Colleen Boggs Named Next Associate Dean for the Arts and Humanities

Colleen Boggs, the Parents Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities, has been named associate dean for the arts and humanities in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1. She will succeed Samuel Levey, Dartmouth Professor of Philosophy, who has served in the role since 2020.

"A leading scholar in her field, Colleen Boggs is also a dedicated teacher and accomplished administrator who has enhanced our academic community in many ways over the course of her nearly 25 years at Dartmouth," says Dean Elizabeth F. Smith. "I am delighted to welcome her to the Dean of Faculty team." 

As associate dean, Boggs will support the 13 departments in the Arts and Humanities division and work closely with the director of the Leslie Center for the Humanities. 

"I am honored and humbled to step into this leadership role and to create opportunities for the next generation of faculty and students," says Boggs. "My colleagues in the Arts and Humanities exemplify the excellence in teaching, academic inquiry, and artistic creativity that define Dartmouth. I look forward to partnering with them as we keep building on our strengths, finding innovative ways to pursue knowledge, create art, and inspire talented students from around the country and the world to meet the significant challenges of the moment and envision the possibilities of the future."

A scholar of 19th-century American literature, Boggs joined Dartmouth in 2001 after earning her BA from Yale University and her MA and PhD from the University of Chicago.

"When I came to Dartmouth fresh out of graduate school, I found an intellectual home in a place that centers the ethos of a liberal arts college at the core of an R-1 institution," Boggs says. "I have benefited from the vision of previous deans who have made the arts and humanities thrive, and I see this appointment as a way to 'pay it forward.'"

Boggs specializes in the literature of the American Civil War, transatlantic studies, and literary theory. Among her many scholarly awards and honors, Boggs has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Philosophical Society, and Mellon Foundation. She is the author of three books: Patriotism By Proxy: The Civil War Draft and the Cultural Formation of Citizen-Soldiers, 1863-1865; Animalia Americana: Animal Representations and Biopolitical Subjectivity; and Transnationalism and American Literature: Literary Translation 1773-1892. Her scholarly articles have appeared in numerous distinguished journals, including American Literature and PMLA, whose editorial board she served on. 

A bilingual speaker of English and German, Boggs has presented her work at international venues around the world, including as a distinguished professor at the Center for American Studies in Rome. In 2019, she was elected by her peers to the American Antiquarian Society.

At Dartmouth, Boggs served as director of the Leslie Center from 2011 to 2015. In this role she helped organize more than 150 academic events, from large international conferences to small seminars, faculty reading groups, and research workshops. She also developed an initiative focused on medical humanities that received a research grant from the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes and Mellon Foundation.

Additionally, in collaboration with government professor Jennifer Lind, Boggs launched Dartmouth's Public Voices Program, which trains faculty members in the art of crafting and pitching opinion pieces to the media. She also co-directed Dartmouth's prestigious Futures of American Studies summer institute.

Among her many additional roles at Dartmouth, Boggs has served on the Committee Advisory to the President, Council on Institutional Priorities, Committee on Organization and Policy, Committee on Instruction, and Organizing Committee for the Year of the Arts. She has also chaired the Committee on Priorities.