The Skidmore Classics and Economics departments will be moving this August to Filene. They will be joining Art History, some of the Theater department, Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) and Arts Administration. Currently the Classics department is located on the second floor of Ladd Hall and the Economics department is spread out between two floors of Harder and Filene.
"We are moving so we can get to a space in which the entire department can be in one location,” said Peter von Allmen, Professor and Chair of the Economics department. Von Allmen talked about how this is going to be the biggest benefit of their move.
The Classics department is moving for a different reason. The first of these reasons is “We have outgrown our [current] space,” said Professor and Chair of the Classics department, Michale Arnush. The Classics department is also moving since “the 2nd floor of Filene is a beautiful arrangement, and our move will allow the new faculty in Philosophy and Religion, arriving this fall, to join their colleagues in one place,” said Arnush.
Von Allmen echoed what Arnush said in regards to the beauty of Filene. “We are very much looking forward to moving into the space in Filene, which is beautiful,” said von Allmen.
The move of the Classics department will not only impact the professors but will benefit the students as well. “Our students and tutors will have more space in which to work and socialize,” said Arnush. Currently the Classics departmental lounge is too small to accommodate all the students who want to be there as we “often get more students who want to be in our office than we have chairs and surfaces for them to work,” said Arnush.
The move of the Classics department will allow for more space for other departments, but when asked if the move of the Economics department out of Harder has to do with the construction of the new Center for Integrated Science Von Allmen said, “I believe that Harder will ultimately be in the footprint of the new science building. Our departure is probably motivated in part by that.” This is not the main reason they are moving, as they are importantly moving to get a space where the department can all be together.
Professor of History and Director of the John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative, Jordana Dym said, “we are looking forward to connecting with our academic colleagues in Economics and Classics.” She also said“there will be more students on the floor and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in the humanities and social sciences.”
“We’re excited about the opportunity to move, and we know that our students are as well,” said Arnush. He also talked about how the Classics department is excited for their ongoing collaboration with the departments and programs, including MDOCS, which are currently located in Filene.