BC's new associate dean for the Core
Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., has announced the appointment of Elizabeth H. Shlala, a historian and associate professor of the practice who has served as assistant dean for the Core, as the new associate dean for the Core. She succeeds Brian Gareau, who was named as senior associate dean for faculty affairs and academic planning.
The Core Curriculum provides Boston College undergraduates with a common intellectual foundation in the defining works of the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Its array of courses introduces students to the forces that have shaped world history and culture, broadening their intellectual horizons while shaping their characters and helping them learn how to discern well, thus preparing them for meaningful lives and rewarding careers.
Shlala, who has a Ph.D. from Georgetown University, studies the history of the Middle East and North Africa and holds affiliate appointments in the History Department and the Islamic Civilization and Societies and the International Studies programs. She teaches on topics such as history, gender, and migration, including the Enduring Question (EQ) course Geographies of Imperialism: History of Colonization and the study-abroad course The Italian Mediterranean: Una Faccia, Una Razza, offered in Venice over the summer.
She joined Boston College in 2018 as assistant director of the Core and a year later was named assistant dean of the Core. She is the founding faculty director of the Justice and the Common Good (JCG) Living and Learning Community, which she developed with support from a Formative Education Grant from the Provost’s Office. Now in its third year, the JCG community is aimed at first-year students interested in social justice and cultural diversity who are seeking to gain new tools for reflecting on, and leading, social transformation in pursuit of justice, equity, and universal flourishing. The community comprises up to 40 students per year, who take one of four specific EQ Core courses and a first-year topic seminar, Conversations In/Justice.
Shlala managed the Core Fellows Program, which brings early career scholars from across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to the University as visiting assistant professors to contribute to the Core. Core Fellows teach lab sections for Complex Problem (CP) courses, an elective in his/her field as well as an EQ course.
“Elizabeth brings to her new role deep experience of Jesuit education and knowledge of Ignatian pedagogy,” said Fr. Kalscheur. “Her direction of the Core Fellows Program and leadership in the EQ/CP pedagogical workshops provide a great foundation for her service as associate dean for the Core. I look forward to working with Elizabeth in this new capacity as she continues to guide the important work of ensuring a transformative Core experience for our students.”
A former Fulbright-Hays scholar with research experience in Egypt, Italy, the UK, Sri Lanka, and Turkey, Shlala works with the Office of Global Education to create study-abroad opportunities that fulfill Core requirements, and will continue to do as associate dean. Her other goals are to facilitate new EQ and CP courses across all schools, to continue to support the Core Fellows Program, and to expand the Core’s Living and Learning communities.
Shlala also will continue work begun by Gareau to support Messina College, the two-year, associate degree-granting residential college division at BC that will begin in the 2024-2025 academic year, and to align Messina’s curriculum with the University Core.
“The Core Curriculum plays a central role in the University’s Catholic, Jesuit mission,” said Shlala, adding that “the Core has benefited from Brian’s leadership and dedication during his tenure as associate dean for the Core, especially given the challenges posed by COVID.”
"Elizabeth brings to her new role deep experience of Jesuit education and knowledge of Ignatian pedagogy. Her direction of the Core Fellows Program and leadership in the EQ/CP pedagogical workshops provide a great foundation for her service as associate dean for the Core."
In five years as associate dean for the Core, Gareau oversaw the expansion of the EQ and CP Core courses in terms of both faculty involvement and student enrollment. Some 40 courses were added, engaging about 1,000 first-year students annually.
He and Shlala worked with faculty University-wide to develop and implement a new Cultural Diversity initiative in the Core, leading to more than 120 new courses.
Brian Gareau was the associate dean for the Core from 2018 to 2023. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Gareau also chaired the University Core Renewal Committee (UCRC), a group of 16 faculty and administrators that coordinates and manages the Core Curriculum and promotes interdepartmental and faculty/staff collaboration and innovation. He also collaborated with the director of the Perspectives Program to create a new set of Core courses called Perspectives on Art that combine philosophy, art, and literary Core requirements in a course sequence taught by three faculty members.
With assistance from the Center for Student Formation, he and Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor of the Practice Tara Pisani Gareau developed the POD (“Purposeful Ongoing Discussion”) Leadership Program, a near-peer mentorship initiative designed to enhance the reflection component that is rooted in the University’s Jesuit, Catholic mission and is part of each Core course. In the POD program, faculty provide leadership training to juniors and seniors, who, in turn, serve as academic and social mentors to the first-year students enrolled in the course. The older students facilitate intellectual conversations and reflections that build community inside and outside the classroom and help the younger students connect course content to their daily lives. Almost every CP course now uses the POD Leadership Program model, according to Gareau. Since its inception, about 200 students have served as POD leaders, mentoring more than 1,000 first-year students.
“I am tremendously grateful to Brian for his outstanding leadership of the Core program over the last five years,” said Fr. Kalscheur. "He has been an effective spokesman for the central role that the Core Curriculum plays in BC’s mission across campus and beyond. His energy and commitment have been instrumental in our efforts to build and sustain a Core that provides our students with distinctive, high-quality courses characterized by intellectual rigor, interdisciplinary perspectives, and opportunities for formative reflection.”
Reflecting on his tenure as associate dean of the Core, Gareau expressed gratitude for the support from Shlala, Fr. Kalscheur, the UCRC, and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. He said he was pleased that both faculty and students have found the Core’s CP and EQ courses rewarding.
“Most faculty repeat teaching their CP/EQ course and students routinely rank their CP/EQ course very highly on evaluations compared to their other courses. Most students have routinely reported over the years that their CP or EQ Core course helped them make connections and integrate what they learned elsewhere, which is an important goal for these courses.”
Gareau’s own CP course, Global Implications of Climate Change—taught with Pisani Gareau—was one of the first new Core courses developed and offered at BC. He and Pisani Gareau continuously update the curriculum with the latest information on climate change and global climate policymaking and have taught the course four times.
“This is simply the most demanding course I have ever taught, but it is also the most rewarding, the most stimulating, possibly the most impactful on my students,” said Gareau.