Since its founding in 1925, Albertus Magnus College has maintained a robust commitment to the teaching and practice of the arts and humanities. This commitment has always been a distinguishing feature of an Albertus education. As we approach our centennial year in 2025, it is therefore appropriate that an investment should be made to ensure the continued strength of the arts and humanities on our campus long into the future. That investment has taken the form of the College’s new Arts and Humanities Collaborative, launched in September of 2022, with Dr. Jon Sozek (Philosophy and Religion) serving as its inaugural director.
About The Collaborative:
The mission of the Arts and Humanities Collaborative is to enrich and elevate our students’ experience of study in the arts and humanities and to share the fruits of the College’s rich teaching and practice in these fields with a wider public. The Collaborative assembles the talent and resources of five departments, preserving each in its independence and distinction: Art and Communication, English and Humanities, History and Political Science, Languages and Cultures, and Philosophy and Religion. A Steering Committee composed of all five department chairs will coordinate the efforts of faculty in these departments to enrich our teaching practice, grow our departments, and support faculty research. A Student Committee is also being formed, composed of two students from each department, to plan events and provide an essential student perspective on the Collaborative’s work.
Internally, the Collaborative has several immediate aims: to hold events to enrich the experience of majors and minors in the arts and humanities and build a sense of community; to support efforts to recruit majors in the arts and humanities, both from current students and prospective students; to promote and enrich our programs in these fields; to develop new, interdisciplinary programs, responsive to student interest and developments in society and culture; and to spark collaborations between the arts and humanities and other disciplines taught at the College.
The Collaborative will also work to enlarge and elevate Albertus’s profile beyond our campus, regionally and nationally. To this end, we will create and publish content highlighting the work of our faculty and students, largely through our YouTube channel, and seek to engage with thought leaders around prominent issues relating to the arts and humanities today. This effort has begun through the Collaborative’s podcast, Studium.
About Studium:
Studium hosts long-form conversations with practitioners and thought leaders trained in the arts and humanities. Our question is simple: what are the arts and humanities “good for”? Our guests have used their training to build careers in a variety of fields – politics, technology, drama, art, museums, academia, and more – and we will hear their stories. The podcast is hosted by the Collaborative’s director, Dr. Sozek.
Episode 1 – Why The Arts And Humanities?
In this first episode, Dr. Matt Waggoner (Professor of Philosophy) interviews Dr. Sozek to discuss some essential questions: What is this new podcast about? And what is the Arts and Humanities Collaborative? Dr. Sozek shares about some elements of his own background relevant to these new initiatives and discusses some themes from a recent article he’s published, related to the liberal arts and the work of Jacques Maritain.
- Full video episode on YouTube
- Clip, Albert the Great’s “studium”
- Clip, The liberal arts are the arts that liberate
Episode 2 – Politics And The Love Of Wisdom
In this episode, Dr. Sozek interviews Devin Avshalom-Smith, who is Alder of Newhallville (Ward 20) in New Haven and also a trained philosopher. Avshalom-Smith shares how his practice of philosophy informs his work to serve the community of Newhallville. Philosophy, he reminds us, is a verb – not just a topic or field of study! We learn about his published work on W.E.B. DuBois and how phenomenology and existentialism – especially the work of Franz Fanon – has influenced his thinking. The episode concludes with some reflection on the future of New Haven and Newhallville and a call to young people to “crack a book” and follow their passion – all the way to informed action in pursuit of justice.
Dr. Jon Sozek (Director of the Arts and Humanities Collaborative) speaks with Mr. Devin Avshalom-Smith (Alder of Newhallville in the City of New Haven) in the latest episode of Studium: An Arts and Humanities Podcast
- Full video episode on YouTube
- Clip, What makes a person a philosopher?
- Clip, How to get started in philosophy
- Clip, Philosophy and the future of New Haven
You can listen to the audio version of Studium – and subscribe – on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. A video version is available on our YouTube channel.
For more information about the Arts and Humanities Collaborative, to support its work, or to get involved, please visit our page on the college’s website or contact Dr. Sozekdirectly. We are currently finalizing our calendar for the year, including semesterly film screenings and salon nights, an end-of-year symposium, and many co-sponsored events with partners on campus.
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