Davidson College Professor Named ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow
January 27, 2023
- Author
- Angie Rice-Figueroa
Prof. Caroline Fache
Caroline Fache, chair of French and Francophone Studies and director of the Global Literary Theory Program, has been named an Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow. The professor of Africana Studies and Bacca Professor of Humanities is one of 10 ACS scholars to receive the award, which is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The two-year program is aimed at providing leadership experience to a diverse group of humanities faculty and thereby expanding the demographics of academic administration at ACS colleges and beyond. One of the program’s goals is to transform institutional leadership to better reflect the population.
In her time at Davidson, Fache has chaired the Africana Studies Department and the Justice, Equality and Community committee that administered the Mellon Justice, Equality, Community (JEC) Grant—a three-year, campus-wide initiative to support increased interdisciplinary engagement with issues of race, gender, religion and social justice within the humanities at Davidson College.
Under her leadership, French and Francophone Studies made Davidson’s education abroad program more inclusive and accessible, changing the eligibility criteria for students to participate. She developed and implemented the theme “Black France” for the new education abroad program that relocated to Paris in fall 2022. She is also the president-elect of the International Council for Francophone Studies. Her scholarship focuses on film & TV representations of immigration in France.
Fache will hold the title of assistant dean for curricular innovation and serve as a member of the Academic Affairs leadership team, reporting to Shelley Rigger, vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty.
While she will participate in leadership training, mentoring and hands-on experience, Fache will also take on a portfolio of responsibilities and a distinct institutional project investigating possibilities for a more dynamic and inclusive future for the humanities at Davidson.
“I am excited about this fellowship and the opportunity to work with a leadership team that is enthusiastic about reaffirming its commitment to the humanities,” said Fache. “Through the interdisciplinarity of my work I hear a variety of perspectives from colleagues about ways to advance the humanities at Davidson, and I hope we can generate and implement some creative and innovative ideas.”
