Long Road Archive

To the Class of 2020

There is nothing the world can now throw at you that you are unprepared to handle. You have harnessed the great power of a liberal arts education...

Christopher LongMay 7, 2020

Deepening Connection in a Time of Distancing

As this disquieting semester comes to a close, it’s appropriate to pause for a moment to reflect on the distance we have traveled and the path that lies ahead.

Christopher LongApril 29, 2020

The Long Road

No Quality Without Equity

In October 2019, I attended a three-day workshop on Driving Institutional Change for Research Assessment Reform jointly convened by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) on the beautiful HHMI campus in Chevy Chase,…

Christopher LongNovember 9, 2019

Presentation: Interactive Presentations The Long Road

Catalyst of Collaboration

On September 26, 2019, I had the opportunity to address the Michigan State University President’s Council, which includes the Deans Council and the Executive Leadership of the University, about the values-based strategic planning process we…

Christopher LongOctober 7, 2019

Dean The Undergraduate Experience

To the Class of 2023: Embrace the Adventure

Dear Class of 2023, Welcome to Michigan State University! As we prepared our Welcome to MSU video this year, I found myself unexpectedly face-to-face with a picture of my past self as a first-year student…

Christopher LongAugust 27, 2019

The Transformative Power of Publishing

Earlier this summer, I had the honor of offering the closing keynote address of the 2019 Association of University Presses annual conference held in Detroit. The address was entitled The Transformative Power of Publishing, and…

Christopher LongAugust 5, 2019

Grants, Fellowships, Awards Vita

Less Commonly Taught and Indigenous Languages the Focus of $2.5 Million Grant

Michigan State University was awarded a four-year, $2.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support further development in the research and teaching of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs), with an emphasis on Indigenous languages.…

Christopher LongJuly 25, 2019

Dean

Toward a Culture of Care

In the summer of 2018, a group of MSU Deans came together to write an essay that was published in Inside Higher Education under the title: "Can Michigan State Recover and Chart a New Path…

Christopher LongApril 24, 2019

The Long Road

Recognizing Peer Review

In June of 2018, I held a short workshop about the HuMetricsHSS initiative with colleagues attending the 2018 Summer Seminar - East gathering of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages that was meeting at…

Christopher LongMarch 13, 2019

Failures to Listen

One year ago today, Rachael Denhollander addressed the Ingham County court in Michigan, her abuser, and the institutions that failed to protect her and her #SisterSurvivors. Listen again to part of what she said on…

Christopher LongJanuary 24, 2019

Open Letter Regarding MSU Interim President Transition

Dear College of Arts & Letters Alumni, Students, Staff, and Faculty, One year ago this week, the courageous testimonies of the Sister Survivors began to sow the seeds of change at Michigan State University. Taking courage…

Christopher LongJanuary 17, 2019

Dean

Living Values

In the open letter we wrote to the College of Arts & Letters community in January 2018, we promised to look critically at ourselves, recognize our failures, and rebuild the trust that is required of…

Christopher LongNovember 30, 2018

Dean

2018 Dean’s Report – Resilience

Dear College of Arts & Letters Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends, For generations, the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University have demonstrated the capacity…

Christopher LongNovember 16, 2018

Presentation: Academic The Liberal Arts Vita

AGLS Keynote – Practicing the Arts of Liberty

At the heart of my keynote address to the 2018 Association of General and Liberal Studies in Pittsburgh, PA is this idea: The intellectual and ethical habits we need to transform higher education are the…

Christopher LongSeptember 22, 2018

Presentation: Interactive Presentations

Bonomi, Rothman, and a Human Rights Approach to Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education

In her recent article in the Journal of Family Violence, Amy Bonomi, Chair of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, insists that sexual assault and relationship violence cannot be effectively redressed until we undertake…

Christopher LongSeptember 4, 2018

Dean Education

To the Class of 2022: MSU is an Open Door

Welcome to the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University! As you embark on your educational journey here at MSU, I invite you to consider the doors that are opening for you all…

Christopher LongAugust 28, 2018

Digital Scholarship

A Few Reflections on the TOME Initiative

WASHINGTON, DC - Today a group of colleagues from the Association of American Universities, Association of Research Libraries, and Association of University Presses met to advance the Towards an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME) initiative. It…

Christopher LongJuly 31, 2018

Editorial Journal of General Education Vita

The Liberal Arts Endeavor: Thick Collegiality and General Education

In this introduction to issues 1-2 of volume 66 of the Journal of General Education, Sophia Pavlos and I articulate of the meaning and importance of thick collegiality for the Journal of General Education and…

Christopher LongJuly 26, 2018

Presentation: Interactive Presentations Vita

Toxicity, Metrics, and Academic Life

The second Radical Open Access conference was held on June 26-7, 2018 at Coventry University on the "Ethics of Care." I participated from a distance via Skype, delivering a tweet storm style presentation based on…

Christopher LongJune 27, 2018

ADFL Plenary Panel: International Digital Public Humanities

The 2018 Association of Departments of Foreign Languages Summer Session North was hosted by the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University May 30-June 2, 2018. I was invited to participate on a…

Christopher LongJune 2, 2018

Open Letter to College of Arts & Letters Alumni and Friends

Dear College of Arts & Letters alumni and friends, By now many of you have heard that the university has agreed in principle to a $500 million global settlement with the survivors of the sexual…

Christopher LongMay 24, 2018

Presentation: Interactive Presentations

Practicing Public Philosophy

“Practicing Public Scholarship.” Public Philosophy Journal 1, no. 1 (2018). https://doi.org/10.25335/m5/ppj.1.1-1. Situating the Public Philosophy Journal at the intersection of philosophy and questions of public concern, this essay articulates how the journal hopes to practice…

Christopher LongApril 23, 2018

Creating and Sustaining Digital Scholarly Communities

The Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University invited me to give two talks on the value of creating and nurturing online digital scholarly communities on April 19, 2018. The two presentations afforded me…

Christopher LongApril 19, 2018

Dean The Liberal Arts

Cultivating a Culture of Trust

It has been difficult to write for the public in the months since posting the Open Letter to the College of Arts & Letters in the wake of the survivor impact statements that are transforming…

Christopher LongApril 12, 2018

Journal of General Education The Liberal Arts Vita

The Liberal Arts Endeavor: A New General Education

In the introduction to volume 65, issues 3-4 of the Journal for General Education, I draw on insights from Cathy Davidson's book, The New Education, to argue for a New General Education, one that is…

Christopher LongFebruary 28, 2018

Open Letter to the College of Arts & Letters

Dear College of Arts & Letters Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Friends, In the wake of the survivor impact statements, the Nassar sentencing, and the resignation of President Simon, we have entered an important period…

Christopher LongJanuary 25, 2018

Life’s Blueprints: Designing the Structure of Our Professional Lives

Last year at this time, we spoke of beginnings and routine, of resolve and the quotidian habits required to weave them into a meaningful life. We set our intention to focus on five priorities through…

Christopher LongJanuary 15, 2018

Digital Scholarship The Long Road

Humanities Commons and the Cultivation of Sustainable Communities

As we navigate the intense period of transformation in human communication through which we are living, identifying ways to nurture sustainable communities through which scholarship can be shared, discovered, and enhanced gains urgency. So many…

Christopher LongNovember 29, 2017

Practices of Weaving: Arts & Letters at MSU

Late last month, the faculty on the College Advisory Council (CAC) gave me a writing assignment. In preparation for our Fall 2017 faculty meeting on November 17, they asked me to take a step back…

Christopher LongNovember 14, 2017

Dean The Liberal Arts The Undergraduate Experience

Practicing Gratitude

Last weekend was homecoming on the Michigan State University campus, and I found myself reflecting on the meaning and significance of gratitude. So many alumni returned to campus to give thanks for all the ways…

Christopher LongOctober 24, 2017

Articles Book Chapter Vita

Pragmatism and the Cultivation of Digital Democracies

“Pragmatism and the Cultivation of Digital Democracies.” In Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy: Thinking the Plural, edited by Marcia Morgan and Megan Craig, 37–59. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2016. As technology enables…

Christopher LongSeptember 16, 2017

To the Class of 2021: Be Resilient, Like a Tree

Dear College of Arts & Letters Class of 2021, Welcome to Michigan State University! As you embark on the adventure of discovery and growth that is a liberal arts education in the College of Arts…

Christopher LongAugust 25, 2017

The Emergence of Our Vision: Public Education Rooted in the Liberal Arts

This month marks the beginning of my third year as Dean of the College of Arts & Letters. When I began as Dean in 2015, I spoke about advancing the arts and humanities at the…

Christopher LongJuly 19, 2017

Grants, Fellowships, Awards Vita

Creating Humane Metrics for the Humanities and Social Sciences

To support the Humane Metrics for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HuMetricsHSS) initiative, Michigan State University has received a $309,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The collaborative HuMetricsHSS pilot aims to create a…

Christopher LongJuly 10, 2017

Dean The Liberal Arts

The Liberal Arts at the Heart of the MSU Land Grant Mission

When Ryan Kilcoyne and I met late last year to plan the 2017 MSU College of Arts & Letters Dean’s Report, we wanted to show what we have long talked about: situating the liberal arts…

Christopher LongJune 26, 2017

Dean Living The Long Road

Beware the Jabberwocks

Lessons from the Dragon Boat None of us knew quite what to expect on Saturday as we gathered at Hawk Island for our one-hour training session for the Capital City Dragon Boat Race to support the…

Christopher LongMay 23, 2017

Journal of General Education Publication: Journal The Liberal Arts Vita

To Teach and Delight

The last two weeks of March this year brought sadness twice over to the College of Arts & Letters. On March 18, 2017, we lost Anna Norris, a beloved professor of French Literature who taught…

Christopher LongApril 14, 2017

The Liberal Arts Endeavor: The Arts of Liberty in a Time of Uncertainty

“The Liberal Arts Endeavor: The Arts of Liberty in a Time of Uncertainty.” Journal of General Education, 65, 2 (2017), v-vi. Even if, as Hannah Arendt suggests, “we are always educating for a world that…

Christopher LongMarch 19, 2017

Education Politics The Liberal Arts The Long Road

“…No Arts; No Letters; No Society…”

In early November last year, I returned to the Leviathan. In it, Thomas Hobbes grapples with the question of sovereignty and considers the human condition in a state of nature in which there is: …no…

Christopher LongMarch 17, 2017

Charting a Path to Intellectual Leadership, then Following It

As a junior faculty member, I attended every possible workshop on tenure and promotion I could find. Inevitably, however, as the shared wisdom of those who had successfully been tenured and promoted washed over me,…

Christopher LongMarch 14, 2017

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts

Reiner Schürmann: Care of Death

“Care of Death: On the Teaching of Reiner Schürmann.” Philosophy Today, January 31, 2017. doi:10.5840/philtoday201713141. A homage in the guise of an essay, this is the story of the last course Reiner Schürmann taught. As…

Christopher LongMarch 11, 2017

Open Letter on the Executive Order on Immigration

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff in the College of Arts & Letters: Many of you have written to express your concern about the executive order signed by the President of the United States on January…

Christopher LongJanuary 30, 2017

LwCH Politics The Long Road

Mature Leadership: On Bending the Arc

Shortly after Barack Obama won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, I wrote a blog post entitled Toward a Mature Politics that began with the Kantian idea that enlightenment requires us to relinquish our self-incurred immaturity. Then,…

Christopher LongJanuary 19, 2017

The Administrative Life The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Between Beginning and Routine

With the new year comes the deluge of resolutions. This ritual of new beginnings affords us an opportunity to begin anew, for, as the ancient proverb reminds us, “well begun is half done.” Aristotle, Politics,…

Christopher LongJanuary 15, 2017

The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Putting the Liberal Arts into Action

Sometimes in our efforts to advocate for the importance of a liberal arts education, we fail to demonstrate what it means to put the arts of liberty into practice. It’s easier to speak about the…

Christopher LongDecember 3, 2016

The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Open Letter to the College of Arts & Letters

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff: We in the College of Arts & Letters seek to advance the core values of Michigan State University — quality, inclusiveness, and connectivity — by practicing inclusion as a matter of institutional habit.…

Christopher LongNovember 12, 2016

Digital Humanities The Administrative Life The Long Road

Critical Diversity in a Digital Age

Last year we developed a strategic plan in the College of Arts & Letters that called for a cluster hire in culturally engaged digital humanities that focuses on humanities questions of race, inclusion, cultural preservation,…

Christopher LongOctober 31, 2016

Presentation: Academic

Bianchi’s the Feminine Symptom – A Response

This is the text of the response I made to Emanuela Bianchi, The Feminine Symptom: Aleatory Matter in the Aristotelian Cosmos, (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014) at the 2016 meeting of the Society for…

Christopher LongOctober 21, 2016

Journal of General Education Publication: Journal Vita

The Liberal Arts Endeavor: On Editing the Journal of General Education

“The Liberal Arts Endeavor: On Editing the Journal of General Education.” Journal of General Education, 65, 1 (2016), v-vii. In accepting the editorship of the Journal of General Education: A Curricular Commons of the Humanities…

Christopher LongOctober 19, 2016

Digital Scholarship Education

Nurturing Fulfilling Scholarly Lives

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, there is a famous passage in which he reminds us that “to be happy takes a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one fine day;…

Christopher LongOctober 14, 2016

Digital Scholarship Presentation: Interactive The Long Road Vita

Bringing Your CV to Life

Traditionally, a curriculum vitae (CV) is an articulation of one’s qualifications and accomplishments in an academic context. The Latin root of the term suggests the extent to which the CV indicates a “course of life.”…

Christopher LongSeptember 30, 2016

Grants, Fellowships, Awards

$1.2M Mellon Grant for Big 10 Academic Alliance Partnership on LCTLs

Michigan State University will use a three-year $1.2 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to lead a multi-university research project to improve the teaching of less commonly taught languages, or LCTLs. Faculty from MSU’s Center for…

Christopher LongSeptember 1, 2016

Dean Education The Administrative Life The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Finding Your Place, Leaving a Mark

Dear College of Arts & Letters Class of 2020, Welcome to Michigan State University! As you begin your journey in the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, let me tell you a…

Christopher LongAugust 31, 2016

Dean Digital Humanities Digital Scholarship The Administrative Life The Long Road

Investing in Humanities Publishing

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the headquarters of the Association of American Universities in Washington, D.C. early last week to take part in a discussion about a…

Christopher LongAugust 8, 2016

Politics The Liberal Arts The Long Road

Responding to Complexity with Nuance and Grace

In the wake of last week’s violence, we have again become caught up in the fraught dichotomy into which public discourse always seems to force us. It is as if somehow the human capacity to…

Christopher LongJuly 14, 2016

MSU Shadows

A year ago today, as I began my tenure as Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, I made reference to a passage by Peter Raible, one that draws from…

Christopher LongJuly 1, 2016

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

5 Things That Facilitate Academic Collaboration

Lists are the current vernacular of the internet. There is even a social media site, li.st, wholly dedicated to the creation and sharing of lists of all sorts. So, as I considered how I might…

Christopher LongJune 27, 2016

Public Philosophy and Philosophical Publics

de Avlillez, André Rosenbaum, Mark Fisher, Kris Klotz, and Christopher P. Long. “Public Philosophy and Philosophical Publics: Performative Publishing and the Cultivation of Community.” The Good Society 24, no. 2 (2015): 118–45. The emergence of…

Christopher LongJune 27, 2016

Presentation: Academic Presentations The Long Road Vita

Going Viral with Your Scholarship

Sharing your work online, especially in its early phases of development, can open new paths of inquiry and establish connections with scholars who can enrich your work.

Christopher LongMay 10, 2016

Dean Education The Administrative Life

Learning to Play in a More Inclusive Key

On three different days in three different meetings, the same note was sounded. It struck a cord that resonated with me as I listened to faculty from three groups talk about their experience in the…

Christopher LongApril 25, 2016

Arts & Letters Scholars

On the surface, it appeared to be a simple question of style: should we spell out “and” or use the ampersand when referring to the College? But form and content are intertwined; no style presents…

Christopher LongMarch 3, 2016

Presentation: Interactive Presentations The Liberal Arts The Long Road Vita

Practicing Inclusion as a Matter of Institutional Habit

Institutions of higher education across the country have long talked about diversity and inclusion. Many have established offices of equity or inclusion and hired staff to ensure that the institution is living up to its…

Christopher LongFebruary 14, 2016

Tweeting the Liberal Arts @Muhlenberg #MCLA16

In his inaugural address as president of the college he founded, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg spoke of the values that animate the institution: "We do not regard an education as complete that aims only at improving the intellect,”…

Christopher LongFebruary 1, 2016

Education The Graduate Experience The Long Road

I am allergic to cynicism.

I have been owning up to this affliction in each of the introductory department meetings I have had with faculty across the College during my first semester as Dean. Of course, the more cynical among…

Christopher LongJanuary 12, 2016

The Long Road Travel

Sanibel Island 2015-16 in Pictures

Christopher LongJanuary 3, 2016

Remembering Reiner Schürmann

“Symbols effect the translation of discourse into a course, a path.” Schürmann, Reiner. “Symbolic Difference.” The Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 19/20, no. 2/1 (1997): 9–38, 33. It was early in the afternoon on November 21st,…

Christopher LongDecember 24, 2015

Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

Engaged Scholarship

This was initially posted on Medium as part of my Writing Along the Way project. Engaged Scholarship To speak of “applied” scholarship is to divorce theory from practice in a way that impoverishes both. This,…

Christopher LongDecember 24, 2015

Education The Long Road

Toward an MSU Arts and Culture Scholar Credential

As a member of the Cultural Engagement Council at MSU, I've been thinking about how we might create a more coherent and integrated arts and cultural experience for students at the university. Drawing on my…

Christopher LongDecember 17, 2015

Articles Book Chapter Vita

On Touch and Life in the De Anima

“On Touch and Life in the De Anima.” In Phenomenology and the Metaphysics of Sight, edited by Antonio Cimino and Pavlos Kontos, (Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher, 2015, 69-94). Although Aristotle is often thought to give…

Christopher LongDecember 15, 2015

Catalytic Opportunities

Continuing my experiment in public writing along the way, this post on Medium outlines the contours of what I've been thinking about as "catalytic opportunities." Catalytic Opportunities I’ve begun thinking about strategic initiatives as catalytic.…

Christopher LongDecember 11, 2015

Presentation: Interactive The Long Road

Habits of Public Writing

This post on Medium initiates an experiment in public writing designed to facilitate transparency and refine my thinking in relation to issues I face in my role as Dean of the College of Arts and…

Christopher LongDecember 6, 2015

Is Reading Writing?

Un-Keynote Address: The Writing in Digital Environments/Eastern Michigan Un-Conference, October 12, 2015.

Christopher LongOctober 12, 2015

Dean The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Paths to Explore

Last week was the first week of the fall semester at Michigan State. It was my first opportunity to welcome new students to campus as Dean of the College of Arts & Letters. In order…

Christopher LongSeptember 7, 2015

Dean Education The Administrative Life The Long Road

A Living Place of Education

The places we inhabit habituate us. The virtues they cultivate are grounded in the values they embody. In 1855, a natural opening in the oak forest of the Burr farm was selected as a fitting…

Christopher LongJuly 28, 2015

Digital Scholarship The Long Road The Public Philosophy Journal

The Edge of the Oak Opening

As I begin my tenure as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University I find myself thinking of these lines adapted from Deuteronomy 6:10-12 by Peter Raible: "We build on…

Christopher LongJuly 1, 2015

Collaborative Philosophy

The fog had receded when Danielle, Anne Marie, and Lisa moved out onto the back porch of the Inn at the Presidio to continue writing. I could hear their heated conversation unfolding below my second…

Christopher LongJune 14, 2015

Digital Dialogue Podcast The Public Philosophy Journal

Digital Dialogue 73: Public Philosophy Journal Writing Workshop 2015

We held the first Public Philosophy Journal Writing Workshop at the Inn at the Presidio this to facilitate the work of five collaborative projects. On episode 73 of the Digital Dialogue, each collaborative writing team joins me…

Christopher LongJune 12, 2015

Digital Dialogue Podcast Socratic and Platonic Politics The Evolving Book

Digital Dialogue 72: Reading Plato

It is probably fair to say that Will Altman and I met one another in my book Socratic and Platonic Political Philosophy. Perhaps it is strange to think of a book as a place in…

Christopher LongJune 10, 2015

Education Living LwCH The Administrative Life The Long Road

Inhabiting a Liminal Space

With the announcement that I would be recommended as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State, Val, the girls, and I entered a liminal space. I have long be drawn to the…

Christopher LongMay 25, 2015

Living Technology The Long Road

Habits of a Quotidian Aesthetics

By committing to take a picture of something beautiful I encountered in my life each day, I sought to see differently, to cultivate what might be called the habits of a quotidian aesthetics.

Christopher LongApril 6, 2015

Education The Liberal Arts The Long Road

A Liberal Arts Response to #Ferguson

The liberal arts have always given us powerful ways to study and understand the world we inhabit. The events in Ferguson call for a liberal arts approach because they are multidimensional. They require us to…

Christopher LongMarch 29, 2015

The Liberal Arts The Long Road The Undergraduate Experience

Returning to an Integrated Gen Ed Approach at Penn State

By the summer of 1954, the students at Penn State had grown impatient. The world had settled into a Cold War, the nuclear arms race threatened total annihilation, and the students felt unprepared to address…

Christopher LongFebruary 20, 2015

The Long Road The Public Philosophy Journal

Tracking Plato’s Dogs

“Who Let the Dogs Out? Tracking the Philosophical Life Among the Wolves and Dogs of Plato’s Republic.” In Plato’s Animals: Gadflies, Snakes, Stingrays, Swans, and Other Philosophical Beasts, edited by Jeremy Bell and Michael Naas,…

Christopher LongFebruary 19, 2015

The Liberal Arts The Long Road

The Liberal Arts and Sciences and the 21st Century Land Grant Mission

At the beginning of the Physics, Aristotle captures something of the essence of the liberal arts and sciences as an endeavor. This path from the surface of things to a deeper understanding of their nature…

Christopher LongFebruary 16, 2015

The @PubPhilJ Paradigm

At Bucknell's Digital Scholarship Conference last fall, Zeynep Tufekci made a compelling case for public academic writing. Her keynote address, Researching Out Loud: Public Scholarship as a Process of Publishing Before and After Publishing, argued…

Christopher LongJanuary 25, 2015