Nicole Waligora-Davis wants to ‘reach students where they are’ as new associate dean of humanities

By Hongtao Hu     1/28/25 10:44pm

The School of Humanities announced Nicole Waligora-Davis as the new associate dean of humanities Jan. 21. Waligora-Davis will replace Natasha Bowdoin as one of the associate deans, with the other being Fay Yarbrough.  

Waligora-Davis said one of her goals was to increase the prominence of the humanities at Rice.

“We are a premier site for research and innovation, for curricular innovation, for experiential and engaged learning. I see my job is one of heightening and underscoring the visibility of that active work that’s already happening and providing pathways to continue to expand that work and make it ever more accessible to more and more students on our campus,” Waligora-Davis said.

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After coming to Rice in 2008 as a professor of English, Waligora-Davis helped to found the Center for African and African American Studies. She sits on the advisory board for the Center for Civic Leadership and teaches English classes with a focus on 19th and 20th-century African American literature.

According to Dean of Humanities Kathleen Canning, the process of choosing the new associate dean took months to complete.

“The associate dean position is one for which the dean reviews tenured colleagues in the school and assesses the leadership experience of any faculty members who are under consideration,” Canning wrote in an email to the Thresher. “Associate Dean Waligora-Davis has served as associate chair and director of graduate studies in the English department and has also served on university-level dean search committees and advisory committees. She brings exceptionally strong experience to the dean’s office.”

For Landry Wood, an English major who took Waligora-Davis’ Morrison and Faulkner seminar, the quality of her classes displayed her dedication to the topic.

“She’s so passionate about the things that she sets out to do, and just how well prepared [she is],” Wood, a Hanszen College junior, said. “These were once a week, three-hour classes, and pretty much down to the minute she was prepared, and filled the whole time with interesting, pertinent, well thought-out stuff, which is really impressive.”

Waligora-Davis also served as a faculty mentor to assistant professor Margarita Castromán Soto when she joined Rice as a junior faculty member in 2020. During this time, Castromán said that her time under Waligora-Davis’ wing was encouraging.

“She would go out of her way to make sure that I felt seen,” Castromán said. “I was on maternity leave in the spring, and she came over with not just food, but with a present for the baby and a present for my six-year-old, so that my six-year-old wouldn’t feel awkward that the baby was getting all the attention. She’s just someone who really goes the extra mile.”

Castromán said Waligora-Davis’ ability to build connections with others makes her a good fit for the associate dean role. 

“She connects on a personal level with so many people. She does the same with community partnerships, and she’s worked with the Center for Civic Leadership, for example,” Castromán said.  “I think having someone in the Dean’s office that is really good [not only] at bridging the gaps between faculty members and departments, but also with community partners is really ideal because you get deeper and richer resources and opportunities when you’re able to think outside of more mainstream channels.”

Waligora-Davis emphasized the importance of making the humanities accessible to students. 

“I’m only two or three weeks in, and I’m trying to use this time in these early weeks to get a sense of the range of activity that’s already occurring within the school, and how to leverage that activity that’s already occurring into ways that can increase its visibility and accessibility to students,” Waligora-Davis said. “I’m invested in figuring out ways to reach students where they are.”

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