“We are the creative and cultural heart of UMass Amherst.”

Today's students are focused on the pressing issues of our time. They're eager to understand the world in which we live, they're interested in how we got here, where we're headed, and how to protect their futures.

The questions at the center of the humanities and arts have become urgent: What makes us human? What does the struggle for human rights, equity, and equality mean in our daily lives? How does an assertion become "truth"? How does dissent function in a democracy? Finding the answers through a wide range of voices, perspectives, and platforms has never been more important.

We are the creative and cultural heart of UMass Amherst. With a wealth of academic options, small classes taught by eminent faculty, and a dedicated staff of advisors, the College of Humanities and Fine Arts offers students an experience that combines the character of an exceptional liberal arts college with the cross-disciplinary expansiveness of a flagship research university. Faculty are mindful of both the broad range of lived experiences that students bring to the classroom, their urgent need for answers, and the many paths that await them when they leave campus. Our students graduate with a solid foundation in critical thinking and effective communication. Perhaps most critically, they have a generous capacity for empathy—for endeavoring to understand the lives of others.

The importance of these qualities in our future public servants, educators, writers, inventors, and leaders is not lost on me. It's one of the reasons why I believe so strongly in the necessity of the humanities and arts, and why my top priority is to provide our students with the access and support they need to achieve success. We're counting on them to preserve democracy and to make the world a better place.

Sincerely,

Barbara Krauthamer
Dean, College of Humanities & Fine Arts