{"id":48558,"date":"2024-07-25T13:21:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T13:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/?post_type=cu_story&p=48558"},"modified":"2025-02-12T15:18:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T20:18:43","slug":"carleton-university-welcomes-dr-anne-bowker-as-new-dean-of-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/story\/carleton-university-welcomes-dr-anne-bowker-as-new-dean-of-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton University Welcomes Dr. Anne Bowker as New Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton University Welcomes Dr. Anne Bowker as New Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Building on her extensive leadership experience and driven by her ongoing commitment to community collaboration, Dr. Anne Bowker<\/a> has begun a four-year tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at Carleton University. Her appointment, announced by Interim President Dr. Jerry Tomberlin and Provost Dr. L. Pauline Rankin, became effective on July 1, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowker’s deep roots at Carleton, where she has been a professor of psychology<\/a> for over two decades, will serve her well as she steps into the new role. <\/p>\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve been part of this community for 23 years, and I care deeply about our amazing students, faculty, staff, and alumni. I want to help provide an extraordinary education and foster progressive research and perspectives that the world needs, especially in these times.<\/p>Dr. Anne Bowker<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As a researcher, she focuses on emerging adulthood, positive youth development, and life transitions, primarily through extracurricular activities like sports and their impact on self-esteem and leadership. Her most recent work examines factors affecting the transition to university, and she is also co-authoring a book on menopause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowker has previously served as the Chair of the Department of Psychology and FASS’s Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment. Most notably, from August 2023 to June 2024, Bowker acted as Interim Dean of FASS<\/a>. During that time, she initiated strategic plans to enhance research collaboration, enriched community engagement, and bolstered FASS’s existing emphasis on interdisciplinarity. And now, Bowker is focused on her priority of advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must make real commitments to equity and inclusion and be open to approaching this process differently than we have in the past,\u201d says Bowker. “This will require time and deep reflection, and it also necessitates committing material resources to adequately dismantle inequities at our university while also offering support to the many people in our FASS community who are affected by these structures.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowker’s approach to governance begins with conversation, and she reports that she has already had numerous productive discussions with FASS<\/a> community members about the Faculty’s current state and future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Anne Bowker outside by the quad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recognizing the multidimensional and ever evolving dynamics of the university environment, Bowker views the post-pandemic shift as a critical moment for implementing meaningful changes and addressing the developing requirements of the university community, particularly the needs of FASS students.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In FASS, it\u2019s in our nature to question everything, and that\u2019s a strength. We need to ask big, sometimes uncomfortable questions, even about enduring fabrics and formats, if it means we might enrich our students\u2019 experience.\u00a0 The world is changing, and we shouldn\u2019t be afraid to adapt, to be resilient.<\/p>\nDr. Anne Bowker<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bowker has begun the process of creating a new strategic plan for FASS by meeting with representatives from all units \u2013 faculty, students, staff.  She emphasizes the importance of collaboration moving forward, highlighting the need to share experiences, beliefs, and aspirations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sees the potential of the Faculty\u2019s interdisciplinarity to offer students a personalized and specialized journey through its diverse programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow can we develop a pathway for students who are captivated by the nuances of, let\u2019s say, identity, or mental health, or the climate crisis?  In a lot of ways our Faculty is perfectly positioned,” she says. “Because in so many of these cases we have several faculty members in FASS researching these topics from various disciplinary angles \u2013 each of whom will teach students something unique and important.  For example, let’s say a student is interested in the impacts of the climate crisis on language revival – I\u2019d like to be able to address this type of distinctive interest, concern, and professional ambition with our academic programming and the depth of our faculty members\u2019 expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world is complicated,” reiterates Bowker, “and I believe intersecting viewpoints from the arts and social sciences can help shape and reshape our understanding of ourselves, each other, and our world, helping us strive for better futures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impactful Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the breadth and impact of FASS researchers, Bowker highlights the influential work of scholars like Dr. Amrita Hari<\/a> from the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation<\/a>, who focuses on migration and identity, examining how gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability shape the world. Hari’s recent collaboration with Dr. Luciara Nardon from the Sprott School of Business explored the challenges of immigrant workforce integration in Canada and proposed new pathways for research and practical support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Dr. Hari\u2019s research illuminates the complex intersections of identity, migration, and work, offering meaningful insights that help mobilize real change,” says Bowker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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