Bryan Crable, Ph.D., Named Founding Dean of College of Human Development, Culture, and Media

Bryan Crable, Ph.D., a leading scholar in the fields of communication and rhetorical theory, has been named the founding dean of Seton Hall’s College of Human Development, Culture, and Media, effective Monday, August 14, 2023.

Dean Crable’s scholarship examines the idea that language — and communication more generally — lies at the heart of human existence, and must be accounted for in any attempt to create social change. His most recent work has focused specifically upon these efforts in the context of racial justice.

His high standing as a scholar is equal to his reputation among students as a first-rate instructor and mentor. Additionally, Dean Crable brings to the University a history of creating strategic partnerships, growing fundraising and stewarding donors.

“The unique interdisciplinary nature of the CHDCM requires a dean who is at the forefront of scholarship and can move nimbly across disciplinary boundaries to lead innovation in teaching and research,” said Interim Provost Erik Lillquist, J.D. “With Dean Crable at the helm, I am enthusiastic about the college’s potential to grow in stature and benefit our students, the University and society.”

Dean Crable comes to Seton Hall from Villanova, where he has served the Department of Communication in various faculty positions, including department chair, since 1998. Under his direction, the department transformed its undergraduate curriculum, expanded its full-time faculty, added a Master of Arts degree and launched the Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI).

Dean Crable has served as professor of communication/rhetorical studies since 2012 and founding director of the WFI since 2010. In this role, he received two Presidential Citations from the National Communication Association, including a Citation for his work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2018 and a Citation for Service in 2022. Among other recent awards and honors, he received Villanova’s Outstanding Faculty Mentor Teaching Award for 2021.

“I am excited to join the Seton Hall community, and honored to serve the students, faculty, staff and alumni of CHDCM,” Dean Crable said. “This new college represents an unparalleled opportunity, first because it will give Seton Hall students a truly unique education, combining mastery in their fields of study with the added power of interdisciplinary tools and perspectives. Further, I believe CHDCM can and will become an intellectual and pedagogical leader in the region and nation — known as the place for cutting-edge, transdisciplinary engagement with the most pressing problems of our time.”

Dean Crable received a dual Ph.D. in communication and philosophy from Purdue University, where he was a Steven C. Beering Presidential Fellow. He also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees with honors from the university.

His published work includes Ralph Ellison and Kenneth Burke: At the Roots of the Racial Divide (University of Virginia Press, 2012), a book included in the Mellon Foundation’s American Literatures Initiative. He is also editor of the collection Transcendence by Perspective: Meditations on and with Kenneth Burke (Parlor Press, 2014) and author of the forthcoming book, White Sacraments.

Categories: Arts and Culture