Welcome From the Dean
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Luis Miron, Ph.D., Dean |
It is a genuine honor and privilege to serve you as dean of the College of Social Sciences.
Like the renewal of New Orleans, your active participation in reconstructing the College of Social Sciences in this critical moment post-Katrina requires creativity and energy. The College community needs your imagination, your youthful optimism, and your collective will to succeed. The work may not always be easy. But it is inspirational and most definitely rewarding.
The College of Social Sciences’ faculty and staff are focusing on our mission and continually updating our curriculum to better meet the needs of students enrolled in our undergraduate and professional programs. In order to do this, the faculty and I want you to know what the study of the social sciences at Loyola means. Reduced to its common denominator, it means the identification, the understanding, and ultimately the resolution of significant societal problems. Social problems that might be addressed in your studies could include, for example, understanding the competing ideologies of crime and correction, the preservation of truth and honesty in the mass media, effective delivery of health care, and the formation and implementation of public policy in multiple institutional and economic sectors.
Subsequent to the academic reorganization following Katrina, two of Loyola’s signature schools—the School of Mass Communication and the School of Nursing—continue to anchor our College. We are proud as well of our other important programs including the academic departments of Sociology, Counseling, Criminal Justice, Political Science, a research institute (Jesuit Social Research Institute), an advocacy center (Twomey Center) and a Ministry Institute (Loyola Institute for Ministry). As dean, my overarching goal is to establish and build cohesiveness among the diverse areas of study in our college in order to allow our students and faculty to act effectively upon our Jesuit and Catholic mission in the world.
The study of social sciences extends beyond problem identification and problem solving, as critically important as these endeavors may be. On the affirmative side it means making the most of a unique opportunity to marshal Loyola’s urban planning resources and human capital toward the goal of the renewal of the city. By harvesting a creative curriculum and research program, collectively we can study New Orleans’ rich cultural assets and achieve a common good whose measure is a better place to study and a better place to live.
What can you do as undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in our diverse degrees and programs? Engage! Get involved in the College of Social Sciences’ student government advisory committee, seek an internship in a local social service agency or media outlet, and above all, stay active in College life, both now and after graduation.
