Thomas Stubblefield is the new has dean of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) at Michigan State University, effective July 1, 2025. 

Dean Stubblefield describes his background and research interests. He tells why he was attracted to MSU and the deanship of CAL. The dean talks about curriculum, research, and outreach activities and initiatives in the college. He talks about his short- and long-term goals for CAL, emphasizes the value of the arts and humanities, and discusses challenges and opportunities facing CAL, MSU, and higher education.

Conversation Highlights:

(0:21) - Give us some highlights from your background.

(2:16) - Do you have any experience with MSU and/or the state of Michigan?

(3:14) - Describe your research interests and scholarly endeavors.

(4:45) - What attracted you to MSU? And why do you want to be dean of the College of Arts and Letters?

(7:04) - What are some of the curriculum, research, and outreach activities and initiatives of the college?

(9:59) - What are some of your short-term goals for the college?

(11:49) - What about some longer-term goals?

(13:30) - Talk about the importance and value of the arts and humanities.

(15:01) - What are some of the challenges and opportunities ahead for the college, MSU, and higher education?

(16:40) - What are your Uncommon Will. Far Better World. campaign priorities? And talk about the importance your donors to the college’s future.

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Conversation Transcript:

Speaker 1:

Well, Thomas Stubblefield is the new Dean of Michigan State University's College of Arts and Letters (CAL), and it's a pleasure to welcome him to Michigan State University and MSU today. Thomas, welcome to Spartan Nation.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much. So happy to be here.

Speaker 1:

Great to have you here to get to know you a little better. Why don't you start with a little bit of your background before you've come here to MSU?

Speaker 2:

Sure. So I started my undergraduate career as a physics major. Quickly changed to undeclared and that was sort of the perfect lens for me to explore and have new experiences as a college student. At the end of that experience, I settled on art history and film and media studies as a double major, and that pairing really kind of structured my academic journey in a lot of ways. So I did a master's in art history and then was going simultaneously to Northwestern to take classes in film and media and was approached by a faculty member who said you should really check out this new field called Visual studies. And that led me to the University of California Irvine, where I did my PhD program. It was a truly interdisciplinary experience that brought together film and media studies, art history, and then in my case, philosophy. So as I transitioned to professorship, I began to realize how much I enjoyed administrative work.

 

I enjoyed leading committees, putting together new initiatives, even working with budgets, and really found that it was an opportunity for me to expand the area of my impact across the institution and in the community. So I soon became director for the Office of Faculty Development at UMass Dartmouth, was associate dean for the College of Visual and Performing Arts there, and then moved to the University of Rhode Island where I was associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. And that was an opportunity to work with the arts and humanities within an expanded field that included computer science, physics, criminal justice, and so on. So there was a lot of benefit in terms of understanding disciplines outside of my own, but when this job came up, it just seemed like such a perfect fit for my interest. And so that's sort of the path that led me here.

Speaker 1:

And have you had any past experience with either the state of Michigan or MSU by chance?

Speaker 2:

Not really. I will say my wife and three kids, and I have really loved the experience so far. It's such a vibrant community, shaped so much by the university. There's so many cultural events happening at any given time. It's a very family friendly place and lots of opportunities for enjoying nature. And there's parks and just green spaces to take advantage of. So it seems like a really wonderful place and a place that really supports the university. Everywhere I go and I mentioned I work at MSU, everyone has a story or a family member who's currently enrolled or as an alumni, and it's just a really nice feeling to feel that support in the community.

Speaker 1:

And how many times were you, did someone say Go green before you knew to say Go white? Beth probably taught you that right away then. Yeah, exactly. But say a little more about your own research interests and the scholarly activities you enjoy and  will you have to put 'em on the back burner for a while maybe if you're dean now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. So my research area is pretty broad and diverse. I usually say I work in contemporary visual culture, which means any kind of visual media. I think the work that I was most excited about, and you're right, I don't get to do as much of it now, but was working across the aisle with multiple disciplines. I've collaborated with faculty in criminal justice to do conference presentations. I did a research fellowship on a botanist who was attempting to visualize smell, and that botanist was collaborating with a photographer. So I did a deep dive into their work. So it's those kinds of collaborative interdisciplinary projects that really attracted me. And I produced two books. The first was nine 11 and the Visual Culture of Disasters published by Indiana University Press. And the second was a book on drone art War as Everyday Medium. And that really looked at the way that drones were depicted in film, media, television, gallery art, and also the way they were used as media for the creation of art and so on. So a really diverse approach. I enjoyed that work very much, but I find myself pretty occupied with administration these days.

Speaker 1:

Thomas Stubblefield is my guest on MU today, the Dean of MSU’s College of Arts and Letters. So Thomas, what attracted you to MSU? Kind of a two-part question, and why do you want to be the dean? 

Speaker 2:

Yeah. MSU has such an international reputation of research excellence, of innovative research coupled with emphasis on student success. And I think that's rare. That's a very difficult combination to maintain. I think one of the things that really struck me in regard to the latter, that emphasis on student success was MSU is not a gatekeeper in terms of keeping out students. We have a high acceptance rate relative to our peer institutions, but we also have a high success rate and a high retention rate, which means we fully support the students in their journey with us and make sure that they're led toward that success in their time with us. And to me, that's really the epitome of public higher education. And that's really my entire career from kindergarten to PhD to now has taken place in public education, and those are the values that I really believe in.

 

So that was really attractive to me. And then when I visited the campus, I really got a sense of the scale and energy of this place. I'm coming from a campus of around 20,000, which also has a lot of energy and excitement, but nothing compared to this. It's a really wonderful place with lots of resources and lots of collaboration, and the campus just has a real energy about it. And I also would mention, again, the commitment of the community to the university and the university to the community. When I came here to visit looking for a house, I of course pulled up with my Rhode Island license plates and got a lot of questions about that. And when I told folks I was here for a job, they just expressed their love for the campus. And a lot of it was sports driven, but there were some academics mixed in there too, and it was just a really great feeling. And the last thing I'd say is the type of student that Michigan State serves. I think it's around 20% first generation students, students from very diverse backgrounds. When you're working with those populations, you can really see the transformation that we enact in their lives, and that's just super rewarding.

Speaker 1:

And Thomas, let's talk a little bit about the College of Arts and Letters, some of the curriculum, research, and outreach activities you'd like to highlight today.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a really unique place. One of the things that really struck me when I came here was, for example, our PhD programs. Yes, we produce traditional scholars that land tenure track positions and very elite institutions. We absolutely do that, but we also have programs that acknowledge that the job market has changed for those fields. There aren't as many tenure track jobs out there, and there are equally viable paths for folks with PhDs and English and other fields, languages and so on. And so there are opportunities baked into the curriculum for students to pursue those alternative paths. We have a very successful nonprofit leadership program, for example, in the college, and that's just an extension of that kind of view and ethos of the campus being realistic about the future of our students, ensuring that they have successful careers upon graduation, whatever path that might be.

 

I was also really struck by the public nature of scholarship here. As I said, we publish books, we published journal articles. We do those important things, but we also have a lot of outward facing projects like the Diaspora, solidarity Lab, the knowledge commons, and creativity in the time of COVID, which was exhibited nationally and led to a digital archive of over 2000 works. Also, the Toolbox Initiative, it's a really unique project. We have philosophers working with clients like NASA and the NSF to help them to bring together different forms of analyzing different forms of discussing problems, and so that they can collaborate in a meaningful way, which is very hard to do. But our problems necessitate that our complex problems require bringing together those difficult different fields. So that's a really exciting project. I'd also mention Sensibility, which is an ensemble in the theater department that creates multisensory theater experiences for neurodiverse audiences.

 

And they've really set the standard in this field, and they've created a book that allows others to reproduce this. So theater is reaching the largest audience possible. And I just mentioned quickly the MSU Translation Center. We have an amazing language department. We have over 30 languages that we teach, and this is a comprehensive language service that provides accessibility in over 25 languages and doing a lot of really important work. So I could go on and on. It's a really innovative place that is really redefining how we do research and redefining the student experience in terms of positioning students within those environments that will lead them to meaningful

Speaker 1:

As you get started, you're a few weeks in, but tell us some of your short-term goals for the College of Arts and Letters.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think first and foremost, we need to navigate some of the budgetary reductions we're all facing and understand how we can operate within those constraints. And I'm coming in on the heels of some really good work that's happened in the college - work that's really leveraged the creativity of our faculty and staff and administrators. I think our goal is to put people first, prioritize people. We've been able to do that so far, and also try not to compromise the student experience. And so far we have absolutely been able to maintain that standard. It will take some creativity, but we have a lot of interesting ideas, and it's really been an opportunity to rethink some of the initiatives that we've done in the past and rethink the way we use our resources. And so that's obviously front and center as we go forward. The second thing I would say is the merger of RCAH (Residential College in the Arts and Humanities) and CAL, which I've spent a lot of time learning about their community meeting with their faculty staff and the current dean even talking to some alumni as well.

 

And it's a really special place. All of the community engagement strategic initiatives I talked about really resonate with the mission of RCAH. They give an extraordinary amount of attention to their students, and the students really come out with a full understanding of their place in the world and their responsibility as citizens. So we're really excited about that merger. I think it resonates with our goals. And the next year we'll be dedicated to figuring out how all that's going to work at a kind of bureaucratic level, how our programs will mesh, how we'll structure things. But those are the two immediate primary goals.

Speaker 1:

And what about when you have some time to think some longer term goals as we move forward?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think building on the career readiness initiatives that I discussed earlier, enhancing career outcomes. I think that's front and center. There is a perception out there that degrees in arts and humanities do not lead to profitable careers. I mean, luckily the data says that is not true, and our stories back that data up, but it's, I think at front and center for everyone in our fields to actively demonstrate that to our students. I think there's an opportunity to further develop our connections with local industry, again, to build those professional connections and to dramatize our impact on the state and the state economy in the arts. For example, there was a Michigan Arts report that said, for every dollar you put into the creative economy, $51 go into the local economy. That's an extraordinary opportunity for us, and I think we really need to leverage those relationships. And I think developing additional interdisciplinary operations, interdisciplinary initiatives, experiences for students, we know that today's graduates will change fields multiple times. That's what the Department of Labor tells us. And so we need to prepare students to be able to work across those disciplinary boundaries, and that's a really important part of our work. And lastly, I'd say cultivating the diversity of viewpoints, experiences that is so deeply entwined with the nature of public education. My college has a very important role to play in that. So we certainly see our future in those terms as well.

Speaker 1:

Say some more. Thomas, you alluded to it, about the value of the arts and humanities. Sometimes that gets slighted, as you mentioned, but talk about why that's valuable.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Well, there's so many layers to that, right? On a personal level, we all know what the arts and humanities do for us. We have always been a refuge for the disenfranchised. We've always been a place that has provided a welcoming atmosphere and environment for folks that have needed it. We know that encounters with the arts and humanities broaden the horizons of young people in particular, but all stages of life. So there's the personal development layer to that, but there's also the economic layer. We know that when the top players are surveyed as to what skill sets they're looking at, it's critical thinking, empathy, ability to work in teams, intercultural competency. That really is our toolbox in so many ways. We know that folks who are employed in the arts have the highest job satisfaction every survey that I've seen essentially. So there's clearly the benefit in terms of personal development, finding meaning in your life, but there's a very practical, pragmatic element too for bolstering the local economy, finding a sustainable job that gives folks a secure life as well.

Speaker 1:

And Thomas, I know we could have a conference on this for three days, but just your sense of some of both the challenges and opportunities ahead for the college, MSU, and really all of higher ed, which is kind of under siege in some ways too right now.

Speaker 2:

Well, the challenges, there's a great degree of uncertainty around federal funding. There's an impending demographic cliff, as we call it, where 18 year olds, the pie is shrinking because of the 2008 financial collapse folks began to have less children after that. And there is a general skepticism about the value of a college degree, which is especially prominent in my fields, just to be frank. I think there's a real messaging problem right now around higher education because as I say, in terms of an investment, in terms of return on investment, it's an amazing investment. The studies are you make seven or 800,000 up to a million and a half more in the course of your life with a college degree versus not. And unfortunately that's lost, I think, in a lot of the noise. So I think our solution is to dramatize that value and to show it in the student experience and so that students can see their professional lives and the community can see the impact we have through our engagement and through our outreach. And I think we're not going anywhere. The arts and humanities are an eternal force. We've been here from the beginning. This is a blip in the radar, and we will survive this and come out the other end stronger.

Speaker 1:

And Dean Stubblefield, we're in the midst and early stages of MSU’s Uncommon Will, Far Better World. fundraising campaign. Tell us a little bit about your college's goals. What are some of the things you hope to fundraise for and just sort of the importance of fundraising now, especially, maybe it's never been more important based on what we just talked about.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's really important. It's so important to have that safety net for students. And a lot of our fundraising really does directly translate to student success. There are students who are at risk, who encounter difficult trying times in their life, and having funds to be able to keep them on track and get them through difficult times is really important. Having the support to ensure that we can remove those obstacles for students who are interested in pursuing an internship, for example, that maybe don't have business attire, and at 18 years old, that's a completely understandable situation or plan to work during the summer to pay for their rent during the academic year, which is what I did when I was in school. And so maybe we need to displace that income so that they can pursue that professional opportunity that's going to be so transformative for them.

 

So, I think it's important for our alumni, of course, to build that sort of infrastructure and support. But I'll also say there are so many ways to contribute financially as one, being a mentor or visiting the campus and coming back and having a conversation with our students. If it's a five to 10 minute conversation with a young person, giving them a sense of what to expect upon graduation and what your field looks like, that is equally valuable. So we really want to make sure that everyone feels a part of the community even when they leave the college, because we know that's how you really build the success of an institution,

Speaker 1:

Time, talent, and treasure. Absolutely. Any or all of those. Summarize what you'd like us to know about you and the college as you move it forward?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I would just end by saying the College of Arts and Letters is a really unique special place, and I haven't had a chance to talk about this, but one of the things that's really unique about the college is we're really founded on a culture of care. And that care extends to the way we treat each other as staff and faculty, but also the way we understand student success. Our students are understood as whole people with real life challenges, and so we focus on their academic success as well as their sense of belonging and wellness. And I've not really seen it on this scale. It's a really special place for that reason. So I think that's the foundation of a lot of the things we've talked about today. And I think partially what makes CAL a unique place.

Speaker 1:

Well, again, Thomas, great to meet you. Your passion comes through and all the best to you moving forward. Thank you so much. Thomas Stubblefield is the Dean of Michigan State University's College of Arts and letters at cal.msu.edu. And I'm Russ White. This is MSU today. 

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