IPrh Becomes the humanities research Institute

IPRH aDvaNCeS TO INSTITuTe STaTuS aS THe HuMaNITIeS ReSeaRCH INSTITuTe

“Humanists are many things. We are teachers, we engage with a variety of audiences, and we are also researchers and scholars in the most imaginative and transformative ways.”

- Antoinette Burton, HRI director

In a milestone moment for the humanities at the university of Illinois, the Illinois Program for research in the humanities (IPrh) has officially advanced to institute status with a new name: the humanities research Institute (hrI). more than a year in the making, the change was made official by the Illinois Board of higher education in June.

hrI’s roots run deep in the college of Liberal arts and sciences, where it was initially established as IPrh in 1997. the physical locations and administrative organization have changed over the decades, from the first office at oregon st. to Pennsylvania ave., and on to the current space at Levis Faculty center (and now the virtual realm of Zoom and home offices during the pandemic). Five directors have shaped the institute’s trajectory over twenty-three years, including a shift to the office of the Vice chancellor for research and Innovation in 2015, placing humanities research among u of I’s campus-level institutes.

With a new name comes a renewed sense of purpose to build upon the world-class accomplishments of Illinois’ faculty and students, to push the boundaries of research in the humanities and to provide a forum for bold ideas not only on the urbana campus, but nationally and internationally as well.

hrI is committed to supporting and helping to develop the humanities research ecosystem, with faculty and graduate fellowships at the heart of all we do. over the life of the institute, hrI has funded more than 300 campus fellowships and more than 40 interdisciplinary research clusters. With the advancement to institute status, hrI has also received increased funding to expand graduate fellowship stipends and to allow for additional staffing and research initiatives.

shortly after the launch of hrI, the humanities Without Walls (hWW) consortium was awarded a grant renewal from the andrew W. mellon Foundation to bolster its vital work in interinstitutional research and career diversity programming.

as Vice chancellor susan martinis stated, “the timing of this wonderful news, so soon after we announced the campuswide humanities research Institute at Illinois, underscores our belief that humanities scholarship is at the very heart of the 21st century public research university.”

Building bridges between communities: over the last twenty-three years, hrI has hosted nearly 400 events, many of which are open to the public. top: Juan Felipe herrera, claudia rankine, Justin copeland and Janice harrington. Bottom: audience at david harvey’s 2012 lecture at Foellinger auditorium.