Center for the Humanities names 2021-22 Faculty Fellows
Congratulations to the 2021-22 Faculty Fellows cohort! Eight fellows will work in residence at the Center for the Humanities in either the fall 2021 or spring 2022 semester.
Nominations sought for WashU International Humanities Prize
Who will be the recipient of the 2022 Washington University International Humanities Prize? Thanks to a new selection process coordinated by the Center for the Humanities, the answer is in the hands of faculty in WashU’s humanities and humanistic social sciences units. Nominations due March 15, 2021.
On legacies of violence, genocide, and implicated subjects: Arts and museums as influence and response
Two recent events at Washington University spotlighted the role of public museums and memorials in initiating and giving context to conversations about remembrance, reconciliation and prevention of violence. PhD candidate Deniz Gundogan Ibrisim reports on the broad themes of the events, including the experience of museum-going and what it means to be an “implicated” subject.
Making sense of the racial divergence of AIDS and COVID-19
The number of COVID-19 diagnoses grows day by day, but the unequal rate of infection among Black and Latinx people and white people remains constant. Looking back at the AIDS epidemic, René Esparza, assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality studies, finds a striking similarity in the U.S.’s historical treatment of viruses that disproportionally affect minority communities.
The human fingerprint maps our identity, the ties that bind us, the lingering traces we leave on this earth. As humanists, we explore the durability as well as the fragility of the human condition — opening windows onto worlds near to home and oceans away, worlds we interpret through stories and images, poems and performance, history and narratives, sounds and silence. At Washington University in St. Louis, the Center for the Humanities facilitates the labor of humanists by nurturing innovative research, transformative pedagogy, and vibrant community engagement locally and globally.
The chairs and directors of Humanities departments and programs at Washington University in St. Louis have prepared this statement. In times of severe challenges, we feel that it is crucial that we avail ourselves of the invaluable resources that humanities scholarship and education offer.
HUMANITIES BROADCAST - 34th Annual Washington University Danforth Campus Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
View Event
18January
Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
HUMANITIES BROADCAST - 34th Annual Washington University Danforth Campus Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
Virtual | 7:30 PM
Peniel E. Joseph, author of The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., will be interviewed by Lerone A. Martin. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Political Values and Ethics at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and professor of history and the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin. Martin is associate professor, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics; director, American Culture Studies program at Washington University.
About the book
This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King upends longstanding preconceptions to transform our understanding of the 20th century’s most iconic African American leaders.
To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals: self-defense vs. nonviolence, black power vs. civil rights, the sword vs. the shield. The struggle for black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement’s militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives. This is a strikingly revisionist biography, not only of Malcolm and Martin, but also of the movement and era they came to define.
2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture - Dorothy Roberts is the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
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18January
King’s Message on Race, Science and Justice
2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture - Dorothy Roberts is the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Virtual | 4:00 PM
Dorothy Roberts will present the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture.The Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Lecture is a remembrance of the life and legacy of the civil rights leader and his dream of acceptance and equality for all. The lecture recognizes national and local leaders who continue to advance King’s message through the pursuit of social justice and promotion of health equity.
Virtual book club selection: ‘Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage’ by Alfred Lansing
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20January
Book Club: Endurance
Virtual book club selection: ‘Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage’ by Alfred Lansing
Virtual - RSVP | 3:00 PM
In 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton sailed via the ship called Endurance to Antarctica. Just short of its destination, the ship became trapped in ice. This is the story of how Shackleton and his crew were forced to travel the 850 miles to the closest outpost of civilization.
Book Club will begin with a short presentation from the Newman Exploration Center, followed by a discussion of the book.
Time devoted exclusively to research and writing is integral to academic productivity. Faculty fellowships provide the opportunity to make significant strides.
Apply for funding for humanities research, fellowships, reading groups and more
The humanities center facilitates the labor of humanists by nurturing innovative research, transformative pedagogy, and vibrant community engagement locally and globally.