On Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, the Center for the Humanities located in Lowry Hall was formally launched at an event in the State Historical Society of Missouri. The Center for the Humanities is a research center for graduate and undergraduate students. 

“The Center for the Humanities is a research center,”  Julie Passanante Elman, director of the Center for the Humanities and associate professor of women’s and gender studies, said. “We support and promote research in the humanities, [and] we foster collaboration across the humanities, arts and sciences at this institution.”

The launch panel was moderated by Sheri-Marie Harrison, associate dean of graduate studies and faculty success. The panel was composed of Robert Newman, president and director of the National Humanities Center; Stephanie Kirk, director of the Washington University in St. Louis Center for the Humanities; and Giselle Anatol, director of the University of Kansas Hall Center for the Humanities and Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. 

The panel discussed topics relating to the humanities, such as the panelists’ experience in the humanities, why the humanities are important, as well as the research they have conducted. There were 170 attendees.

“We need programs that encourage our students to see themselves as researchers, no matter where they come from or whether or not they were taught to view themselves that way,” said Passante Elman. 

Edited by Sophia Anderson | sanderson@themaneater.com 

Copy Edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com 

Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com