Bushnell gets accustomed to arts and letters post

Associate Dean for Arts and Letters Rebecca Bushnell plans to focus on foreign languages and interdisciplinary work. Two weeks into her tenure as associate dean for arts and letters, English Professor Rebecca Bushnell is learning all the ins and outs of the School of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office. Although she had been aware of the illness of her predecessor, Eugene Narmour, Bushnell said the job offer from new SAS Dean Samuel Preston came as a "complete and total surprise." "It just sort of fell on me," said Bushnell, 45. "Sam is very persuasive. It was also a terrific opportunity." In the wake of Narmour's resignation, Preston divided his duties among the four associate deans in his office, including Bushnell, in an effort to allow each of them to exercise direct control over the departments they oversee. Bushnell's responsibilities differ somewhat from those of Narmour. In his post as associate dean for the humanities and social sciences, Narmour oversaw 17 departments. Bushnell, by contrast, is responsible for 10 departments: Classical Studies, English, Folklore and Folklife, German, History of Art, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Romance Languages and Slavic Languages. Although Bushnell's number one objective currently is to become fully acclimated to her new office, she has set several ambitious goals for the future. One of the University's top priorities is the "reinvention" of the way foreign languages are taught and studied. Bushnell, who is proficient in six languages, has taken a personal interest in this initiative. The former chairperson of the SAS Committee on Undergraduate Education also plans to mobilize faculty members in an effort to create more interdisciplinary programs within the humanities. "Let's see what bridges we can construct between the departments," Bushnell said. "I want to encourage interdisciplinary work -- I think integration, not isolation, will be the future of the humanities as we enter the 21st century." College Dean Richard Beeman said Bushnell is just the right person for the job. "It is my hope that SAS will be more proactive in bringing the arts into the curriculum," Beeman said. "Rebecca is the ideal person to form those bridges." Bushnell also emphasized the need to obliterate the traditional "wall of division" between teaching and research. "We really need to take advantage of Penn as a research institution," Bushnell said. "We have wonderful faculty who are really on the cutting-edge in their fields. We just need to find a way to bring their research into the classroom." Bushnell completed her education in the Philadelphia area, receiving her bachelor's degree in English literature from Swarthmore College and her master's degree in English from Bryn Mawr College. She then proceeded to earn a doctorate in comparative literature from Princeton University. After earning her doctorate, Bushnell came to the University in 1982 as a lecturer in the English Department. She joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1984 and received tenure in 1990. "From Swarthmore to Bryn Mawr to Princeton to Penn -- as you can see, I haven't gotten very far," Bushnell joked. "It also tells you that I love this part of the world." Bushnell's scholarly interests run the gamut from Greek tragedy to "Teaching and Humanism," although she works mainly in the field of the English Renaissance. She is currently writing a book on the social history of gardening in the 16th and 17th centuries. Her involvement in the University outside the classroom has also been extensive. She served as English graduate chairperson from 1991 to 1994 and helped redesign the English major last fall. And Bushnell has not shied away from controversy. In 1993-94 she directed the campus-wide Presidential Commission on Strengthening the Community, which dealt with campus issues such as randomized housing and the University's racial and sexual codes in the wake of the "water buffalo" issue. When she's not in her College Hall office or the classroom, Bushnell devotes her time to her husband and two daughters, ages nine and 12. "Family life is extremely important to me," she said. "One thing that I made very clear when I went into this job is that I had to do the job in such a way that I could continue to spend time with my family? everyone has been really wonderful about it." Kent Peterman, assistant dean for academic affairs in the College, praised Bushnell's ability to lead and motivate. "Rebecca is a really good consensus-builder," Peterman said. "She sees the task that needs to be done and works at getting people on board. Her ego doesn't get in the way."