The new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is Dr. Magali Cornier Michael. She moved from Pittsburgh where she served as the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts of Duquesne University. Courtesy of USFSP
By Anna Bryson
A longtime professor and lover of literature, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences has been in her new role for only six weeks but is excited to learn the culture of the campus.
Dr. Magali Cornier Michael came to St. Petersburg from Pittsburgh, where she was a professor and served as chair of the English department and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts of Duquesne University.
After working there for 26 years, she is ecstatic to work at USF St. Petersburg, where she was drawn to the campus’s strong sense of community.
Michael admits that working at a public university is different than working at a private one. As a strong believer in public education, she is excited to finally have the opportunity to work at a public university.
Michael also served as a professor of creative writing, literature and fiction writing. This will be her first semester in a long time not teaching as a professor.
“Because I started out just teaching and then slowly moving into administration, I always had one foot in teaching, so I understand what students need and what professors need so I think that will help me be able to support the faculty and make sure we have a curriculum that students need and want,” Michael said.
Consolidation changes
Although it is an awkward time to come to USF St. Petersburg with the restructuring of programs as a part of the consolidation with USF Tampa, Michael is excited to be a part of the change and growth of the campus.
“The strong sense of community here and being part of the city of St. Petersburg and all the partnerships with the community are all really strong things that I anticipate would continue no matter what kind of restructuring happens,” Michael said.
Her main priority is student experience. She notes that change is vital and she is excited to get to know students and faculty and to learn their changing needs.
“This place has grown very quickly and when you grow very quickly, sometimes you need to go back and reevaluate to make sure things are working as well as they can for both the faculty and students but remember that our mission is educating students,” she said.
Lover of literature
Unlike her husband who is a chemist and two sons who are studying physical chemistry and neurobiology, Michael is the creative of the family. She went to engineering school for one year but returned to her roots as a literature fanatic.
When asked about her favorite author, she laughed because there are “just so many,” but cited Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood and Don DeLillo as some of her favorites.
“People always think about literature as what people wrote way back then, but there’s all sorts of really interesting writers doing all sorts of interesting things now,” she said. “I think looking at what writers are writing now is a good window into our own culture.”.
The last book Michael wrote was “Narrative Innovation in 9/11 Fiction,” which explores fiction written about the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers and their repercussions.
Historically, it has been challenging to write about horrific events like slavery and the holocaust, Michael said, but she emphasizes the importance of it.
“When you have these horrific historical events people say you shouldn’t write about them. But if you don’t write about them people forget,” she said. “You want to talk about these issues head-on, explore them and try to understand them so that they don’t happen again.”
Feminist roots
At Duquesne University, Michael implemented the university’s women and gender studies program and hopes to bring that area of study to USF St. Petersburg.
She has met with the chair of the women and gender studies at USF Tampa, and they are working together to find a way to bring some of those classes, and perhaps a minor in women and gender studies, to USF St. Petersburg.
“Societies have typically been organized around gender roles and that has created certain hierarchies around gender,” she said. “Understanding them is the first step toward breaking those hierarchies for us to all understand those things is really important.”
