[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Crosta_Suzanne.jpg” caption=”Suzanne Crosta has been appointed as the new Dean of Humanities. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]McMaster has a new dean of Humanities. Suzanne Crosta's appointment was approved by Senate Executive last week and by the Board of Governors yesterday morning.

“Suzanne has been a leader at McMaster and across the country in both teaching and research,” says acting provost Bob McNutt, who led the search committee. “She believes in building consensus and her experience, vision and enthusiasm for Humanities and the role liberal arts play at the University and in society will ensure that McMaster's Faculty of Humanities has a bright future.”

A two-time graduate of McMaster, she returned to the University as an assistant professor in the Department of French in 1990 after completing her PhD at the University of Toronto. She became associate dean in 2002 and has been acting dean for the past five months.

“I look forward to fostering and building a vibrant Faculty of Humanities where our undergraduate and graduate students, staff, management group, and faculty members bring their unique talents and contributions to enhancing McMaster's culture of innovation,” says Crosta. “Working across disciplines and cultures in different languages, I understand the enormous benefits of cultivating new partnerships, fostering connections between disciplinary traditions and emerging forms of knowledge, and engaging with our communities within and beyond the University. During my mandate, I want to encourage the Faculty to pursue these types of initiatives because I believe that they provide the way forward, not only for the Humanities but for the University as a whole.”

Along with her own research on childhood narratives in Francophone literatures, Crosta has written extensively on the nexus between teaching and research. She is often called upon by other universities and organizations to lead workshops and conferences on frontier issues in research and scholarship affecting post-secondary education, particularly in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

She is currently vice-president (Research Policy) for the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, was McMaster's delegate for SSHRC's Working Group on the Future of the Humanities, and serves on several editorial boards, including the International Journal of Francophone Studies in the United Kingdom and Interfaces in Brazil.

Crosta's appointment as dean takes effect immediately and continues until June 30, 2012.