The university is a place charged with imagining our collective future. We turn to the humanities to craft the values that will shape that future, and to guide us as we face the challenges ahead.

Anna Mae Duane, Director, UConn Humanities Institute
A large group of faculty members and students gathered in the UCHI conference room to participate in a public event. One group sits around a conference table, while other participants sit in chairs lining the wall.A room full of multi-colored chairs arranged theater-style.A close up of a 3D network of green ropes, connected by nodes of small silver spheres.

How do we know what we know? What does the truth look like? Consider these questions and more at our exhibition

Seeing Truth: Art, Science, Museums, and Making Knowledge

William Benton Museum of Art

January 17–March 10, 2023

Learn more

This exhibition is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Image: Blazing the Trail to the Distant Past by Arthur A. Jansson, used with permission from the American Museum of Natural History.

Support Undergraduate innovation this UConn Gives with a gift to the UConn Humanities Institute.

What does it mean to be human?

UConn Humanities

We turn to the humanities to craft the values that will shape our future, and to guide us as we face the challenges ahead. What will it mean to be human in the face of technological and ecological upheaval? How does art and culture enable us to anticipate trends we want to embrace, and help us to avoid ancient pitfalls?

The mission of the UConn Humanities Institute (UCHI) is to catalyze, facilitate, and promote research on these questions, and advocate for that research on local and global stages. By hosting annual fellowships to support scholarship here at UConn and across the world, by supporting humanities-focused programming, and by facilitating an interdisciplinary space for scholars to think, collaborate, and create, UCHI serves as a creative laboratory for scholars and students dedicated to foregrounding human values.

Humanities Institute Success

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Established, with the support of a grant from CLAS, the Human-Centered AI team, a cross-disciplinary team of over twenty UConn researchers, to advance AI research that integrates critical humanistic and social scientific perspectives.

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Created, with our partners at the Université Internationale de Rabat, multidisciplinary dialogue on AI and its implementation in the US and Africa, supported by a grant of $25,000 by the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI).

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Awarded a two-year grant of $140,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to investigate how legacies of slavery are shaping the perception and reception of conversational artificial intelligence.

Latest News and Events

UCHI Fellow's Talk, 2025-26. "Collective Healings from Wallmapu in Creative Mapuche Spirits," Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta (Phd Candidate, Anthropology, UConn), with a response by Harry van der Hulst. October 22, 3:30pm. Virtual.

Fellow’s Talk: Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta on Creative Mapuche Spirits

October 10, 2025

Based on the work of four renowned Mapuche creators, this talk explores the role of contemporary Mapuche art in healing colonial trauma, analyzing creative experiences that not only rescue memory and traditional knowledge but also generate new forms of political and cultural representation. October 22, 3:30pm. Virtual.

[Read More]
Incubator for Collaborative Grants Series: The Strategic Pitch, A Workshop. October 21, 2025. 2:00PM-3:30PM. UCHI Conference Room, Homer Babbidge Library, 4th Floor.

The Strategic Pitch Workshop

October 6, 2025

The Strategic Pitch Workshop is designed to guide attendees through the process of distilling a project idea into a compelling summary. October 21, 2:00pm.

[Read More]
The Environmental Humanities Initiative presents Common Ground. Join us for a community building event. October 22, 11:00am to 2:00pm, Benton Museum, Upstairs.

Environmental Humanities: Common Ground

October 1, 2025

Connect with others who care about the environment, contribute to an interactive community tree art project, and pick up practical sustainability tips. October 22, 11am. Benton Museum, upstairs.

[Read More]
Sambhaji Bhagat stands at a music stand with a group of other South Asian men. They are all singing.

Manisha Desai says #YouShould...

Watch Sambhaji Bhagat

Drive (2011) movie poster

Stephen Dyson says #YouShould...

Watch Drive (2011)

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Why We Argue features conversations with scholars, artists, and scientists about topics related to truth, science, art, political conviction, and more.

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