By SUSAN JONES
The Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences took the unusual step last week of replacing the chair of the Hispanic Languages and Literature department with someone from outside the department.
On June 30, faculty members of the department were informed via a joint email from outgoing Dean Kathleen Blee and incoming Dean-elect Adam Leibovich, that, effective July 1, Professor Chris Bonneau would be taking on the role of interim chair, according to a spokesperson for the Dietrich School. The school had no other comment about the change.
Bonneau, former president of the University Senate from 2018 to ’21, is a professor in the Department of Political Science, where he started as an assistant professor in 2002. He also served as director of graduate studies in political science and is co-founder of the Pitt Prison Education Project. He received the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021. He has no background in Hispanic languages and literature
Bonneau has agreed to serve as interim chair until Aug. 31, 2025. “My goal is to provide leadership and work with faculty, staff and students to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment that promotes excellence in research and teaching,” he said.
“I have met with the staff, faculty and graduate students in groups and have heard from several of them individually as well,” Bonneau said. “Everyone has been very welcoming and expressed a desire to work collaboratively to move the department forward.”
Bonneau said this fall he will teach his Inside-Out class, where traditional college students learn and study with those serving time in prison, “but other than that, this will be my full-time assignment for the next couple of years.”
The department had been chaired by Elizabeth Monasterios, who is now listed on the website as a professor of Latin American literature and co-editor of the Bolivian Studies Journal.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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