FSU launches Humanities Center to expand interdisciplinary research and collaboration

Florida State University has launched the FSU Humanities Center within the College of Arts and Sciences, establishing an interdisciplinary hub to advance humanities research and expand the field’s visibility across the university and beyond.

Led by its founding director, John Corrigan, the Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor of Religion and Professor of History, the center aims to encourage collaboration and innovation by exploring questions about the historical, intellectual and cultural dimensions of the human experience. It will also help prepare students for careers in fields including law, education, writing, communications and public service.

“The Humanities Center reflects the legacy of FSU’s commitment to the advancement of the humanities,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “I am especially grateful to John Corrigan for his leadership in bringing this center to life and to Provost Jim Clark and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Sam Huckaba for their commitment to making this a reality. We are creating new opportunities for faculty, students, staff and the community to collaborate, pursue important research and further strengthen the humanities at FSU.”

Affiliated units include FSU’s Departments of Classics, English, History, Modern Languages and Linguistics, Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; Art History and Theatre and Performance Research in the College of Fine Arts; and the Musicology program along with Music Theory and Composition in the College of Music. The center will support four FSU faculty fellows, six dissertation fellows pursuing doctoral degrees from FSU humanities departments, 15 undergraduate fellows pursuing honors theses or other humanities research projects, and four postdoctoral fellows serving two-year residencies.

Researchers in the FSU Humanities Center will unite their efforts around a central theme that runs on a two-year cycle. The theme for 2026-2027 is “The Human in the Humanities,” which explores what it means to be human amid the rise of artificial intelligence and the discoveries of neuroscience and genetics, and what ethical behavior and the “good life” look like in this new technological era. The fellows’ collaborative work may result in books, exhibitions, reports, extended articles, websites or other public expressions of their research.

“Establishing this center has long been a goal of our faculty members, and it will showcase the research excellence and scholarly productivity of FSU’s humanities programs.”

— Sam Huckaba, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

“Establishing this center has long been a goal of our faculty members, and it will showcase the research excellence and scholarly productivity of FSU’s humanities programs,” Huckaba said. “I appreciate the efforts of the Humanities Center Task Force in developing this bold proposal and President McCullough and Provost Jim Clark for their support in turning it into reality.”

The new center is also a member of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes, a global forum that supports hundreds of humanities centers and institutes through advocacy, funding opportunities and fostering collaboration. Membership connects FSU faculty and students with a network of humanities scholars and provides opportunities for partnerships and engagement with other humanities centers and institutes around the world.

“The Humanities Center rests on the premise that good things happen when people from different disciplines share their ideas about what it means to be human,” Corrigan said. “Our vision is to create a place where researchers in the humanities at FSU, as well as the public, can engage in interdisciplinary conversation and equally find ways to strengthen their expertise in their areas of study.”

By partnering with university, cultural, social and governmental organizations, the center also aims to expand its work beyond campus. It will host a series of lectures and events open to the public throughout the academic year, culminating in an annual international conference in February that explores the current theme. The conference will feature a keynote address by Blair LM Kelley, the president and director of the National Humanities Center, a nonprofit institute founded in 1978 with the mission of supporting scholars whose work helps expand knowledge and shape our understanding of the world we inhabit.

“It is a great time for the humanities to increase their visibility and emphasize the career paths open for those in this field ­— from roles like journalists, teachers, government and NGO employees, and consultants, to lawyers, business entrepreneurs, public relations professionals and more,” Corrigan said. “At the same time, the humanities will continue to do what they have always done, which is to prompt students to think creatively and critically about who they are, what the human is, and what it means to be a good citizen, friend and person.”

To learn more about the FSU Humanities Center, visit humanities.fsu.edu.