Jason Coy Named Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences

On Friday, March 7, 2025, College of Charleston Executive Vice President and Provost Suzanne Austin sent the following message to the campus community:

Dear Campus Community,

I am writing to update you on the leadership of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

When Gibbs Knotts resigned this position in Spring 2024, I named Jason Coy interim dean. Following a national search, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Coy as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dean Coy is a longtime faculty member of the College who was first appointed as assistant professor of history in 2003. He was promoted to professor in 2016 and served as chair of the Department of History from July 2020 to June 2024. As chair, he led the department as it created new departmental tenure and promotion standards, established new student experiential learning grants, hosted two regional conferences and relaunched its website and social media outlets.

He also previously served as a faculty administrative fellow for Academic Affairs and graduate director of the Master of Arts in History Program. 

Coy earned a doctorate in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.A. and B.A. (Honors College) in history from The Ohio State University.

As interim dean, he led efforts to develop new research and professional development grants for faculty and experiential learning grants for students. He provided support for facility upgrades for the Center for Social Science Research and enhanced support for HSS’s Civility Initiative. He helped launch a new interdisciplinary program in “Philosophy, Politics, and Economics” in conjunction with the School of Business. He helped launch the College’s new Metamajor initiative and coordinated a cluster of exciting Innovation in the Liberal Arts projects that seek to reimagine liberal arts teaching and scholarship for the 21st century. He also chaired HSS’s Generative Artificial Intelligence Working Group.  

Please join me in congratulating Jason on his appointment as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Suzanne Austin
Executive Vice President and Provost
Division of Academic Affairs
College of Charleston