WSU Appoints New Dean of Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities
OGDEN, Utah – Weber State University announced the selection of Deborah Uman as new dean of the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities where she will oversee nearly 2,700 students, faculty and staff in five departments: communication, English, Foreign Languages, performing arts and visual art & design as well as the Browning Center and the Kimball Visual Arts Center.
Uman comes from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, where she serves as chair and professor of the Department of English and interim program director for film and television studies. Previously, she served as director of the women and gender studies program.
“Dr. Deborah Uman has an outstanding record of student success, leadership and scholarship,” said WSU provost Ravi Krovi. “She is passionate about the arts as well as the humanities and brings a collaborative and inclusive mindset that will fit very well with our culture at Weber State. I look forward to working with her and our faculty and staff in continuing the successful trajectory of the Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities.”
Uman is the author of two books, “Women as Translators in Renaissance England” and “Staging the Blazon in Early Modern Theater.” She is the co-editor of the Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal, a publication by women and gender studies students and faculty in the continued pursuit of equality and activism.
Uman holds a bachelor’s in English literature from Yale and her master and doctoral degrees in English literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Always an avid reader, she was drawn to the study of English literature because it offered so many lenses through which to view and change the world.
“Virginia Woolf’s contemplation of women’s creativity in “A Room of One’s Own” eventually led me to study women writers and translators in Renaissance England who went to great lengths to tell their stories despite significant limitations and restrictions,” she said. “Their efforts inspired my belief in the transformative nature of education, particularly in the arts and humanities.”
Uman specializes in English Renaissance literature, including writers such as William Shakespeare and John Milton with an additional focus on women writers from the period including Mary Sidney and Aphra Behn. Other teaching and scholarly interests include postcolonial literature, public humanities and sustainability.
Uman’s innovative approach to teaching, includes incorporating young adult and comic adaptations of classical literature, to help students engage with work that sometimes feels foreign and strange.
An active musician, Uman also plays trumpet in several local orchestras and chamber groups.
“I spent summers in Massachusetts near Tanglewood and started playing the trumpet because Roger Voisin, then principal trumpet player of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was our neighbor and showed me how to buzz his mouthpiece when I was 5. In high school I spent my Saturdays at a preparatory program at the Juilliard school of music.”
Uman said the study and practice of arts and humanities helps people and societies survive and thrive, particularly during periods of tumult, such as the world is now experiencing. She plans to help the Lindquist College support students and enrich the community with cultural excellence.
“I am excited to join WSU with its deep commitment to access and equity,” Uman said. “Lindquist College offers extraordinary opportunities to students dedicated to creativity and analysis. I look forward to working with the outstanding faculty, staff and students to find new ways to communicate our shared understanding of the importance of arts and humanities in our rapidly changing world.”
Uman was selected following a national search, and the Board of Trustees approved the appointment on Aug. 10. She will assume the position, beginning Jan. 4, 2021. Until then, Amanda Sowerby will lead the college as interim dean, a role she assumed in May 2020.
For more information about the Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, visit weber.edu/arts-humanities
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
Allison Barlow Hess, Public Relations director
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu- Contact:
Allison Barlow Hess, Public Relations director
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu