Professor and Assistant Dean Janna Levin appointed dean of UNCSA’s Division of Liberal Arts
UNCSA has appointed Professor and Assistant Dean Janna Levin, Ph.D., as dean of the Division of Liberal Arts (DLA) effective July 1.
Professor and Assistant Dean Janna Levin, Ph.D., will begin serving as dean on July 1. / Photo: UNCSA
Levin has been a member of the faculty at UNCSA since 2008 and currently serves as a professor of science. She has taught General Physics, Physics of Light and Sound, Science and Society, the Science of Energy, Science and the Arts, and the ever-popular Science of Food and Cooking, among others.
During her tenure at UNCSA, Levin has provided strategic leadership in curriculum design and assessment within the Division of Liberal Arts. Her impact extends across the institution through key contributions to faculty governance, faculty mentoring initiatives, and her service as an Academic Leadership Fellow through the Office of the Provost.
“Dr. Levin is an exceptional educator and a respected leader whose work embodies the vital connection between the liberal arts and the creative disciplines,” said Chancellor Cole. “Throughout her time at UNCSA, she has championed innovative teaching and fostered meaningful collaboration across the institution.
“Her vision for the Division of Liberal Arts reflects both intellectual rigor and creative inquiry, ensuring that our students are not only accomplished artists, but also thoughtful, informed citizens. I am confident she will lead the division with distinction and continue to strengthen its essential role at the heart of a UNCSA education.”
She has obtained funding from numerous sources to enhance the classroom experience of her students at UNCSA, including from the R.J. Reynolds Foundation (with other faculty), the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, and from the provost’s office. Projects have included titles such as “What Does Music Look Like?,” “History of Science Mural Project,” “Judo as a Science and an Art,” “The Art and Science of Solar Cells,” “The Ecological Initiative” (with other faculty), and “The Forbidden Symmetries: The Discovery of Quasi-crystalline Formations in Ancient Islamic Art.”
Levin is the recipient of a 2020 Excellence in Teaching Award at UNCSA, recognizing her distinguished commitment to pedagogy. Of her teaching philosophy, she said, "My commitment to teaching science stems from my belief that education about the natural world is essential to producing responsible members of society. … An understanding of science leads to well-rounded citizens who are capable of making reasoned decisions about scientific issues.”
Levin has had a positive impact on her students and her peers, according to a colleague who nominated her for the Excellence in Teaching Award. “Although I have been a teacher for almost 30 years, team-teaching with Janna, I learned a great deal about how to organize a course, think through sequences, and interact with students,” the faculty member wrote. “Her courses are models of clarity with well-defined goals. Students know exactly what a course is designed to do and what their obligations and requirements are. Since Janna is not only intelligent and remarkably informed about her field, but also personable and approachable, someone who genuinely wants to hear what people have to say, her courses exemplify the best of education.”
Levin’s scholarship centers on inclusive assessment, labor-based grading, and reimagining science education in arts-focused environments. She has presented her work at national and international conferences.
Trained as a hydrogeochemist, Levin earned her Ph.D. in environmental science from the University of Virginia. She received her M.S. in geosciences from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and her B.S. in geology with honors from Bates College in Maine. Prior to joining UNCSA, she held teaching appointments at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and in the departments of physics and chemistry at Wake Forest University.
Levin will succeed Krystyna Puć, who has served as interim dean of DLA since July 1, 2025. Puć retired in December 2024 after more than two decades as a faculty member in the Division of Liberal Arts. She came out of retirement to lead the division after Dean Rachel Williams stepped down to become dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Radford University in Virginia.
About the Division of Liberal Arts
Central to UNCSA’s ideal of conservatory training is the concept that the traditional liberal arts are necessary for a student’s growth as an artist. The Division of Liberal Arts is responsible for delivering the general education college program at UNCSA, with a focus on enriching students’ artistic education.
Marrying the academic and the creative, the division’s curriculum has been designed to contribute to the cultural and intellectual development of each arts student, enabling them to participate effectively as responsible citizens in the world in which they will live and work.
The division offers courses in composition, foreign languages (French, German and Italian), history, humanities, literature, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, science, writing, and more. It comprises more than a dozen full-time faculty members who offer a variety of courses in styles ranging from traditional lectures and seminars to project- and studio-based courses intended to inspire curiosity about the world.
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April 09, 2026