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New Leadership in the Cohen Center for the Humanities
Seán McCarthy, Professor of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication (WRTC), has been named the new director of the the Humanities, a center that advocates for and advances interdisciplinary humanistic inquiry and research for both students and faculty.
McCarthy came to the university in 2012 after earning his PhD in Writing Studies from the University of Texas. Over the past eleven years, he has pursued opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration across campus and beyond in his teaching and scholarship through projects such as Celebrating Simms leadership roles at JMU X-Labs. “Bringing the humanities and interdisciplinary work together is my happy space,” said McCarthy. “Joining the Cohen Center feels like a natural fit for me.” Under McCarthy’s leadership, the center will explore experiential or applied approaches to research, teaching, and learning in the humanities.
McCarthy inherits an already well-regarded center from its previous director, Michael J. Klein, also a Professor of WRTC. “It’s been an honor and privilege to have served as the Director of the Cohen Center for the Humanities the past six years,” said Klein. “With invaluable support from numerous faculty and graduate student assistants, we accomplished a great deal in promoting the humanities and serving the faculty and students of CAL and the university.”
As director, Klein worked with Robert Aguirre, then the college’s dean, to bring the Cohen Center into CAL from its institutional home in the Graduate School. That move increased visibility within JMU for the center’s innovative programming, support for graduate students, and sustained collaboration with campus partners, including the African, African American, and Diaspora Studies Center.
The center’s most public-facing initiative, a podcast, exemplifies how the Cohen Center, under Klein's leadership, integrated and celebrated graduate student work. The Conversations at the Cohen Center interview series, curated and produced by graduate students – initially by Becca Evans ('18, '20M), and subsequently Megan Medeiros ('17, '21M) and Conner Allen ('23M) — features scholars, writers, artists, and musicians from JMU and beyond, and provides an accessible way to share and archive interdisciplinary research and talks.
On officially handing over the directorship in July, Klein said, “As the center enters its second decade of existence, I look forward to seeing what lies in store for the Cohen Center. I wish Seán the best of luck as he takes the helm.”
