The College of Arts and Science named Jason Merchant the new Searcy Family Dean Feb. 19 in an announcement by C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for university affairs. In addition to his role as dean, Merchant will also hold an endowed chair in philosophy at Vanderbilt.
Currently serving as vice provost for university affairs at the University of Chicago, Merchant said his top priorities as dean will be to listen to community members and learn about their work on campus.
“I view a good dean as someone who takes great joy and pride in the accomplishments of the faculty and of the students,” Merchant said. “So, my priority for the first year is to listen very broadly to everybody, to try to meet with as many people as I can and see what is happening right now.”
In discussing his academic philosophy, Merchant also emphasized the importance of both disciplinary expertise and a shared core curriculum within a liberal arts institution.
“The College of Arts and Science is the largest college, but it also contains the primary mission of both the majors and the core,” Merchant said. “I think they are both super important. Disciplinary knowledge is super important, but also the general knowledge that you get from discussing texts — the great works of the human imagination — through a core class.”
Merchant said this balance reflects his broader view of the purpose of liberal arts education.
“An undergraduate education should never be thought of as just an instrument to getting a good job; it is also formative, and it’s the place where you really get to expand your intellectual horizons and explore your curiosities,” Merchant said. “I think that a wide-ranging liberal arts education should definitely be able to address that part of [your] formation at that point in [your] life and give you the tools to live the life of the mind for the rest of your life.”
Merchant also discussed the role of institutional neutrality in higher education, drawing on his experience from the University of Chicago and reflecting on how it informs his view of Vanderbilt’s role.
“I think there’s so much that’s valuable about these institutions, and I want to see them strengthened in the ways that allow us to continue to do the really transformative research and education that has made American universities the envy of the world. I think institutional neutrality is a crucial part of that,” Merchant said. “It allows the fullest range of ideas and viewpoints from the faculty and students to be developed and to be contested on and off campus without fear of reprisal and recrimination.”
In a message to The Hustler, Sophomore Matthew Ye, a Vanderbilt Student Government senator for the College of Arts and Science, expressed his hopes for the future and appreciation for the leadership of Merchant’s predecessor, Timothy McNamara.
“It is a very exciting time in the College of Arts and Science, with new changes from the introduction of the Core Curriculum to the announcement of new campuses across the country. Many of these changes came under the leadership of Dean McNamara, and I hope that Dean Merchant will continue to build upon these advancements,” Ye said. “At the same time, it is important to also recognize the flip side of the coin. Many issues in A&S continue to need attention, from transparency in syllabus content and instruction to costs of textbooks to grade deflation.”
Ye also believes the dean should seek a greater presence in the A&S community.
“I hope that the new dean will work with the student body to address these issues. Finally, I think it would be helpful for the dean to have an increased presence. Many members of A&S I spoke to have no idea about either the retirement of the old Dean or the appointment of the new one, nor what their role is,” Ye said. “It would be beneficial for the Dean to have a greater exposure to A&S so that both students and administration know what is on each other’s minds.”