About Us
The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz is a hub for bold projects in the humanities.
Our public programs and research projects challenge people to rethink viewpoints, broaden their perspectives, and see things in new ways. We incubate innovative ideas and help scholars transform those ideas into groundbreaking work to understand the most pressing issues of our time and envision better possible futures. We empower students with hands-on research and training opportunities that prepare them for success within the university and beyond it. And through a rich tradition of public scholarship, we connect the university and the world, creating research and learning communities rooted in collaboration, critical engagement, and deeper understanding.
The three pillars of our work – Research Excellence, Student Success, and Public Engagement – are intertwined and mutually reinforcing.
For 25 years, The Humanities Institute has been fostering new frames of reference to expand our thinking, spark big ideas, and work across boundaries. Join us. Change the frame.
We incubate innovative Humanities scholarship
We develop ideas and foster innovation by funding projects, centers, and research clusters that enable faculty and students to work on some of the biggest problems of our day. Our institute directly funds the work of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates across campus through a range of fellowship opportunities. These awards provide much needed time and resources for faculty and students to pursue their groundbreaking Humanities research.
Examples
Research Fellowships
Final Passages Slave Trade Database
Race, Empire, and the Environments of Biomedicine
Speculatively Scientific Fictions of the Future
Transnational China Research Hub
Okinawa Memories Initiative
Watsonville is in the Heart
Nido De Lenguas
We prepare the next generation of leaders in the Humanities and beyond
We support graduate and undergraduate student success by cultivating critical thinkers and preparing students to grapple with a complex world. We address social inequalities by offering additional resources to students who have been underrepresented in higher education. Our innovative Public Fellows program offers Humanities students hands-on training and professional development that sets them up to pursue meaningful and impactful careers.
Examples
Research Fellowships
Public Fellows Program
Graduate Student Success Program
PhD+ Workshops
Mellon Expanding Humanities Impact and Publics Project
Deep Read
Okinawa Memories Initiative
Watsonville is in the Heart
Nido De Lenguas
To learn more, see our Student Success Impact Reports.
We promote the Humanities to address the world’s most pressing issues
We champion the role and value of the Humanities in contemporary life. As part of our long commitment to public scholarship, we connect anyone interested in compelling humanities ideas with vibrant intellectual exchanges on our campus and we elevate humanities expertise beyond the university. Our institute supports public Humanities and community-engaged research projects to advance public-facing scholarly activity and humanities work that helps build a more just and equitable society.
Examples
Deep Read
Annual Theme
Public Fellows Program
Faculty Public Humanities, Digital, and Community-Engaged Research Fellowships
Signature Events
Mellon Expanding Humanities Impact and Publics Project
To learn more, visit our Public Programs page.