Year in Review: 2021–2022

A twentieth-anniversary year in review. 2021–2022. A look back at our year celebrating twenty years of fellowship, scholarship, and innovation.

It has been a celebratory year here at UCHI. The year began with our return to in-person work after our completely virtual 2020–2021 academic year. For the first time since March 2020 fellows could use their offices, share thoughts around the coffee machine, and attend each other’s talks in our conference room. Visitors to the Institute could once again browse the fruits of fellowships past on our bookshelves, peruse past winners of the Sharon Harris Book Award, and attend post-event receptions in our collaborative space. And while that would be more than enough cause for celebration, this year we also commemorated the Institute’s 20th anniversary. Since its founding in 2001 UCHI has served as a hub for all things humanities at UConn. Over the years, we’ve embarked on projects like the Digital Humanities and Media Studies Initiative, invited brilliant speakers like Toni Morrison to campus, and offered time and space for work to over 250 fellows. We are incredibly proud of how the Institute has flourished over these twenty years. Here’s a look back at some of what we did as we celebrated twenty years of UCHI. (Click any image to see it full-size.)

Welcome Reception

The year began with our welcome reception, held outside Homer Babbidge Library. We were fortunate to have good weather as we gathered under the portico, seeing colleagues in person for the first time in a year and half. Director Michael Lynch addressed the gathered crowd, thanking UCHI’s founding director, Richard Brown, as well as administrators, fellows, and staff past and present for their support of the Institute, noting that, “We’ve come a long way in twenty years thanks to the work of so many—from a small suite of rooms in Austin to our expansive home here in the library, the intellectual center of campus.”

A crowd gathered outside the UConn library for the UCHI welcome reception.
UCHI director Michael Lynch stands at a podium giving a speech
The 2021–2022 UCHI fellows stand in a group at the welcome reception.

Humanities Undergraduate Research Symposium

In November, we welcomed a group of talented undergraduate humanities researchers to our conference room for the first student-run humanities research symposium at UConn. Students presented on topics from human rights to Shakespeare to Afrofuturism, attended a workshop about humanities-related careers, and listened to a keynote address by UCHI’s own Alexis Boylan. The student organizers, Madelon Morin-Viall, Aarushi Nohria, and Rylee Thomas deserve all the credit for spearheading what we hope will become an annual tradition.

The three organizers of the Humanities Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madelon Morin-Viall, Aarushi Nohria, and Rylee Thomas stand in front of a white wall.
A group of students sit at a conference table

Events

We hosted both hybrid and Zoom-only events this year, inviting members of the UConn community and beyond to learn about publishing for the public, Black digital humanities, the artist Camille Billops, and more. We also co-sponsored more than a dozen events across campus and funded working groups that explored topics from political theory to the history of science.

UCHI fellows seated in the conference room.
UCHI fellow Sherie Randolph stands at a podium giving a talk
A group of people listen to a man speaking from a podium at a cosponsored event, “ Misinformation: Creating a Misfire for American Gun Policy“

Celebrating Twenty Years of Fellows

Throughout the year, we published interviews with past fellows about their experience at UCHI, their fellowship projects, and what they are working on now.

A quote from former fellow Allison Horrocks, "I spent many hours in a chair against one of the walls or bookcases in the UCHI conference room. I loved learning from the visiting fellows and seeing new and compelling work presented to a group of peers."
A quote from former fellow Kornel Chang: “A quote from former fellow Allison Horrocks, "I spent many hours in a chair against one of the walls or bookcases in the UCHI conference room. I loved learning from the visiting fellows and seeing new and compelling work presented to a group of peers."”
A quote from former fellow Joseph McAlhany: “The opportunity to present nascent ideas to a warm, encouraging, and diverse group of intellects was a true gift—their feedback opened up alternative paths of thought which would otherwise have remained hidden.”

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Manisha Sinha talked history, race, journalism, and the nature of patriotism at our capstone event, attended (in person and online) by over 650 people. Hannah-Jones also met with UConn’s Faculty of Color Working Group, directed by Melina Pappademos.

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Melina Pappademos at a meeting of UConn's Faculty of Color Working Group.
Attendees arrive at the Student Union Theater for the Nikole Hannah-Jones event.
Nikole Hannah-Jones and Manisha Sinha sit facing each other on stage.
Nikole Hannah-Jones and Manisha SInha sit on stage in front of a large audience.