Dear colleagues,
While the conclusion of the search for the inaugural Dean of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is imminent, I am delighted to announce that Professor Bryce Traister has accepted the position of Dean pro tem beginning September 1, 2020, and ending no later than December 31, 2020. Prof. Traister will hold this position in addition to his current role as Dean, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies.
Prof. Bryce Traister studies and teaches courses in early American literature and culture. He holds a BA and PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and taught for 20 years at Western University in London, Ontario, before joining the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies in 2017. He is the author of Female Piety and the Invention of American Puritanism, published by Ohio State University Press, and is the editor of American Literature and the New Puritan Studies, (September 2017). His current work includes a second-edited collection for Cambridge, The Cambridge Companion to Early American Literature.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Gino DiLabio, the current Dean pro tem of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for his leadership and all members of the Irving K. Barber community for their work during this challenging time.
Ananya Mukherjee Reed
Provost and Vice-President Academic
UBC Okanagan
