海角论坛

Georgetown 海角论坛 is thrilled to welcome聽Dean Christopher S. Celenza, a scholar聽of Renaissance history and early European scholarship who has been an exemplary leader in both academic and administrative capacities at Johns Hopkins University.

July 6, 2017 鈥� This week, Georgetown 海角论坛 celebrates the arrival of its newest Dean in former Johns Hopkins University faculty member and administrator聽Christopher S. Celenza.

Celenza has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in multiple professional settings, academic disciplines, and countries. He has held important roles both as a teacher and as an administrator; his unique聽perspective on both historical and modern academia will be invaluable as he leads Georgetown鈥檚 oldest and largest school.

Here, we review Celenza’s聽career, what excites him about coming to the Hilltop, and how he thinks about the future.

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Celenza was always a naturally curious student with a passion for history. But it was as an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Albany 鈥斅爓here he鈥檇 go on to earn bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in history 鈥斅� that he first realized a career in academia was the right path for him.

In a class taught by Renaissance historian , Celenza found one day that a difficult 15th-century text he had been poring over suddenly made perfect sense.

鈥淚 just got something about the text that had eluded me to that point,鈥� Celenza said. 鈥淚t was something so exciting to me 鈥斅爏omething new and interesting that I could do.鈥�

From there, Celenza was hooked. He listened eagerly to his professor鈥檚 stories about his work in vast libraries like the Vatican鈥檚, filled with ancient manuscripts. Seeking out more opportunities to learn about the history of European scholarship, he soon arrived at Duke University to complete a Ph.D. in history. The close direction of the late , his professor and thesis advisor, helped Celenza develop a vision for how he would live out his career.

鈥淗e combined the life of a scholar with life outside the classroom. He did things not just about research, but also about living a life,鈥� Celenza said of his mentor. 鈥淗e was a really meaningful model for me.鈥�

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While dedicated to living a balanced life, Celenza was also ambitious. He was soon pursuing a second doctorate 鈥斅爐his time a Dr.phil. in classics from the University of Hamburg in Germany.

鈥淚 realized I had a lot of catching up to do,鈥� Celenza said. 鈥淚 was interested in and stimulated by these subjects based on my undergraduate experiences, but there was so much more聽to learn.鈥�

While pursuing his second doctorate, he was hired to teach history at Michigan State University. He would stay at MSU in an assistant or associate professor role for nine years, even while completing his doctoral studies. His time at MSU culminated with his taking a position as the university鈥檚 associate chair for graduate studies, his first administrative role. In 2005, Celenza moved to Baltimore to join the faculty聽at Johns Hopkins University.

At JHU, Celenza held diverse positions across the departments of history, German, Romance languages and literatures, and classics. He helped found the , and before long he traversed back across the Atlantic 鈥斅爐his time directing the prestigious .

Celenza counts his years in Rome as among the most significant experiences of his career. The city鈥檚 large community of diplomats and international educators provided a fascinating backdrop, and the administrative challenges that accompanied running an international organization presented opportunities for professional growth. But what stuck with Celenza most were his lessons from everyday life in the academy.

鈥淭here, for the first time, I saw a polyphony of people all across different fields 鈥斅爊ot just only from the humanities, but visual artists, architects, composers, writers. And the magic wasn鈥檛 just that people were there doing work, but that we were living and eating together,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I hoped to bring back 鈥斅爐hat power of presence.鈥�

Celenza鈥檚 return to Hopkins from his time in Rome brought opportunities for challenging and rewarding academic administration experience. He was named Chairman of the classics department in 2014, then Vice Dean for Humanities and Social Sciences in the 海角论坛 of Arts and Sciences. After a year of managing the details of faculty hiring, he was tapped to become the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, where he oversaw faculty management across Hopkins鈥� nine schools.

鈥淚 was looking at how faculty were managed in each of the different schools, and really trying to figure out how we could help faculty flourish,鈥� he said.

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When he first began discussions to take over the Georgetown 海角论坛 deanship, Celenza was no stranger to the Hilltop: in the Department of Performing Arts. Still, he found there was much to learn about Georgetown during his interview process.

鈥淭he one constant 鈥� and this was truly universal 鈥斅爓as the love these people have for the institution,鈥� Celenza said. 鈥淭hat really is unique, and I think it radiates from an undergraduate tradition that goes back to the 18th century.鈥�

Celenza sees clear parallels between the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis 鈥斅燾are of the whole person 鈥斅燼nd his own cherished memories of the American Academy in Rome.

鈥淲e tend to think of universities as places where there鈥檚 a disembodied mind transmitting knowledge to another disembodied mind. Rome taught me that those minds are in brains, those brains are in bodies, and those bodies are in places,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t Georgetown, it鈥檚 part of the DNA of this place to openly discuss these concepts 鈥� the idea of formation of the whole person. That鈥檚 not something you find at a lot of universities.鈥�

It鈥檚 easy to imagine that a person with two doctorates and a successful career as an academic administrator across a multitude of positions (on two continents!) might walk onto the Hilltop with a laundry list of major projects and reforms. That鈥檚 not the case for Celenza.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to have a structured series of interviews with chairs, directors, and so on, and I鈥檓 not going to have any big declarations or pronouncements until I listen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen too many administrators founder coming up with a plan in their heads, hoping it鈥檒l map onto culture and reality, and realizing it won鈥檛 work. You want to get to know the culture first.鈥�

Still, that鈥檚 not to say that the 海角论坛鈥檚 newest leader lacks a driving vision. Part of the 海角论坛 struck Celenza as a particularly appealing destination was its marriage of the undergraduate liberal arts tradition with opportunities for cutting-edge research 鈥斅燼nd he intends to make sure the latter half of that marriage continues to grow.

鈥淲e should keep the foot on the gas when it comes to undergraduate research,鈥� Celenza said. 鈥淢aybe you get added to a biology lab and become a co-author on a paper. Maybe you do an experiential learning project here in D.C. I just want to keep the momentum going with that.鈥�

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Celenza is reluctant to talk at length about his accomplishments 鈥斅爃e鈥檇 much rather discuss what makes a place special, how he hopes to contribute best to a community, or how excited he is to cheer on students at sporting or performing arts events. But it鈥檚 clear that the 海角论坛 has found a qualified and inspiring leader for future generations of Hoyas.

鈥淚鈥檓 here to serve the institution not just now, but years from now too,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y big declaration is this: I鈥檓 here to serve, and I鈥檓 here to listen.鈥�