David Román
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Growing Faculty
New Post Focuses on Faculty Development and Diversity
By Kirsten Holguin
In his own department, David Román, professor of English and American
studies and ethnicity, has been mentoring junior faculty and building
an intellectual community for years.
Now with his appointment as the director of faculty development in USC
College, Román has a chance to expand the impact of his mentoring work.
In the newly created position, Román will oversee junior faculty
mentoring, minority faculty recruitment and the development of a more
robust scholarly community in the College.
The appointment reflects the College’s serious commitment to increasing
mentoring as well as ethnic and gender diversity, said Joseph Aoun,
dean of USC College. Over the last five years, the number of
under-represented minorities on the College faculty has increased by 53
percent and the number of women has increased by 40 percent.
“We are proud of our track record but we want to do even better,” said
Aoun. “David is the right person to take us to the next level.”
“This position is all about helping junior faculty succeed,” said
Román, who reports to Wayne Raskind, the College dean of faculty. “My
role in this position is one of facilitator, to set up meetings for the
junior faculty and introduce them to members of the USC community so
that the institution can be demystified.”
Román has introduced the concept of a cohort where all junior faculty
hired in a given year will move through the tenure process as a group.
He believes that connecting junior faculty is the first step in the
creation of a richer intellectual dialogue on campus.
To this end, he has organized an open monthly meeting for first-year
assistant professors in the College to network, share tips and problem
solve. New junior faculty will be introduced to members of the College
administration and the USC community such as the dean of research or
library services.
Tenure-track faculty have only six years to reach tenure, which puts
junior faculty under tremendous pressure to publish in order to
advance. Next year, Román plans to expand the topics in the monthly
meetings to include professional goals including publishing.
Last October, as one of his first efforts in his new post, Román organized USC’s first Latina/Latino Studies Symposium.
“The symposium was an enormous success,” said Román. “It showcased five
USC graduate students and four tenure-track scholars who presented
their research alongside visiting nationally recognized scholars in
Latina/o Studies.”
Through similar symposiums, Román plans to provide an increasing number
of opportunities on campus for minority scholars from USC and from
other institutions to present their work.
To further recognize the stellar work of junior faculty, smaller
inter-departmental events such as readings and panel discussions are in
the works.
Román adds his new duties to an already demanding schedule. His own
research interests in theater, drama and performance require him to
attend around 80 live performances a year.
“Since production runs are generally limited to a few weeks or months,
I need to see the work while it is still staged, wherever the
production might occur. This field work takes me all over the country,”
said Román.
In his new book, Performance in America: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the Performing Arts
(Duke University Press, 2005), Román draws attention to the ways that
the performing arts provide unique perspectives on many of the most
pressing concerns within American studies: questions about history and
politics; citizenship and society; and culture and nation.
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