Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere

The Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere at the University of Florida has two interrelated purposes:

• to provide an intellectual space and a physical location within the University and College for critical and collaborative discussions of the humanities that reach across and beyond specializations, and
• to provide a place for outreach to the community in which we live and teach.

Building on the work of individual departments, the Center for the  Humanities and the Public Sphere emphasizes collaboration and critical discussion as its basic program models. Toward these ends, the Center has established the following programs:

Term Lecturers

The vitality of the university stems from interaction not only with the students and faculty on campus, but also the nation and the world. Each year nationally and internationally recognized scholars are brought to campus to deliver several lectures and participate in discussions with the faculty and students on major topics of the day. Special emphasis will be given to topics that cross a number of fields and disciplines. The lectures can be presented and archived on the web as well as published.

Research Groups

Traditionally, graduate student education in the humanities has followed the scientific model of specialization without establishing the countervailing support for group collaboration. The Center galvanizes collaborative research in the humanities by providing support for faculty and graduate student research groups (including conferences and symposia) with grants and fellowships. Research Groups will use the funds to support materials for their joint work, to invite other significant faculty from outside the university to participate in the collaboration, and to provide graduate student support for research and participation in these groups.

Center Seminar and Lecture Series

In order to access some of the best and most exciting work taking place within the humanities the Center supports collaborative exchanges between students and faculty by sponsoring an interactive seminar series dedicated to the Center’s themes and by faculty interest.

Outreach

The Center takes seriously its civic responsibilities and must underscore how history, language, imagination, ethics, and a sense of place are foundational to our understanding of ourselves and the world. The Center supports faculty fellowships to develop seminars for K-12 teachers in the humanities. The seminars bring together faculty on campus and in the education system to collaborate on important questions for the humanities that affect their teaching. It also sponsors work with other community and civic groups.

Dr Robert A. Hatch
Interim Director
Center for the Humanities & the Public Sphere
ufhatch@ufl.edu