Janet Wolff

Janet Wolff, recognized internationally for her contribution to the field of cultural studies, has been appointed associate dean for academic affairs in Columbia University's School of the Arts. Wolff, who directed the program of Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester for the past ten years, began her work at Columbia in August.

"We are thrilled to have Janet Wolff with us, because she is not only an academic powerhouse," said Bruce Ferguson, dean of the School of the Arts, "but she is also a very creative contributor to thinking about the arts in practice."

One of her immediate academic priorities will be to help create a singular identity for the School of the Arts, a priority of Dean Ferguson's stewardship.

Wolff sees the move to Columbia as an opportunity to make investments in interdisciplinary work. "I look forward to working with faculty on cross-divisional initiatives and interacting closely with practicing artists," says Wolff. "I enjoy the administrative side of academia, including the intellectual challenge of program design."

Facilitating interaction among students is central to fostering a singular school identity. Interdisciplinary initiatives such as curriculum enhancements are key methods of advancing such interaction, says Wolff.

"Giving students the opportunity to learn about the other divisions of the school and interact with their peers will lead to increased collaboration in practices outside the classroom as well," says Wolff.

Prior to her arrival at Columbia, Wolff solicited views on interdisciplinary initiatives from graduate students of each division at the School of the Arts. Based on that feedback, Wolff is exploring ways to increase collaboration among students in the film, theater arts, visual arts and writing divisions. One idea under discussion is a seminar course covering aspects of the four divisions. Another possibility is opening existing courses to students from other divisions. Wolff will be working closely with faculty to identify current practices that could be utilized to increase collaboration.

Before joining the faculty at Rochester, Wolff was the founding director for the Centre of Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds, in her native England. Wolff has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship that brought her to New York City in 1993.

Her scholarship has centered on the investigation of the social grounds and social history of the arts. She has written 49 articles and eight books that have been published worldwide. Her works include: Resident Alien: Feminist Cultural Criticism, "Cultural studies and the sociology of culture," and The Social Production of Art, which has been translated into Portuguese, Italian and Spanish. She is currently working on a ninth book entitled AngloModern: Painting and Modernity in England and the U.S. Wolff has also lectured extensively in the U.S. and Europe.

Of her interest in the relationship between cultural studies and contemporary art, Wolff says, "I think that it can be of great value if students of the arts are given the opportunity to think about their own practice in a broader context - for example, to read and discuss work on the sociology and history of art education, or on the complexities of representation, whether in the visual arts, in literary texts, or in the other arts disciplines.

"In some ways, I think my own move from an academic program to a school of the arts is a reflection of my increasing recognition that all of this starts and ends with artists and their work."