Provost and Dean of the Faculty Lesleigh Cushing announced the following Board of Trustees–approved appointments, effective July 1.
Georgia Frank
Georgia Frank, Department of Religion, has been appointed as Chapel House Professor of religious pluralism, which entails being director of Chapel House and administrator of the Fund for the Study of Great Religions of the World. The Chapel House Professor of religious pluralism is an endowed chair established anonymously in 1957 to encourage the sympathetic study of the religions of the world; to encourage spiritual communication between men and women of differing religious traditions; and to encourage through teaching, writing, and scholarly research the sympathetic presentation of the religions of the world as they are seen by their participants.
Frank joined the faculty in 1994, and her research is focused on sacred stories, the senses, and materiality. Her books include Unfinished Christians: Ritual Objects and Silent Subjects in Late Antiquity and The Memory of the Eyes: Pilgrims to Living Saints in Christian Late Antiquity. In addition to teaching a range of courses in religion, she has led the study group in St. Andrews, Scotland, and has been deeply involved in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program and the Core program. She currently serves as chair of the religion department, interim director of Chapel House, and interim director of the Fund for the Study of Great Religions. She served as associate dean of the faculty from 2013–16 and interim director of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program from 2018–19.
Rachel Moss
Rachel Moss, Department of Theater, has been appointed as Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard Visiting Chair in Jewish studies. This chair was established in 1993 by Mildred K. Finard and her son, William G. Finard ’68, to honor Murray W. and Mildred K. Finard. It recognizes in perpetuity the values and commitment shared by the Finard family and assists Colgate in supporting outstanding faculty in Jewish studies. The appointment to the chair is based on the individual’s teaching excellence and scholarly achievements. Selection of the chairholder is made by the president of the University in consultation with the dean of the faculty.
Moss is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Theater, having arrived at Colgate in 2023. Her research focuses on the “performance of Jewish material, identities, and tropes within and outside of theater and their complex entwinement within broader sociopolitical narratives in context.” She has presented her work at the Association for Jewish Studies, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and the American and British Associations for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Moss served as co-editor of The Dybbuk Century: The Jewish Play that Possessed the World, which was published in 2023. Her writing has also appeared in Theatre Survey, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre Journal, AJS Review, Culture.pl, and Színház.