February 15, 2007
Chairman of Classics Department appointed director of Honors Program
James J. Clauss, professor and chairman of the Department of Classics at the UW, has been named director of the Honors Program. Clauss, 53, has headed Classics since 2002, and will begin the Honors job Sept. 1. A search for a new chairman of Classics is under way. Clauss replaces English professor and novelist Shawn Wong, who recently finished a three-year term as director of the Honors Program.
“I have always loved working with students and their parents, and that’s going to be a central part of the job,” said Clauss. “As chair of Classics for four-plus years, I’ve also discovered, to my shock and horror, that I actually enjoy administration because it requires a different set of creative skills.”
“I am certain that Jim will bring to the job his considerable passion for excellent, intellectual rigor, and a broad-based education as well as his commitment to diversity and inclusivity,” said Executive Vice Provost Ana Mari Cauce.
“The Honors Program is one of many learning communities on campus where there’s a vision to expand opportunities for powerful teaching and learning,” said Ed Taylor, dean and vice provost of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. “This is going to be an exciting time under Jim’s leadership.”
The Honors Program received 1,977 freshman applications for the academic year beginning next fall, up 350 over last year. It will likely offer admission to a quarter of applicants, and enroll about 285. Of approximately 25,000 UW undergraduates, about 1,550 are enrolled in the Honors Program. It combines a set of Honors core courses and courses taken with the broader student population. Students pursue either the four-year College Honors track or two-year Departmental Honors track.
The Honors Program is a way to lure a student who otherwise would go to Harvard, Berkeley or Michigan, and keeping the best minds in the state is crucial, Clauss said, adding that honors students also raise the general performance of a class and draw master professors to the University.
The trick is funding. Clauss would like to explore a significant endowment for student scholarships. An expanded program might combine private funds, money from the University and funds from the state budget. “A vital and fiscally healthy honors program is a significant benefit for the state,” Clauss said.
Clauss holds a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Scranton and a master’s degree from Fordham University. He obtained his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he won two fellowships and one translation prize. In 1996, he won the Distinguished Teaching Award at the UW.
A specialist in Hellenistic poetry and Latin literature, Clauss is the author of “The Best of the Argonauts: The Redefinition of the Epic Hero in Book 1 of Apollonius’ Argonautica (University of California Press, 1993). He’s also co-edited and contributed to “Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy and Art” (Princeton University Press, 1997). He and retired colleague Daniel Harmon are finishing “Rome and Environs: An Archeological Guide,” an English translation of the work by Filippo Coarelli. It’s to be published by the University of California Press this year.
Clauss’ list of accomplishments requires a serious stapler, but during an interview in his office earlier this month, he joked about his latest achievement: “I finally got into an honors program.”
