LIBERAL ARTS WELCOMES NEW LEADERSHIP
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes new leadership. Two new Department Chairs in Music and English, and three new Directors for the Rubin Center, Institute of Oral History, and Military Science join the leadership.
Chris Dickey, D.Mus., joins UTEP as the new Chair of the Department of Music. Dr. Dickey was previously at Washington State University where they served as the Graduate Program Coordinator for the School of Music and Director of the David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities. An active soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Dickey performs worldwide, formerly serving as principal tuba of the Washington-Idaho Symphony and the internationally acclaimed Mirari Brass Quintet.
Vershawn A. Young “Vay”, Ph.D., J.D. comes to UTEP as the new Chair for the Department of English. Dr. Vay is a multidisciplinary scholar, educator, and performance artist whose work spans Black studies, language studies, masculinity studies, performance studies, and rhetoric. Widely recognized for developing the concept of code-meshing, he advocates for the inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse voices in academic, professional, and public communication. He is an award-winning actor, solo performer, and facilitator of workshops on communication and cultural competency.
Andres Payan Estrada, M.F.A., is an artist, curator, and educator who now leads the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center as the new Director and Chief Curator. Mr. Estrada holds a master's in fine arts from the California Institute of the Arts. Working across ceramics, textiles, and collage, his practice explores social surfaces, ephemeral exchange, queer experience, and the politics of craft and materiality. He has held curatorial and teaching positions at Craft Contemporary, the California Institute of the Arts, Warren Wilson College, and A+B Projects.
Elena Foulis, Ph.D., enters UTEP as the Interim Director for the Institute of Oral History and associate professor in the Department of Chicano Studies, Languages, and Linguistics. Dr. Foulis is a scholar, educator, oral historian, and public humanities practitioner whose research explores Latina/o/e identities through oral history, performance, place, and language. An Ohio State alumna with over 20 years of experience in higher education, she is the host and producer of the Latin@ Stories podcast and the author and co-editor of books on community engagement and Latina/o/e oral histories. Her work bridges academic and public audiences through writing, digital humanities projects, and community-based scholarship, including a current project commemorating the 21 lives lost in Uvalde, Texas.
Maj. James S. Gibbs, M.i.M., is a Major in the United States Army serving as the new Director of Military Science. He has more than 20 years of service in Armor and Cavalry leadership and executive positions. From 2014 to 2017, he served at Fort Bliss as both a Tank Company Commander and Headquarters Company Commander. Originally from Rochester, New York, he earned a bachelor's in international studies from Utica University and a master's in management from the University of South Florida.
