LETTER
from the director
dear friends of the humanities institute, I write to you from a time of pandemic and protest in which the humanities prove ever more urgent. Confined in our homes, we turn to literature and the arts to engage our minds and souls; confronting escalating violence, we learn from history and cultural studies about the legacies of past racist ideologies and the ways they shape our present. At the University of Michigan, we are confronting the inequities and injustices that persist in our own practices, and we plan for the Institute for the Humanities to be an active and committed partner in this endeavor as we use our programming to amplify antiracist voices, to promote a global perspective on antiracism, and to create an inclusive and safe environment where everyone can fully participate. We have already begun this work, as you’ll see in this report, and I look forward to reporting on our further efforts as we move forward.
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