Fall 2016, Vol. 2
Fall 2016, Vol. 2
The Slope of Success
A Message from Thomas DiPiero, Dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
In the first issue of our newsletter Inside Dedman College, we took you deep inside the recesses of SMU’s iconic Dallas Hall. We showed you the behind-the-scenes view of the building’s classical rotunda, and we revealed the eerie and abandoned “secret apartment,” rumored to have been the residence of SMU’s first president, Robert Hyer (and in line with the university’s responsibility to seek the truth above all things, we pointed out that sometimes rumors aren’t true).
In this issue of Inside Dedman College we take you in the opposite direction: out into the world, across a couple continents, into the nature of “digital humanities,” and deep inside the secrets of the universe’s matter. The articles in this edition of Inside Dedman College encapsulate the breadth and depth of faculty teaching and research, while nevertheless representing only a fraction of the game-changing, internationally-recognized work we do. Here you’ll learn about Professor Hervé Tchumkam’s research into the nature of French citizenship and how one’s place of origin and where one lives impacts how that citizenship is regarded. You’ll discover how Professor Brian Zoltowski’s research on circadian clocks took him to Glasgow and led him to host an international exchange, and you’ll also discover what undergraduate student Thomas Schmedding did when he studied abroad in Kampala, Uganda.
A profile of the Dedman College Scholars, and their slope of success, will capture your interest. This year we welcomed the largest class ever of the DC Scholars—nineteen of them!—and their interests and talents are broader and more diverse than ever. Dedman College Scholars alumni have gone on to fascinating careers and advanced study across the country, and in this issue of Inside Dedman College you’ll learn more about where their interests have taken them.
This largest-ever class of Dedman College Scholars shows a different slope of success: that of Dedman College. Our faculty’s teaching and research continue to attract ever more academically gifted students, and more and more bright young people are discovering all that Dedman College has to offer. Our students and faculty start out inside Dedman College, but their research, learning, and simple, innate curiosity take them all across the globe.