Acting Dean Susan Lewis
For once, a symphonic fanfare is completely appropriate: current School of Music Director Dr. Susan Lewis has been announced as the new Acting Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. (Cue the trumpets!)
Lewis’ appointment will run from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, and she will replace current Acting Dean Dr. Lynne Van Luven, whose term ends on June 30. Van Luven herself was standing in for Dr. Sarah Blackstone, who was on secondment as Advisor to the Provost this past year—but has now resigned due to personal hardship.
“As outgoing Acting Dean, I am delighted to hear that Susan Lewis is going to take on the leadership of the Fine Arts Faculty for the next year,” says Van Luven, noting that Lewis received a positive ratification of 97 percent from the Faculty. “Dr. Lewis brings terrific skills to the position: she is a thoughtful administrator, a critical thinker and a faculty member well versed in the overall operation of the university. She brings grace, a sense of humour and a reassuring calmness to the position.”
For its part, the School of Music will require an Acting Director for a period of one year, and the consultation process for that has now begun.
Prior to becoming Director of the School of Music, Lewis herself was the School’s Acting Director in 2010 and 2012. She joined the
Susan Lewis (second left) declaring the winner in the Vikes Nation Rally Song contest with UVic President Jamie Cassels (second right)
School as assistant professor in 2001 and was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 2008. One of her mandates as Director has been increased collaboration with other departments on campus—including recent initiatives with Vikes Athletics as the Vikes Nation Rally Song contest and the brand new Vikes Band elective, which sees the creation of a for-credit varsity band course.
A graduate of Queen’s University (BMus in Performance and BA in Music and Politics), the University of Arizona (Master’s of Music), and Princeton University (Ph.D. in musicology), Lewis’ fields of teaching and scholarship embrace cultural history, music and print technologies, as well as music bibliography and genre studies. Her research profile extends to European and global music of the 17th and 18th centuries, sacred music and spirituality, and the music of Claudio Monteverdi, an early opera composer and advocate for experimental harmony and text-driven music.
An accomplished scholar with two multi-year SSRHC grants, Dr. Lewis is the sole author of Editing Music in Early Modern Germany (Ashgate, 2007) and The Madrigal: A Research and Reference Guide (Routledge, 2011). Her textbook Music of the Baroque: History, Culture, Performance will be published by Routledge in 2015.
While most of the faculty were expecting Dr. Sarah Blackstone to resume her duties as Dean of Fine Arts this year, it came as a shock when she instead announced her resignation this past April.
“This is an extremely difficult decision for me, and I have not made it lightly,” she said at the time. “As many of you know, I face a challenging and life-changing situation in my personal life that makes it impossible for me to continue as your Dean. For now, I do not have the emotional capacity or the strength to manage the day-to-day operations and the long term planning that are the responsibilities of a Dean.”
Blackstone became Dean in 2007 and her tenure has been one of growth and strengthening for the Faculty. While she has spent the past academic year working as Advisor to the Provost and had anticipated returning, Blackstone recently recognized she’ll need “extensive time” away from UVic in the near future, and acknowledges that this would be “extremely disruptive” to both the Faculty and the operations of the Dean’s Office.
Outgoing Dean Sarah Blackstone
“It has been a privilege for me to lead the Faculty and I am tremendously proud of the things we have accomplished together,” she continued. “You are an extremely talented and dedicated group of people who provide such critical support to students trying to find their way in very challenging professions. Your own artistic and scholarly work inspires your students and many people on and off the campus. I wish each of you, and the Faculty as a whole, the very best of luck in all your endeavours.”
The entire Faculty offers Dr. Blackstone and her family strength and support in the coming months.