UConn Humanities

The humanities seek to understand the whole human being: our languages, our histories, our art and ideas. The mission of the UConn Humanities Institute (UCHI) is to promote research on these questions, and to act as a voice for that research on the regional, national and international stage. In hosting annual residential fellowships, offering opportunities for humanities-focused programming, and fostering an interdisciplinary space for scholars to think, collaborate, and create, the Institute serves as a global hub for scholars dedicated to humanist scholarship and activism. UCHI seeks to inspire and support scholars at all levels and across disciplines to take on the critical and public task of humanistic inquiry.

Fellows Talk: Andrea Celli on the Egyptian Slave Hagar in Early-Modern Visual Arts

February 11, 2020

From late antiquity to the early-modern period, the Biblical character of Hagar, the Egyptian servant of Sarah and the mother…

[Read More]

Fellows Talk: Alex Anievas on the Birth of the US Liberal Order

January 28, 2020

This paper examines the racialized foundations of American anticommunism, tracing the complex ways it became a key pillar of the US liberal order-building project.

[Read More]

UCHI: A Year in Review

January 17, 2020

Thanks to the generous support of the University of Connecticut and our own grants, we have had quite a productive year so far. We have been able to fund…

[Read More]

Upcoming Events

Feb 26 Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Andrea Celli4:00pm

Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Andrea Celli

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Humanities Institute Seminar Room, Babbidge Library 4th Floor

Our UCHI Fellow will be presenting their research talk on “Hagar the Outcast: Reappraisals of a Biblical Theme in the Context of Post-Tridentine Culture” followed by a light reception. For more information, please visit https://humanities.uconn.edu/fellowships/current-and-previous-fellows/. If you require accommodation for this event, please contact uchi@uconn.edu at least one week prior to the event.

Contact Information: uchi@uconn.edu
More
Feb 28 Critical Looking: A Gallery Dialogue12:15am

Critical Looking: A Gallery Dialogue

Friday, February 28th, 2020

12:15 AM - 12:45 AM

Storrs Campus
The William Benton Museum of Art

Learn to look with a critical eye
Friday, February 28th
12:15–12:45pm

Tap your powers of observation and
investigate a single work of art through
close looking and discussion with
Amanda Douberley, Assistant Curator/
Academic Liaison.

The focus of this month's subject is a sculpture "Mother and Child" (1945) by.Isabel Case Borgatta (American, 1921-2017), from the museum's collection.

Develop your critical thinking skills by learning to look at objects in detail. This skill is useful in navigating everyday life, your job or studies.

Contact Information: Benton Museum Visitor Services 486-4520
More
Mar 3 Lukas Rieppel: "Assembling the Dinosaur"4:00pm

Lukas Rieppel: "Assembling the Dinosaur"

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Storrs Campus
UCHI

Dinosaur fossils were first found in England, but a series of spectacular discoveries in the American West turned the United States into a world center for vertebrate paleontology during the late nineteenth century. Around the same time, the U.S. also emerged as an economic powerhouse of global proportions, and large, fierce, and spectacular creatures like Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Triceratops became powerful emblems of American capitalism. In this presentation, Lukas Rieppel reveals how these giant extinct reptiles became entwined with commercial culture, philanthropy, and the popular imagination during America’s Long Gilded Age.

Lukas Rieppel is the David and Michelle Ebersman Assistant Professor of History at Brown University. He works at the intersection of the history of science and the history of capitalism, focusing especially on the life sciences in 19th and 20th century America. He is especially interested in evolution and development, as well as geology and paleontology, in addition to the history of museums, the organism, and the corporation.

Contact Information: Helen Rozwadowski, helen.rozwadowski@uconn.edu
More
Mar 10 Jay Rubenstein: "Babylon and the Crusades: Where Did Western Civilization Begin?"4:30pm

Jay Rubenstein: "Babylon and the Crusades: Where Did Western Civilization Begin?"

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

04:30 PM - 06:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Konover Auditorium

This lecture is part of the History Department's annual Fusco Distinguished Lecture Series.

Jay Rubenstein is a Professor of History and the Riggsby Director at the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee.

Professor Rubenstein is an internationally recognized scholar of medieval history and has been awarded several prestigious grants and awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. His research focuses on 12th-century texts that grapple with the meaning of the First Crusade (1095-1099) and its profound consequences for the future of Europe.

Rubenstein's publications include: "Guibert of Nogent, Portrait of a Medieval Mind" (2002), "Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse," (2011), and "The First Crusade: A Brief History with Documents" (2015).

Lecture begins at 4:30 pm, reception to follow.

Contact Information: Frank Costigliola, frank.costigliola@uconn.edu
More
Mar 11 Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Patricia Morgne Cramer4:00pm

Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Patricia Morgne Cramer

Wednesday, March 11th, 2020

04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Humanities Institute Seminar Room, Babbidge Library 4th Floor

Our UCHI Fellow will be presenting their research talk on “What Are the Wild Waves Saying: Virginia Woolf, Bloomsbury, and the Public Schools” followed by a light reception. For more information, please visit https://humanities.uconn.edu/fellowships/current-and-previous-fellows/. If you require accommodation for this event, please contact uchi@uconn.edu at least one week prior to the event.

Contact Information: uchi@uconn.edu
More