UIC Institute for the Humanities

Adopted 26 September 2019

Governance and Membership

Director. The Director of the Institute will hold a faculty appointment of tenured rank in one of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences humanities departments (Classics, English, French, German, History, Philosophy, Slavics, Spanish). The Director will serve for a  term agreed upon with the College, subject to review.  A vacancy in the office of Director will be filled through a search conducted in accordance with Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action guidelines, the search committee to be appointed by the Dean of LAS.

Assistant Director. The Assistant Director of the Institute will hold a civil service appointment. A vacancy in the office of the Assistant Director will be filled through a search conducted in accordance with Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action guidelines, the search committee to be appointed by the Dean of LAS.

Executive Committee.  Up to eight faculty members of tenured rank will serve as the Institute’s Executive Committee, a majority of these to be chosen from humanities departments. The Executive Committee will screen and evaluate applicants for Faculty Fellowships in the Institute and advise the Director on policy issues. Members of the Executive Committee will serve staggered three-year terms, with a lapse of a year before possible reappointment. Appointments to the Executive Committee will be made by the Director of the Institute in consultation with the Dean of LAS. The Director will serve as chair of the Executive Committee.

Faculty Fellows. Research fellows will be selected annually from the ranks of tenured or tenure-ladder campus faculty, holding full-time appointments at the rank of Assistant Professor or above. Fellows will be recommended by the Director and the Executive Committee. Recommendations will be determined through open competition on the basis of research proposals submitted in response to a campus-wide call for proposals. Each Fellow will receive full released time from normal instructional responsibilities for a period of one full academic year.

Visiting Scholars. The Institute will welcome and provide space (as available) for visiting scholars, who will be invited to participate in all Institute programs. Such requests will be by informal application, subject to approval by the Director and the Executive Committee.

The UIC Institute for the Humanities celebrates its 40th year of operation in 2022-2023. Founded in 1982-1983, the Institute is one of the oldest humanities centers in the United States. Over the years the Institute has become the major hub for all humanities activities on campus, creating an intellectual space in which faculty and graduate students can broaden their perspectives, conduct original research, and engage with scholars and communities both in and outside the university.

The Institute’s first nine fellows met for seminars in spring 1983 under then Acting Director, Robert Remini. With the support of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the UIC Chancellor, the Institute secured a start-up grant from the Exxon Education Foundation that provided remodeling funds to transform the lower level of Stevenson Hall into the original Institute for the Humanities space.  Under the the leadership of Mark Canuel, the Institute moved to a newly renovated space in 2022 in the Behavioral Sciences Building.

Under the visionary leadership of Robert Remini (1983-87), Gene Ruoff (1987-1997), Mary Beth Rose (1997-2010), Susan Levine (2011-2017) , and Mark Canuel (2017-2023), Institute programs have expanded dramatically. The faculty fellowship program has supported research resulting in major books and articles in the humanities. Faculty Fellows each present a public lecture and participate in regular fellows seminars. In 2011 the Institute, for the first time, offered two dissertation fellowships for advanced graduate students. Currently, the Institute support Graduate Resident Scholars, who receive support for scholarly projects.

The Institute has also supported a wide range of public programs and conferences including “Beyond Binary: Genders in the Past, Present, and Future” (2021), “Political Futures” (2018), Neoliberalism and its Discontents” (2010), and “The Humanities and the Family,” (2009). In 2000 the Institute initiated a visiting scholar program bringing to campus each year a scholar whose work has transformed the disciplines. Past scholars include TJ Clark, Natalie Zemon Davis, Michael Fried, Carlo Ginzberg, Gerald Horne, Mary Louise Pratt, and Gayatri Spivak.

Directors encouraged the formation of faculty Working Groups to foster discussion across disciplines and across colleges at UIC. The first working group at the Institute, the Forum for Research on Law, Politics, and the Humanities, began in 2006 and was co-directed by Mark Canuel and Stephen G. Engelmann. The Institute has continued to grow its roster of groups on subjects ranging from theater and performance to Queer Theory and South Asian Studies.  In 2019, the Institute built upon the Digital Humanities Working Group to develop a Digital Humanities Initiative.  With grant support from the University of Illinois and under the creative leadership of Hannah Huber, Carla Barger, and Alexis Guilbault, the initiative focuses on providing humanists training and support in developing digital tools and platforms for their projects.

The Institute has also supported a wide range of public programs and conferences including “Neoliberalism and its Discontents” (2010), “The Humanities and the Family,” (2009), “Globalism and Film History: A Conference” (2006), and “The Vulnerable Citizen” (2001). Please view this full list of past conferences and programs. In 2000 the Institute initiated a visiting scholar program bringing to campus each year a scholar whose work has transformed the disciplines. Past scholars include Natalie Zemon Davis, Carlo Ginzberg, Michael Fried, Mary Louise Pratt, Manthia Diawara, Cathy Davidson, Houston Baker, and Adolph Reed. A full list of visiting scholars is linked. In 2005 the Institute, along with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, endowed a biennial Lecture in honor of past Dean, Stanley Fish. Past Fish lecturers have been Frederick Jameson, Stephen Greenblatt, and Judith Butler.