June 28, 2012/For Immediate Release / High-res photo available
UNCSA NAMES NEW LIBERAL ARTS DEAN
WINSTON-SALEM – Chancellor John Mauceri
of the University of North Carolina
School of the Arts (UNCSA) has announced
that Dean Wilcox will become the next
dean of the Division of Liberal Arts.
The appointment, which is effective July
1, was made after an extensive national
search.
“Dean of Liberal Arts is a key position
at the School of the Arts,” said UNCSA
Chancellor John Mauceri. “The founders
of this school knew that it was
necessary to provide a supporting
curriculum of academic study to ensure
the broader education of the artist.
“We are not only training artists, but
the whole person. And Dean Wilcox
understands and embraces this
challenge,” Mauceri added.
Wilcox joined the Liberal Arts (formerly
Undergraduate Academic Program and
University Programs) faculty in 1999. He
served as assistant dean of Liberal Arts
from 2006 to the summer of 2011, when he
was named interim dean of Liberal Arts
following
the retirement of veteran Dean Richard
“Rick” Miller.
Dean Wilcox
Provost David Nelson, in announcing the appointment to
the campus community, said, “Please
join me in thanking Dean
for providing leadership to us through this transitional
period, and in offering congratulations to Dean in his
new role.”
Dean Wilcox said: “We
train students capable of creating works of art from the
ground up, but also as interpreters who need exposure to
a wide range of material and information to sustain a
life-long career in the arts.
“With a
focus on dissecting texts, problem
solving, scientific
reasoning, history, media, culture, language, and
aesthetics, the Liberal Arts curriculum is designed to
foster critical thinking and analytical skills that will
serve our students long after they have graduated,”
Wilcox concluded.
In addition to teaching Dramatic Literature at UNCSA,
Wilcox also offers such classes as Chaos Theory and The
Arts, The Aesthetics of Dissonance, Postdramatic
Theatre, and Generative Art (team taught with Bob King).
DEAN WILCOX
Dean Wilcox has a Ph.D. in Theatre History,
Theory, and Criticism from the University of Washington,
an M.F.A. in Lighting Design from the University of
South Carolina, and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from
Glassboro State College (now Rowan University).
In addition to UNCSA, he has taught at The University of
Washington, The University of California - San Diego,
Cornell University, and Texas Tech University.
Wilcox has worked as a lighting designer at UNCSA, Twin
City Stage, Theatre Alliance, Piedmont Opera, Wake
Forest University Theatre, Dartmouth College, Texas Tech
University Theatre (where he also directed a multimedia
production of Vinegar Tom), The Bathhouse Theatre
in Seattle, Cornell University, Stagewest in Springfield
(Mass.), and Highlands Playhouse.
He has published articles and book reviews in Theatre
Journal, Theatre Survey, The Journal of Dramatic Theory
and Criticism, Theatre Research International, and
Modern Drama on such topics as: Josef Svoboda’s
multimedia design for Intolleranza, the
convergence of chaos theory and performance, ambient
space in 20th-century theatre, and the intersection of
creativity and theatre criticism.
Wilcox has worked as a dramaturg at The University of
Washington and at UNCSA on The Goodperson of Setzuan,
Man and Superman, Waiting for Godot, Hogan's Goat,
and Three Sisters, and as an adviser and
collaborator on Gerald Freedman’s 2009 production of
Saint Joan.
UNCSA
As America’s first state-supported arts school, the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a
unique stand-alone public university of arts
conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a
degree-granting institution that trains young people of
talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design
and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly
in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem
(“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became
part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972.
For more information, visit
www.uncsa.edu.
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