Yakima Times

Longtime Central Washington University history professor Dr. Jason  Knirck has been named Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities  (CAH). Over his 19-year career at

CWU, Knirck has been a department  chair, graduate studies advisor, and a union officer. Most recently, he  received the University Board of Trustees Distinguished Faculty Award

for 2022.

Knirck, who will begin his new role September 16, has taught a wide  variety of courses on Irish and British history, as well as other  classes on western European history more

broadly. His research focuses  on the Irish revolution of the 1910s and 1920s, analyzing the  intersections of Irish political culture with topics such as gender,  empire, democracy,

and post-colonial state-building. 

In addition to his academic prowess, Knirck also has helped negotiate  and write collective bargaining agreements for CAH faculty in 2013 and  2017. His service to CWU has

focused on topics of gender equity,  curricular and personnel diversity, academic rigor, marketing, and  effective scheduling.

CWU Provost Michelle DenBeste believes Knirck’s experience as an educator and scholar will help him succeed in his new role.

“Dr. Knirck comes to this position with a deep pool of experience in  CAH,” DenBeste said. “He is a wonderful classroom professor, he has  served as department chair, and he has

shown a commitment to community  outreach. I look forward to working with him in the year ahead.”

Knirck said he is honored and excited to take on this new career  challenge, and he plans to continue looking for new ways to foster a  diversity of thought within CAH. The college

houses the departments of  Art + Design, Communication, English, Music, History, World Languages  and Cultures, Theatre Arts, and Philosophy and Religious Studies.

“I am very much looking forward to serving as the interim dean of  CAH,” he said. “The college has always struck me as a wonderful blend of  departments and programs that are

diverse in terms of their goals,  methodologies, practices, and curriculum. Exposure to such  methodological heterogeneity across the arts and humanities serves CAH  students

well and can be a critical foundation of the education of all  CWU students.”

Knirck lives in Ellensburg with his wife, Mari, who works in the CWU  Department of Biological Sciences, and their 9-year-old daughter,  Jillian. His latest book, Democracy and

Dissent in the Irish Free State:  Opposition, Decolonization, and Majority Rights, studies the  often-difficult creation of pluralism and a multi-party state in the  Irish Free State. It is

scheduled for release later this year.

Original source can be found here.