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n the South College office of the dean of humanities and fine arts, a computer awaiting the return of its master amuses itself with a screen-saver. Slowly and silently, pixel by pixel, a picture forms on the monitor: Van Gogh's painting of a red bridge. Once full-blown, the image dissolves, to be followed by another, then another...

When Lee Edwards responds to a question, the answer emerges in similar fashion. There's a thoughtful pause; then ideas take shape, line by line, almost visible in the air before you: complex, beautifully articulated, and complete.

As dean since 1991 of the campus' largest college, Edwards is regularly called upon to ponder matters both theoretical and practical. What do the humanities have to offer contemporary society? What is the role of the imagination in learning? Which great books should students be reading? And where to put the design students when Cottage C was demolished? In describing her role, the dean is more likely to sketch broad challenges than to focus on fiscal concerns. Yes, as dean, she has to figure out where the money will come from, and do her part to bring it in. She shares her peers' concern for the bottom line, but prefers not to dwell on it.

Instead, she spins out some of her deliberate, literate, intricate oral paragraphs. To wit:

"Higher education in this country in general, and public higher education in particular, is changing because the way it is regarded by the citizenry is changing. In part, that change is fueled by changing economic and political circumstances. On average, public higher education receives one-half to one-third of its support from state appropriations. There is increased competition for resources. But part of the reason this economic change is coming about is that the great American public is asking what good is it, what do we expect public education to accomplish?

"The struggle for the traditional liberal arts ­ which includes, but is not limited to, the arts and humanities ­ is, first, to find the mechanisms that actually demonstrate that an educated citizen, who knows how to read, write, argue, and see things from a variety of perspectives, is the most important goal; much more than the achievement of any narrow technical expertise, certainly for undergraduate education.

"The second challenge is to find mechanisms that will display to the citizens of the Commonwealth and the country that imagination and aesthetic appreciation are forms of knowledge.

"And finally, we need to convince people of the value, not just of the humanities and fine arts, but of public education in this country.

"I see the assault on public higher education as a real betrayal of the promise of democracy. I know the sort of education I have described will continue to be available through the elite private institutions. What I want to see is the possibility of this higher education available to anyone who understands its value and is willing to put in the work."

Edwards herself is a product of one of the nation's most highly regarded state educational systems. She came to the UMass English department in 1967 from the University of California's San Diego and Berkeley campuses. Almost immediately she became one of a crew of "ragtag, much younger, very impatient" people, as she wryly describes them, lobbying for women's studies programs. These young activists received, somewhat to their surprise, support and counsel from long-time dean of women Helen Curtis Cole ­ before that, says Edwards, "when it came to deans, I'd always been the felon" ­ and such senior faculty members as professor of French Micheline Dufau. Edwards speaks of Cole in particular as "a very important figure in the early formation of women's studies and the Everywomen's Center" ­ and as one who, ever the strategist, urged her young female colleagues to learn golf.

As a professor, Edwards specialized in narrative theory and the novel. In her current station, she shows a novel-reader's appreciation of the "human drama of it all, within the wide perspective of the operation of an institution." To move from the classroom or lab to an administrator's office, she notes, is to acquire "an enriched sense of what a complicated enterprise a university is." To avoid getting mired in that complexity, she adds, is a major challenge. "The purpose of the university is to convey and extend knowledge ­ everything else has to be the means toward that end."

When she's not grappling with the here-and-now, Edwards is thinking ahead. Noting that the art department, for example, currently operates out of fourteen different buildings ­ some serviceable, some antiquated, some on the verge of condemnation ­ the dean looks forward to the day when the studios, offices, and support facilities are brought together under newer, fewer, sounder roofs.

"The desire to see the completion ­ or at least the groundbreaking ­ of a visual arts complex keeps me getting up every morning," Edwards says. "We have splendid science and technology facilities on one end of campus. To be comprehensive, we need to balance that on the other end of campus, with an equal commitment to the humanities."

And with that, this teacher of narrative theory returns to her central theme: the role of the liberal arts in preparing an educated citizenry.

"Imagination, aesthetic appreciation ­ these are part of the way we apprehend the world. Imagining and telling stories are ways of knowing the world. If you think that is illegitimate, you are going to be constantly surprised by human behavior. If we truly believe that aesthetics and imagination are integral to education, we need to express our commitment to them ­ not just with lip-service, but materially." -FSW

Visualizing the Visual Arts Complex

EDUCATION

ENGINEERING

FOOD AND NATURAL RESOURCES

HUMANITIES AND FINE ARTS

MANAGEMENT

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

NURSING

PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH SCIENCES

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES