The Humanities Center is back in business, and so is our newsletter!
Sharon Ryan, PhD, Director, Humanities Center, WVU Libraries.
I was hired to direct the WVU Humanities Center in January, after serving for a total of thirteen years as Chair of the WVU Philosophy Department. Directing the Humanities Center is a dream job for me, and I am incredibly grateful to West Virginia University for trusting me with this important leadership role. We are living in perilous times where humanistic values, scholarship and exploration, artistic expression, and the free and respectful exchange of ideas are so deeply needed. I am determined to bring the humanities community together in support of WVU’s mission to make a positive and enduring impact on our University, the people of West Virginia, and the world.
Humanities scholars take on the toughest questions of life with rigor, integrity, honesty, and courage. How should we live, and what really matters? How should we decide which stories of the past are taught in our schools, displayed in museums and galleries, or worthy of publication? What is the value of science and how should scientific research be funded? What is the common good? Which public goods should be supported by taxes? What do we owe future generations? What makes a good leader? What are the requirements for a thriving and just society? How can healthcare be improved to promote quality of life and healing for both patients and caregivers? How can we promote civil discourse and the pursuit of truth? What is a high-quality education, and who deserves to have one? What is a true friend and how does friendship contribute toward a good life?
Oh, there are so many more tough issues explored in the humanities! But whether it is through careful investigation and analysis or creative expression, our work is vital, and it must be encouraged and supported.
My number one goal for my first year as director is to build a stronger sense of community at WVU, not only among faculty and students in the humanities, but for all whose professional or personal interests overlap with pressing issues we address as human beings. I am determined to move humanistic inquiry to the center of a thriving intellectual culture on our campus.
I am determined to move humanistic inquiry to the center of a thriving intellectual culture on our campus. sharon ryan, phd director, wvu humanities center
We started pursuing this goal in March with a reception to bring our community together to celebrate the faculty funded through our FY25 grants and fellowships program. Approximately 80 faculty, students, staff, administrators, and community members came out to celebrate our colleagues, form new friendships, and reconnect with the Humanities Center. The Milano Reading Room of the Downtown Library was overflowing with joy.
In early April, we announced the recipients of our FY26 awards and fellowships. We received a lot of outstanding proposals, and the competition was fierce.
We are very excited about the projects we are funding, and we look forward to seeing them come to fruition this coming year. One of the collaborative grant projects is a documentary film about the New River Gorge region, led by Professor of Flute Nina Assimakopoulos. You can read more about Nina and her project here.
In late April, the Humanities Center hosted a lively discussion on the concept of place in human life. Discussion leaders Michael Allen, PhD (History Department), Karen Diaz (Dean of Libraries), Chris Haddox, PhD (Design Studies Department), Ariane Nomikos, PhD (Philosophy Department), and María Pérez, PhD (Geography and Geography Department) shared thoughts about how place matters in their work and life, and the audience took it from there. A crowd of 65 faculty, students, staff, and community members came out for this event, and that discussion still continues!
Now, we have just learned that Manal Al Natour, PhD, has been honored with the Armand and Mary Singer Endowed Professorship in the Humanities. Congratulations Dr. Al Natour! You can learn more about Manal and this prestigious professorship here.
The Humanities Center’s ongoing success depends on meaningful contributions from hundreds of people, and I felt that it was important for us to have a powerful advisory board to help guide our future. After consultation with others and patient reflection, I invited five faculty members to serve on the Humanities Center Advisory Board. I am pleased to report that all five accepted my invitation immediately and enthusiastically. The Advisory Board for FY26 is: Erin Brock Carlson, PhD (English Department), Rose Casey, PhD (English Department), Joseph Jones, PhD (Reed School of Media and Communications), Sean Lawrence, PhD (History Department), and Megan Leight, PhD (School of Art and Design). Together, these members of the board bring an impressive breadth of expertise, passion for the humanities, and respect from their colleagues, students, and the University’s leadership.
As I noted above, our success depends on our community working hard together. Please reach out to me and to members of the advisory board with ideas for events, speakers, and collaborations. Please participate in our events and bring a friend. Trust me, you will appreciate meeting other interesting people with novel ideas to share. You will leave our events with something new to contemplate forever.
All of our grants and fellowships are funded by private endowments. We appreciate and need that support. But we are so much more than a grant giving organization. Please be a financial supporter of the Humanities Center to help us provide outstanding programming, build community, and help put humanistic inquiry at the center of a thriving university culture. Small gifts add up, so please don’t wait until you have a large endowment for us. I promise that your gift, small or large, will make an impact! Make your gift to the WVU Foundation’s Humanities Center Support Fund #2W-1365 here.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank Renée Nicholson, our previous director, for her outstanding leadership during some of the most challenging periods in our history. Renée kept the Humanities Center alive and well and she continues to thrive as a writer after her retirement from WVU.
Thank you always for your support and interest in the humanities and the Humanities Center. I hope you enjoy this issue.
Dr. Sharon Ryan
Humanities Center Director
Professor of Philosophy
West Virginia University