Program: Contemporary Studies (Faculty of Liberal Arts, Brantford Campus)
Motion: That the Contemporary Studies program reaffirms its desire to departmentalize and
wishes to have it active by July 1, 2014.
NOTE: please see rationale below for the historical context relating to this motion.
Approved at:
Contemporary Studies PCC: January 20, 2014
Faculty of Liberal Arts Divisional Council:
Effective Date: July 1, 2014
Rationale:
Contemporary Studies is the largest program on the Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University
(WLU), with over 1000 students currently registered in the program. There are 12 full-time faculty
fully appointed to the program, with an additional seven full-time faculty that have crossappointments into the program. Program members recently participated in a major re-visioning
process that resulted in clarifying program-level learning objectives, re-aligning curriculum, and renaming the program to Society, Culture, and Environment. These revisions were approved by
Senate on November 26, 2013, and the calendar changes will take effect as of September 1, 2014.
In seeking departmental status, the University can expect that the revised Contemporary Studies
program, known as Society, Culture, and Environment, will continue to attract students and high
quality faculty members. The program recently completed the cyclical review process, and external
reviewers provided unequivocal support for the revised curriculum stating: “The amount of
research, thinking, imagination, and collaboration that went into the development of the new
program is to be commended. The new program is well-conceived, ambitious, and exciting.”
Moreover, program members recently developed and launched a new Master of Arts in Social
Justice and Community Engagement. Our first cohort of nine students began in September 2013.
These students have already provided us with a great deal of positive feedback, and the program
has received significant support from faculty, the University and the community more broadly.
The members of the Contemporary Studies program strongly support departmentalization.
Program members originally made a motion to departmentalize in January 2010. It was asked that
this motion be put on hold so that the Multi-Campus Governance Framework could be completed.
At this time, the Criminology program also passed a motion to departmentalize. Similar to the
Contemporary Studies program, this motion was delayed; however, since this time the request for
Criminology to departmentalize was passed by Senate, and the program elected a Chair in March of
2012. As the largest program on the Brantford campus, it is time that the Contemporary Studies
program also assumes its proper place as a full department at WLU.
Departmentalization will bring many benefits for revised Contemporary Studies program. These
include enhancing our national and international reputation, thereby increasing the number of
students and highly qualified scholars interested in the program. Departmental status will also
provide a clearer structure for the program within the University. The program will have more
autonomy including making decisions about: hiring, promotion, and tenure; budgetary issues;
course and faculty allocation; and program development. Moreover, the Chair will have more rights,
and thus an increased capacity to advocate for the program within the institution, as well as the
opportunity to appoint faculty advisors within the department to better delegate the work of
managing the program.
Given the transition to the revised Society, Culture, and Environment curriculum, this is an excellent
time for the Contemporary Studies program to become a department. Faculty members are well
established in terms of publication and research, and are highly recognized scholars in their fields.
Departmentalizing will provide increased visibility for the program, assist with further recruitment
efforts, and provide for key resources within the framework of the Collective Agreement that will
help the newly revised program to thrive. Contemporary Studies faculty members strongly believe
that the program is ready to be recognized as the Department of Society, Culture, and Environment
within the Faculty of Liberal Arts, and that departmentalization will serve to strengthen the
program’s status in the University, as well as nationally and internationally.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Godderis, Program Coordinator