Graul Chair in Arts and Languages
This endowed chair is named for Dr. Thomas C. and Janet M. Graul and it is specifically designed to promote interdisciplinary approaches to the arts and languages with a particular focus on international perspectives. As we ask our students to use their intellectual gifts in the service of others, to adapt to a changing, dynamic global society, and to be just leaders, the importance of arts and languages becomes apparent. These disciplines engage us in questions about difference as well as enable us to celebrate and embrace those differences. The transcendent power of arts and languages is such that the whole person is both engaged and educated.
The study of arts and languages empowers us to engage rather than dismiss that which is different and sometimes uncomfortable. These disciplines give us powerful tools to open our minds and engage our hearts. Through a study of the arts and languages we develop the capacity to transcend that which is different and find the common core of our humanity. Such study is essential to any university that aspires to educate the whole person and produce distinctive graduates who are capable of linking learning to responsible leadership and service.
Dr. Roger Crum of the Department of Visual Arts and Dr. Eric Street of the Department of Music have held this chair in the past.
About the Current Chair
Sean Wilkinson, M.F.A. is a professor of photography in the Department of Visual Arts. He had the good fortune to work closely with three of the greatest photographers and teachers of the second half of the twentieth century: Minor White, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind. Prof. Wilkinson joined the university in 1973 and currently holds the office of the Graul Chair in Arts and Languages.
Upon completing his M.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design, Wilkinson taught at Harvard University before accepting a position at the University of Dayton, where he was hired to create and develop an entirely new course of study in photography. In addition to establishing B.A. and B.F.A. programs at UD that have earned national reputations, Wilkinson has sustained an active career as a photographer. His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country, he has won numerous awards and grants, and his work is in many significant museums, as well as individual and corporate collections.
Wilkinson also served as chair of the Department of Visual Arts for seven years from 1992-1999. He has taught in UD's study abroad program in Florence, Rome, Athens, and London.
Read Sean Wilkinson's Installation Address, "Being Here: Reflections on Place and Things," March 2009 (pdf) >>
