For more information please contact the group organizer.

American Studies Writing Group; Chris Vials

The American Studies Writing Group offers an opportunity for faculty across the university to meet and workshop their chapters and articles in progress. Scholars working on any topic involving U.S. history, culture, and politics can meet to read their colleagues work and have their own work read and discussed by others in an interdisciplinary setting that deeps the interdisciplinarity of their work.

Creative Writing Pedagogy; Darcie Dennigan

The Creative Writing Pedagogy Working Group meets monthly to read and discuss selected texts on creative teaching praxis as well as new works of poetry, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Early Modern Studies Working Group; Lyn Tribble

The Early Modern “Working Group” describes a close-knit, interdisciplinary, and ever-growing community of teachers, researchers, students, and members of the public who share a passion for learning about the art, culture, and history of our early modern forebears. The Early Modern period (c. 1450-1800) practically begs us to explore the relevance of their lives to our own, encompassing as it does so many of the crucial historical influences on who we moderns are: the scientific revolution; the artistic and literary glories of the Renaissance; suffocating systems of religious and political absolutism, but also paths to Reformation and religious tolerance; philosophical Enlightenment; crushing class, gender, and racial inequality and the birth of movements intent on eradicating them; the consolidation of European “nations” and the appearance of bureaucratized central states; the establishment of lasting overseas colonies and global trade routes founded in an age of “Discovery” nourished by an international slave trade and responsible for the erasure of entire, indigenous populations; the flowering of proto-capitalist and proto-globalist economies that both represented and necessitated earth-shattering cultural revolutions. Indeed, in struggling to understand this rich period and its impact on our present-day lives, we grapple not merely with the wonders and achievements of our forebears, but with their oftentimes horrific legacies as well.

Due in part to a diverse faculty with expertise in the entire range of such Early Modern subjects, UConn has been a member of the prestigious Institute Consortium of the Folger Shakespeare Library since 2014. As one of 46 universities worldwide who belong to Consortium, UConn affords its faculty and students invaluable opportunities to work in one of the world’s premier centers of study focused on the early modern world.

Thanks to the generous support of the UConn Humanities Institute (UCHI), we continue to develop our relationship with the Folger and cultivate our on-campus strengths through a robust, annual program of local events for our community members. These include, but are not limited to, the activities of the Early Modern Reading Group, the Works-in-Progress Writing Group, the external guest Speakers Series, and our bi-weekly Folger Transcribathon (paleography training) sessions.

The Engineering Firesides; Monika Arbaciauskaite

The Engineering Firesides working group offers a place for undergraduate and graduate students in engineering to meet and discuss the big impacts of their profession through the use of philosophical texts. Students meet every two weeks to discuss the text and get a chance to explore non-technical ideas while connecting these ideas to their profession and everyday lives. This working group aims to reflect on the ways engineering impacts society and, conversely, how society impacts engineering.

History of Science Reading Group; Debapriya Sarkar, Helen Rozwadowski, and Alexis L. Boylan

The History of Science reading group explores the interfaces between scientific knowledge and its representation and communication, especially to a wider public, from the pre-modern period through the twenty-first century. Inclusion of literature from a wide range of periods provides not only a foundation in the history of science generally, but also in the theoretical and conceptual tools that might generate productive insights and common questions to guide further research. Drawing from works in various disciplines—from science studies to history of technology, from visual culture to literature including speculative fiction—this working group aims to reflect on the changing contours of the relationship between the humanities and the sciences over a broad historical period.

Invited speakers have included Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University; Michael Robinson, University of Hartford; and Lukas Rieppel, Brown University.

#IndigiReads; Cristina Connolly, Sandy Grande, and Amy Safran

The #IndigiReads working group invites UConn community members from across the university to join students, staff and faculty in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative (NAISI) to meet regularly across the spring semester 2023, to read and discuss texts related to food sovereignty, Indigenous knowledge systems, agriculture, and the environment. In acknowledgement that Connecticut is home to several Tribal Nations and the University sits on Indigenous lands, this group will work to increase understanding of the history and current state of these relations. Participants will grow their perspectives and deepen their interdisciplinary understandings with an aim to develop better working relations across academic units and with Native American and Indigenous students/communities.

In 2023 they will be reading and discussing Hi′ilei Hobart’s book, Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment.

Meanings of Democracy Lab; Ruth Braunstein

Meanings of Democracy (MoD) Lab, founded and directed by Associate Professor of Sociology Ruth Braunstein, engages students and partners in collaborative research and discussion about the contested moral and cultural foundations of democratic life in the United States.

Medical Humanities & Health Disparities Research Group; Martha Cutter

The goal of this group is to bring together scholars in different disciplines to consider from multiple viewpoints health disparities, especially racialized ones. We already have exciting work going on here at UConn in both medical humanities and health disparities, so bringing together scholars in disciplines such as English, communication studies, psychology, WGS, HDFS, history, sociology, and anthropology could be productive for our research and lead to new paradigms for thinking about health disparities, especially given the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. They will be announcing new events in Spring 2023.

Political Theory Workshop; Jane Gordon

The UConn Political Theory Workshop meets six times a year to offer a space for political theorists based at and beyond UConn to present and receive feedback on works-in-progress or recently published writing. The Workshop conceives of political theory broadly, with particular interest in forging intellectual conversation with scholars in Africana Studies; Asian/Asian American Studies; History; Human Rights; Latinx, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies; Philosophy; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The Workshop also aims to contribute to the professional development of UConn graduate students specializing in political theory and philosophy by creating opportunities for first- and second-year students to serve as designated commentators for presentations and for advanced graduate students to present and receive feedback on dissertation writing from faculty members and their peers. In recent years, among others, the Workshop has hosted Sonali Chakravarti (Wesleyan University), Xolela Mangcu (George Washington University), Tacuma Peters (Michigan State University), Mab Segrest (Connecticut College), Tendayi Sithole (University of South Africa), and Nicholas Smith (Macquarie University).

In 2022–2023, our speakers will include Dana Miranda (Philosophy, UMass Boston), Erin Pineda (Government, Smith College), Heather Muraviov (Philosophy, UConn), Hari Ramesh (Government, Wesleyan University), Aaron Kamugisha (Africana Studies, Smith College), Roberto Alejandro (Political Science, UMass Amherst), and Noel Cazenave (Sociology/Philosophy, UConn).

News & Events

Visual Studies Workshop; Kathryn Moore

This workshop will bring together scholars whose work explores the significance of visual experience and related artistic creations for the past and contemporary periods. The group will open up dialogues about the future of visual studies, especially in relation to questions about the Eurocentric legacy of the history of art. It particularly aims to explore the significance of multiculturalism and diversity in the study of visual culture and art history.

Workshop on International Security and Economics (WISE); Jeremy Pressman

The Workshop on International Security and Economics (WISE) is a monthly, virtual forum for scholars outside of UConn to present a work in progress and receive constructive feedback. Started in Spring 2023, WISE is situated in the Department of Political Science and welcomes all members of the UConn community interested in international relations and global affairs. Generally, speakers will share a draft paper or chapter one week before the workshop date. For copies of the papers or other information, please contact Prof. Jeremy Pressman.

For more information please contact the group organizer.

American Studies Writing Group; Chris Vials

The American Studies Writing Group offers an opportunity for faculty across the university to meet and workshop their chapters and articles in progress. Scholars working on any topic involving U.S. history, culture, and politics can meet to read their colleagues work and have their own work read and discussed by others in an interdisciplinary setting that deeps the interdisciplinarity of their work.

Creative Writing Pedagogy; V. Penelope Pelizzon

The Creative Writing Pedagogy Working Group meets monthly to read and discuss selected texts on creative teaching praxis.

Early Modern Studies Working Group; Greg Semenza

The Early Modern “Working Group” describes a close-knit, interdisciplinary, and ever-growing community of teachers, researchers, students, and members of the public who share a passion for learning about the art, culture, and history of our early modern forebears. The Early Modern period (c. 1450-1800) practically begs us to explore the relevance of their lives to our own, encompassing as it does so many of the crucial historical influences on who we moderns are: the scientific revolution; the artistic and literary glories of the Renaissance; suffocating systems of religious and political absolutism, but also paths to Reformation and religious tolerance; philosophical Enlightenment; crushing class, gender, and racial inequality and the birth of movements intent on eradicating them; the consolidation of European “nations” and the appearance of bureaucratized central states; the establishment of lasting overseas colonies and global trade routes founded in an age of “Discovery” nourished by an international slave trade and responsible for the erasure of entire, indigenous populations; the flowering of proto-capitalist and proto-globalist economies that both represented and necessitated earth-shattering cultural revolutions. Indeed, in struggling to understand this rich period and its impact on our present-day lives, we grapple not merely with the wonders and achievements of our forebears, but with their oftentimes horrific legacies as well.

Due in part to a diverse faculty with expertise in the entire range of such Early Modern subjects, UConn has been a member of the prestigious Institute Consortium of the Folger Shakespeare Library since 2014. As one of 46 universities worldwide who belong to Consortium, UConn affords its faculty and students invaluable opportunities to work in one of the world’s premier centers of study focused on the early modern world.

Thanks to the generous support of the UConn Humanities Institute (UCHI), we continue to develop our relationship with the Folger and cultivate our on-campus strengths through a robust, annual program of local events for our community members. These include, but are not limited to, the activities of the Early Modern Reading Group, the Works-in-Progress Writing Group, the external guest Speakers Series, and our bi-weekly Folger Transcribathon (paleography training) sessions.

The Engineering Firesides; Monika Arbaciauskaite

The Engineering Firesides working group offers a place for undergraduate and graduate students in engineering to meet and discuss the big impacts of their profession through the use of philosophical texts. Students meet every two weeks to discuss the text and get a chance to explore non-technical ideas while connecting these ideas to their profession and everyday lives. This working group aims to reflect on the ways engineering impacts society and, conversely, how society impacts engineering.

History of Science Reading Group; Debapriya Sarkar, Helen Rozwadowski, and Alexis L. Boylan

The History of Science reading group explores the interfaces between scientific knowledge and its representation and communication, especially to a wider public, from the pre-modern period through the twenty-first century. Inclusion of literature from a wide range of periods provides not only a foundation in the history of science generally, but also in the theoretical and conceptual tools that might generate productive insights and common questions to guide further research. Drawing from works in various disciplines—from science studies to history of technology, from visual culture to literature including speculative fiction—this working group aims to reflect on the changing contours of the relationship between the humanities and the sciences over a broad historical period.

Invited speakers have included Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University; Michael Robinson, University of Hartford; and Lukas Rieppel, Brown University. A list of speakers for 2021–22 will be announced soon.

Literary Epistemology Working Group; Yohei Igarashi

This group undertakes collaborative projects about literature, history, and culture, with a focus on epistemological questions and computational methods.

Meanings of Democracy Lab; Ruth Braunstein

Meanings of Democracy (MoD) Lab, founded and directed by Associate Professor of Sociology Ruth Braunstein, engages students and partners in collaborative research and discussion about the contested moral and cultural foundations of democratic life in the United States. In fall 2021, they are running a Meanings of “America” multimedia contest.

Medical Humanities & Health Disparities Research Group; Martha Cutter

The goal of this group is to bring together scholars in different disciplines to consider from multiple viewpoints health disparities, especially racialized ones. We already have exciting work going on here at UConn in both medical humanities and health disparities, so bringing together scholars in disciplines such as English, communication studies, psychology, WGS, HDFS, history, sociology, and anthropology could be productive for our research and lead to new paradigms for thinking about health disparities, especially given the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MegaBiblion Society; Joseph McAlhany

The MegaBiblion Society offers intellectually ambitious undergraduates the opportunity to read and discuss longer works of literature in a relaxed and friendly setting. Every two weeks, students gather for a free lunch and free-flowing conversation about daunting and difficult books, without the pressure of formal requirements—no monitoring of progress, no tangible outcomes, no assessment. Instead, the unstructured and undirected discussions, facilitated by a faculty member but led by no one, students can discover the pleasures of a shared intellectual endeavor outside of the formal framework of a class. In past years, the group has read Tolstoy’s War & Peace, Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment, and Eliot’s Middlemarch. For Fall 2021 they will read Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris and in Spring 2022, the plan is to read a great American classic, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

Learn more about MegaBiblion

Political Theory Workshop; Jane Gordon

The UConn Political Theory Workshop meets six times a year to offer a space for political theorists based at and beyond UConn to present and receive feedback on works-in-progress or recently published writing. The Workshop conceives of political theory broadly, with particular interest in forging intellectual conversation with scholars in Africana Studies; Asian/Asian American Studies; History; Human Rights; Latinx, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies; Philosophy; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The Workshop also aims to contribute to the professional development of UConn graduate students specializing in political theory and philosophy by creating opportunities for first- and second-year students to serve as designated commentators for presentations and for advanced graduate students to present and receive feedback on dissertation writing from faculty members and their peers. In recent years, among others, the Workshop has hosted Sonali Chakravarti (Wesleyan University), Xolela Mangcu (George Washington University), Tacuma Peters (Michigan State University), Mab Segrest (Connecticut College), Tendayi Sithole (University of South Africa), and Nicholas Smith (Macquarie University).

In 2021-2022, our speakers will include Inés Valdez (Ohio State University), Natasha Behl (Arizona State University), Dabney Waring (UConn), Anna Terwiel (Trinity College), Ainsely LeSure (Brown University), and Luis Beltrán Álvarez, (UConn).

News & Events

Visual Studies Workshop; Kathryn Moore

This workshop will bring together scholars whose work explores the significance of visual experience and related artistic creations for the past and contemporary periods. The group will open up dialogues about the future of visual studies, especially in relation to questions about the Eurocentric legacy of the history of art. It particularly aims to explore the significance of multiculturalism and diversity in the study of visual culture and art history.

For more information please contact group organizer.

American Studies Writing Group; Chris Vials

The American Studies Writing Group offers an opportunity for faculty across the university to meet and workshop their chapters and articles in progress. Scholars working on any topic involving U.S. history, culture, and politics can meet to read their colleagues work and have their own work read and discussed by others in an interdisciplinary setting that deeps the interdisciplinarity of their work.

Art & Technology Working Group; Kelly Dennis

This working group brings together colleagues from a wide range of humanistic disciplines to discuss recent scholarship on the intersection of art and technology. The group explores the various ways in which historical and contemporary artistic developments emerged from and/or engaged with technologies, broadly defined—from writing and printing to photography and digital media.

Creative Writing Pedagogy; V. Penelope Pelizzon

The Creative Writing Pedagogy Working Group meets monthly to read and discuss selected texts on creative teaching praxis. In spring 2021, the group will be discussing Matthew Salesses’s Craft in the Real World (Catapult, 2021).

Early Modern Studies Working Group; Greg Semenza

History of Science Reading Group; Debapriya Sarkar

The History of Science reading group explores the interfaces between scientific knowledge and its representation and communication, especially to a wider public, from the pre-modern period through the twenty-first century. Inclusion of literature from a wide range of periods provides not only a foundation in the history of science generally, but also in the theoretical and conceptual tools that might generate productive insights and common questions to guide further research. Drawing from works in various disciplines—from science studies to history of technology, from visual culture to literature including speculative fiction—this working group aims to reflect on the changing contours of the relationship between the humanities and the sciences over a broad historical period.

Invited speakers have included Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University; Michael Robinson, University of Hartford; and Lukas Rieppel, Brown University. A list of speakers for 2020–21 will be announced soon.

Political Theory Workshop; Jane Gordon

The UConn Political Theory Workshop meets six times a year to offer a space for political theorists based at and beyond UConn to present and receive feedback on works-in-progress or recently published writing. The Workshop conceives of political theory broadly, with particular interest in forging intellectual conversation with scholars in Africana Studies; Asian/Asian American Studies; History; Human Rights; Latinx, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies; Philosophy; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The Workshop also aims to contribute to the professional development of UConn graduate students specializing in political theory and philosophy by creating opportunities for first- and second-year students to serve as designated commentators for presentations and for advanced graduate students to present and receive feedback on dissertation writing from faculty members and their peers. In recent years, among others, the Workshop has hosted Sonali Chakravarti (Wesleyan University), Xolela Mangcu (George Washington University), Tacuma Peters (Michigan State University), Mab Segrest (Connecticut College), Tendayi Sithole (University of South Africa), and Nicholas Smith (Macquarie University)

In 2020-2021, our speakers will include Elva Orozco Mendoza (Texas Christian University), Nina Hagel (Wesleyan University), Gregory Doukas (PhD Candidate in Political Science, UCONN), Natasha Behl (Arizona State University), Richard Dagger (University of Richmond), and Brooks Kirchgassner (PhD Candidate in Political Science, UCONN).

News & Events

Subversiones Filosóficas, Rosa Helena Chinchilla, Damian Deamici, Reynaldo Lastre, Luis Beltrán-Alvárez, and Guillermo Irizarry

This reading and discussion group explores contemporary trends and ideas in philosophy, political theory, literary theory and psychoanalysis emanating from the Global South that examine through innovative critical lenses the topics of race, indigeneity, environmentalism, Human Rights, colonialism, subjectivity, and more. Through these readings, the group aims to survey and analyze the present global tensions that exist in the United States around the issues of immigration (particularly from Latin America), globalization, imperialism and race relations.

Visual Studies Workshop; Kathryn Moore

This workshop will bring together scholars whose work explores the significance of visual experience and related artistic creations for the past and contemporary periods. The group will open up dialogues about the future of visual studies, especially in relation to questions about the Eurocentric legacy of the history of art. It particularly aims to explore the significance of multiculturalism and diversity in the study of visual culture and art history.

For more information please contact group organizer.

American Studies Writing Group; Chris Vials
Art & Technology Working Group; Kelly Dennis
Early Modern Studies Working Group; Greg Semenza
History of Science Reading Group; Debapriya Sarkar
MegaBiblion Society; Joseph McAlhany
Political Theory Workshop; Fred Lee