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University of Michigan
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Seal of the University of Michigan.svg
Other name
LSA
Motto Leading in Thought and Action
Type Public
Established 1841; 183 years ago (1841)
Parent institution
University of Michigan
Endowment $750 million (2011)
Dean Anne Curzan
Academic staff
1,372
Administrative staff
2,200
Undergraduates 17,149
Location ,
United States

42°16′34.4″N 83°44′28.8″W / 42.276222°N 83.741333°W / 42.276222; -83.741333
Campus 40 acres (16 ha)

The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts and sciences school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841, the college is home to both the University of Michigan Honors Program and Residential College.

History

Literary Class of 1880
Literary Class of 1880 (includes Mary Henrietta Graham, the first African American woman graduate of the University of Michigan)
Front of Angell Hall
Angell Hall, one of the major buildings housing the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts was originally designated the Literary Department and was the core of the University of Michigan. From 1841 to 1874, the faculty elected a president that communicated with the regents about department needs. In 1875, Henry Simmons Frieze became the first of the deans of LSA.

In March 2013 Helen Zell gave $50 million to LSA, the largest gift in LSA history, to support scholarships and stipends for Master's students in creative writing.

Deans

Photograph of Henry Simmons Frieze (published 1906)
Henry Simmons Frieze, first of the deans of the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Faculty of Literature, Science, and the Arts

  • 1875–1880 Henry Simmons Frieze
  • 1880–1881 Charles Kendall Adams
  • 1881–1882 Edward Olney
  • 1882–1889 Henry Simmons Frieze

Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts

  • 1890-1897 Martin Luther D'Ooge
  • 1897-1907 Richard Hudson
  • 1907-1914 John Oren Reed
  • 1912-1915 John Robert Effinger (acting)

College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

  • 1915–1933 John Robert Effinger
  • 1933–1945 Edward Henry Kraus
  • 1945–1951 Hayward Keniston
  • 1951–1952 Burton Doan Thuma (acting)
  • 1952–1958 Charles Edwin Odegaard
  • 1959–1960 Roger William Heyns
  • 1962–1963 Burton Doan Thuma (acting)
  • 1963–1968 William Haber
  • 1968–1970 William Lee Hays
  • 1970–1971 Alfred S. Sussman (acting)
  • 1971–1974 Frank H. T. Rhodes
  • 1974–1976 Billy E. Frye (acting)
  • 1976–1980 Billy E. Frye
  • 1980–1981 John R. Knott (acting)
  • 1981–1989 Peter O. Steiner
  • 1989–1998 Edie Goldenberg
  • 1998–1999 Patricia Gurin (acting)
  • 1999–2002 Shirley Neuman
  • 2002–2003 Terrence J. McDonald (acting)
  • 2003–2013 Terrence J. McDonald
  • 2013-2014 Susan A. Gelman (interim)
  • 2014–2018 Andrew D. Martin
  • 2018–2019 Elizabeth Cole (acting)
  • 2019–Present Anne Curzan

Residential College

The Residential College (RC) is a division of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Catherine Badgley is the current director of the RC.

Founded in 1967, the Residential College was designed to create a smaller liberal arts program with the resources of a larger university. The college was developed by a planning committee of faculty that included Theodore Newcomb, Carl Cohen, and Bradford Perkins.

Students in the RC take classes in LSA as well as specially-designed RC courses, many of which are seminar courses with fewer than fifteen students each. All RC students are required to live in the same residence hall, East Quadrangle, for at least their first two years. Since the RC is a part of the LSA, all LSA academic requirements apply to it. In addition to the usual concentrations in LSA, RC students may choose to pursue five additional concentrations (RC website): "Arts and Ideas in the Humanities," "Creative Writing and Literature," "Drama," "Social Theory and Practice," and an option for an "Individualized Major."

A major requirement for RC participation is intensive language training, which consists of two eight-credit courses similar to language immersion, and one four-credit readings course. Intensive Japanese at the RC has no reading courses, and the semi-immersion curriculum consists of two ten-credit courses. Other languages offered include Spanish, French, Latin, German, Japanese, and Russian.

Notable alumni

  • Sam Apple, non-fiction writer
  • Rebecca Blumenstein, former New York Times Deputy Managing Editor
  • Carmen Bugan, poet and writer
  • Nandi Comer, Poet Laureate of Michigan
  • Dennis Foon, playright and screenwriter
  • Matt Forbeck, author and game designer
  • Dhani Jones, former football linebacker
  • Laura Kasischke, author and poet
  • Francis Lam, journalist and cook
  • Jenifer Levin, writer
  • Damian Rogers, poet and journalist
  • Matthew Rohrer, poet
  • Michelle Segar, scientist and author
  • James Tobin, author and historian
  • David Turnley, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer
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