About the Institute

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN INSTITUTE FOR THE HUMANITIES

Research into the human condition—how we live in the world and how we live with each other—is vital to the cultivation of a just and equitable society. At the Institute for the Humanities, we facilitate work that examines humanities traditions broadly across space and time, deepens synergies among the humanities, the arts, and disciplines across the university, and brings the voices of the humanities to public life.

Each year we provide fellowships for Michigan faculty, graduate students, and visiting scholars who work on scholarly and artistic projects. We also offer a wide array of public and scholarly events, including public lectures, workshops, discussions and art exhibitions.

Since 1987, when Arthur Miller read from his memoir Timebends at our inauguration, the Institute has granted fellowships to over 500 Michigan faculty, Michigan graduate students, and visiting faculty and artist.

The Institute for the Humanities: • Encourages fellows to talk and debate, informally and formally—all in an effort to reach beyond the assumptions of a given discipline • Promotes innovative teaching in the humanities, encouraging fellows to add perspectives from other disciplines to the courses they teach • Brings nationally known scholars, artists, and performers to Michigan to participate in programs, conferences, and fellowships • Offers programs reaching out to university and public audiences. Brings together those who create—artists, musicians, actors, writers—with those who analyze these art forms

The Institute for the Humanities acknowledges that the University of Michigan, named for Michigami, the world’s largest freshwater system, sits on land stewarded by Niswi Ishkodewan Anishinaabeg—the Three Fires People, who are the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi—along with their neighbors the Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, and Wyandot nations.