The Dean is chief academic adviser to the approximately 420 undergraduates assigned to JE. Residing within the college, she assists students in all matters concerning their academic programs, applies and enforces the Academic and Undergraduate Regulations that govern student behavior, works in conjunction with the Registrar’s Office and the Yale College Dean’s Office, and supervises freshman advising. As needed, she refers students to resources, offices, or persons that can be of assistance to them, and actively collaborates with these sources of support and counseling. She writes letters of recommendation for fellowships or postgraduate-work or study. She also teaches one course a year, serves on a range of University committees, oversees student housing, and coordinates a variety of college activities. The Dean is also a great resource for a wide range of other matters and advises students on everything from personal crises to post-graduation plans. In cases of incapacitating illness or family emergency, the Dean has the authority to postpone deadlines for academic work or final exams.
Dean Christina Ferando
A specialist in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art, Dean Ferando has written extensively on the sculptor Antonio Canova; her research interests include the history of display and reception, museology, cultural patrimony and canon formation. She has presented her work widely in conferences and invited talks at museums and universities, both throughout the United States and abroad.
Raised in Orange, CT, Dean Ferando earned her Bachelor’s degree from Yale College, cum laude with distinction in the English major; and both her M.A. in Critical and Curatorial Studies in Modern Art, and Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology, with distinction, from Columbia University. She has taught courses in Art History at Columbia University and Williams College. Before assuming her current role, Dean Ferando held a Chester Dale Fellowship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Dean Ferando lives in the Dean’s Suite in Jonathan Edwards with her husband Jason Atkinson, a musician, writer, and educator, and their son, Holden. Jason received his Master’s degree in classical guitar from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has worked in K-12 education as a music teacher for over 15 years.
