Public Humanities Collaborative

The Public Humanities Collaborative at the University of Massachusetts Boston is an interdisciplinary initiative that emphasizes and advances the centrality of the humanities in public life. The Public Humanities Collaborative brings together the efforts of three academic departments that offer advanced degrees in the humanities, History, English, and American Studies; the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture; the Center for the Study of Humanities, Culture, and Society; the Healey Library Archives and Special Collections; and the Office of Community Partnerships. Together, we strive to imagine, develop, and enact:

1. 1. public humanities programming that raises the profile of the humanities at UMass Boston and in the city of Boston;
2. public humanities discussions that engage a diverse public both on and off campus, bringing together multiple audiences to advance collaborative humanities efforts;
3. public humanities curricula that teach UMass Boston students the methodologies, theories, and skills required by humanities work that focuses on public needs and audiences;
4. public humanities research projects that explore and analyze the role the humanities play in public life;
5. public humanities partnerships with area institutions, including libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, non-profits, and schools;
6. public humanities community projects that engage neighborhood audiences in arts and humanities inquiry, creativity, and discovery.