eastern and North African history, pre-modern Moroccan history, Islamic legal studies, gender and feminism
Quote: “Women today have complex relationships with Islamic law. I wanted to see how these relationships mapped onto the past, particularly in the case of North Africa. My research found women engaging with the law in creative and strategic ways, not only through the courts but also by way of a number of less-formal community spaces that they carved out for themselves. UTD’s commitment to research in the humanities within the larger framework of science and technology provides a unique space in which to continue this research and explore the implications for modern legal contexts. I am excited and honored to be a part of this innovative and diverse community.”
Dr. Katherine Davies
Dr. Katherine Davies, assistant professor of philosophy
Previously: visiting assistant professor of philosophy, Miami University
Research Interests: continental philosophy, ethics and feminist theory
Quote: “I am drawn to philosophy because of its slow, careful and critical thinking habits. I take philosophy to be a practice of figuring out how to best align our thinking with what we think about, i.e., the world and everything that makes it up. In my teaching, I work toward practicing this with my students through reading enduring texts from across the history of philosophy that invite this kind of deliberation. These historical texts often nevertheless bear upon some of the most pressing issues in our contemporary world, which we discuss in the classroom. I’ve been so impressed with the eagerness and interest I’ve seen from my students here at UTD already. I look forward to continuing to learn to be a better thinker and philosopher with them and with my impressive colleagues on the faculty.”
Dr. Erin Greer
Dr. Erin Greer, assistant professor of literature
Previously: PhD candidate and graduate student instructor, the University of California, Berkeley
Research Interests: 20th- and 21st-century British and Anglophone fiction, ordinary language philosophy and critical theory
Quote: “Novels, and the critical acts of reading and writing about novels, provide arenas for imagining possible ways to be: ways for people to be and ways for societies to be. My current project focuses particularly on how novels (along with aesthetic, political and language philosophy) can help us reimagine political discourse — a task that seems increasingly urgent in global politics. Because my work is a dialogue between literature and philosophy, I’m thrilled to join the inherently interdisciplinary arts and humanities school at UT Dallas.”
New Faculty Series
News Center is publishing profiles of tenured and tenure-track professors who have recently joined the University. The following school profiles have been published: