The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s School of Education Social Sciences and the Arts (SESA) is undergoing a renaissance of new growth.
SESA, which houses the departments of criminal justice, education, fine arts, social sciences, English and Modern Languages, and most recently, mathematics, has hired 10 new professors over the summer.
The additions, which encompass many departments, were needed to fill vacancies created by retirements and to meet the demand of an increasing student population.
“We were looking for as much diversity as possible to reflect our student population, so we sought instructors from different backgrounds and different experiences,” said interim SESA Dean Christopher Harrington. “We have hires both internationally and locally who are bringing some exciting research with them.”
Among the new hires are three faculty members in the Department of English and Modern Languages, three new criminal justice professors, and four new social science professors and lecturers – including one focusing on political science and international affairs.
“We’ve made some very dynamic hires who are going to make significant contributions at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said Dr. Robert Brown, chair of both the Social Sciences and Criminal Justice departments. “It’s rare to see this many new hires at one time, but it’s a sign of positive growth.”
Brown said with many of the hires coming in the two departments he chairs; the instruction and expertise students will receive from the new instructors will be impactful.
“We’ve got several folks who, in their own right, are important additions and are capable of doing things that will be great for the campus,” Brown said.
In addition to the increased staff, SESA is seeing growing interest within its many fine arts curriculums, including Sequential Arts and Digital Media Studies.
“Sequential Arts is a wildly popular concentration,” Harrington said. “Every time we do a recruiting event at a high school, it’s always the comic books they want to talk about.”
With the versatility of programs in SESA, Harrington said there is discussion about renaming the school to something that best accommodates all the studies. The final determination for a new name will be decided upon by a committee.
“I think SESA is a department of core knowledge,” Harrington said. “So, even if your major is one of the other schools, you’re taking our English, math, humanities, and general education classes. We’re not just educating SESA students, we’re educating the entire university.”
