humanities without walls · “collaboration and interdisciplinarity are the watchwords of 21st...

IPRH | Illinois Program for

Research in the Humanities

EXPERIMENTS IN

COLLABORATIVE

RESEARCH AND

GRADUATE TRAINING

HumanitiesWithoutWalls

HWW

Humanities Without Walls | HWW

W. Mellon Foundation, the Humanities Without Walls (HWW)

consortium links 15 research universities in the Midwest and

beyond in a large-scale experiment in collaboration as a dynamic

scholarly practice.

HWW was conceived as a two-track initiative from the start,

emphasizing both collaborative humanities research and graduate

Grand Research Challenges

unique awards. First in conjunction with the Chicago Humanities

Festival and then independently, HWW has also developed a

residential model for pre-doctoral training in career diversity that

will have graduated 149 Fellows by the end of summer 2019, preparing

research and graduate training at an unprecedented scale.

ILLINOIS PROGRAM FOR RESEARCH IN THE HUMANITIES

LEVIS FACULTY CENTER, 400C919 WEST ILLINOIS STREETURBANA, ILLINOIS 61801

LETTER FROM THE PI, ANTOINETTE BURTON

“

“

HWW STAFF

HWW MEMBER INSTITUTIONS

467

1632

34424647

Antoinette Burton“CCoolllaaborratiiiooon aandd iintterddiissccipllinaaarriitty aareee thee wwaattchhwworrrds oof 2211stt cennttuuury hhiggghheerr eeduccaattioon. TThooouughh peerrhhaapss bbeesst kknooowwnn foor thheeir ssiinnggulaarr ccooontrribuuttioonns——tthhe mmonnnoggrapphhh,, tthe jjourrnnall artticllleee—hhummaanniisttss hhhaavee lonnngg bbeeenn cccoollaabboraattoorrss, reeacchhhinngg accrrosss ddiisscciplliinaaarryy boouuunddaarieess ttoo expploorrre qquuesstttiionns tthhaatt caannnnoott bee aansswwwereed thhrrouughh onneee mmeethhoood oor aarrcchhivve orr texxxt.”

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, HUMANITIES WITHOUT WALLS

HUMANITIES

EXPERIMENTS IN COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND GRADUATE TRAINING

HUMANITIES WITHOUT WALLS

5

But what does humanities collaboration look like when it is multi-

institutional as well as interdisciplinary: when scholars from multiple

universities come together to partner not just in discrete research

projects, but in the project of rethinking the direction of humanities

research and education as well?

Humanities without Walls (HWW) has been testing this proposition

the Midwest and beyond, HWW has developed a range of

interdisciplinary research teams through nearly 40 unique awards,

each of which operates on more than one member campus. In

conjunction with the Chicago Humanities Festival, HWW has also

developed a residential model for pre-doctoral training in career

futures in the public and private sectors—higher education included.

Taken together, these initiatives suggest future directions for

partnership and collective thinking about the nature and character of

humanities scholarship at scale.

HWW was conceived as a two-track initiative from the start. HWW

Grand Research Challenges were designed to encourage multi-

institutional cooperation between scholars around major intellectual

and methodological questions that require team-based approaches.

Grand Research Challenge round (2015–2016) focused on

Grand Research Challenge

environmental (i.e., related to climate change) or metaphorical (i.e.,

engaging changing climates of health, urban culture, even writing

itself).

been working with the Chicago Humanities Festival to operate

annual Summer Workshops for doctoral students in the humanities

who are seeking to engage more fully with what it means to pursue

graduate education that will lead to employment either inside or

Chicago, students encounter a variety of organizations which depend

interviews, HWW alums come away with a world of knowledge about

skills they already have as researchers can serve them well in today’s

working world.

can and should be dominate the headlines, HWW has generated

powerful, portable models for how collaboration across sites both

inside and outside of academic institutions might reshape the impact

and the visibility of humanities-based scholarship in the coming

than the sum of its parts. We are continually exploring how our

collective resources can help us strategize new ways of transforming

the institutional cultures we inhabit. In the meantime, we hope you

will be inspired by the sampling of the projects and voices that follow.

Why Grand Research Challenges?In 2019 it is a truism that the predicaments facing humanity in the

21st century—including but not limited to catastrophic climate

rural demographics, food and water scarcity, devastating resource

on culture and society—require innovative responses on a scale that

matches their enormity. Just as urgent but less readily available,

perhaps, are possibilities for bringing a wide array of humanistic

methods and expertise to bear on the enduring social issues that

health and educational inequality to the unevenness of technological

human condition, we need a diversity of authoritative bodies across

the whole of the higher education landscape who can speak beyond

the individual researcher and act beyond the individual institution

to make a case for the indispensability of humanities education for

guaranteeing a holistic approach to the problems we face as a local,

regional, national, and global community.

centers and other university partners formed the Humanities

Without Walls (HWW) consortium in 2014. Based at the University

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, HWW seeks to advance innovative

and experimental research, test new ideas, and share methodological

our myriad partnerships we aim to model how, why, and under what

condition, multi-institutional collaborations are not simply possible,

but may well prove essential to the future of the humanities and to the

direction of higher education more generally in the 21st century.

Since 2014 we have awarded nearly 40 unique research grants to

teams of scholars across the consortium, enabling projects that

are some highlights from the work that HWW has sponsored as part

of its work to help faculty, students and their partners develop multi-

sited, interdisciplinary experiences.

unchanging landscape, and as a site of small towns and homogenous

populations. In contrast to this imagined, iconic Midwest, what

Challenge call is a dynamic region which is a major force in the

innovative array of social, cultural, aesthetic, and even sonic contexts.

Individually and together, faculty and students highlight networks

linking local communities with the wider world, telling a story of

resilience and of enduring friction and struggle with and against

Grand Research Challenge: “The Global Midwest”

to making the lived experiences of individuals and communities

number of HWW research projects have unearthed histories of

communities, tracking phenomena as diverse as heritage speaker

experience, religious diversity, labor and migration conditions, and

the role of diasporic communities in both rural life and the processes

of urbanization. If globalization is typically seen as a coastal

phenomenon and an impersonal, market enterprise, HWW scholars

and their partners are helping to the change the story about how,

can be said to take place here.

Hmongat theCrossroadsAAssssocciattee PPrrrofeessoorrr off Frreennncch SSafffoooi BBabbaannna-Haammmpptton oof MMMichhigaaann SStaattee UUniivverrssittyy hhas wwwrriitttenn,, prrrodduuceddd,, aandd ddiirrecctteddd twwo

miggratiioonn tto aanndd tthrroougghh MMicchhiigggaann annddd MMMinnnesoottaa tthhat ssugggggesst hhoooww ccommppllex aa gglllobbal terrrrainn thhee MMMiidwweestt hhass lonnngg bbeeenn aaanndd wwhhhaatt kkinddd of iimppaacct tthe ttraaannsnnatiiooonnaal mmoovvveemmeentttss oof HHmonnng faamilliiees hhass haaddd onn “llooccaall” hhissttooriiees.

HMONG MEMORY AT THE CROSSROADSGROWING UP HMONG AT THE CROSSROADS

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY



11

Hmong Memory at the Crossroads, was a

Safoi Babana-Hampton in collaboration with scholars from Michigan

State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,

University of Wisconsin, members of the Hmong community in

France and the United States, community partners, and international

collaborators, with the support of the French government.

who revisits his past as a former refugee and son of Hmong veterans

takes him to France, a place where he and his family sought asylum

and stronger communities and to shape Hmong diasporic identities

exploring the intersection of French colonial history and the history

communities in France and the United States. Based on testimonials

of former Hmong refugees in France and the United States, as well

as image and video archives and key interviews with experts and

in Hmong diasporic constructions and performance of identity and

of a sense of place in their adoptive countries (the United States and

France) and in the world.

Growing up Hmong at the Crossroads is similarly

conceived as a transnational and interdisciplinary project, set in

partnership with the the Hmong community in France, the United

including faculty and students from Michigan State University,

Indiana University, the University of Michigan, Musée de l’Histoire

de l’Immigration (France), and Collège d’Etudes Mondiales (France).

explore diasporic expressions of identity in the Hmong community

in France and the United States, but this time from the perspective of

the children of Hmong refugees, born and raised in the United States

and France, to highlight how the younger generation relates to their

documentary.

Since its release in 2015, Hmong Memory at the Crossroads was

nominated for Best Feature Film; the Universe Multicultural Film

Festival Cannes (MFFC), France, in November 2016, where it won

the documentary feature Growing up Hmong at the Crossroads was

also recognized internationally at the Mediterranean Film Festival

hhhaass beeenn ccoonceeivvveed aas aa resseeaarrcch pproocccesss, gaaallleerry eexxhhibbiittioonnn, aandd pppuubbllic ffoorummm, wwithh reeellevaanceee foor ccoouunntriies ooonn thhrreeeee coontinneenntts.

THE EARTH WILL NOT ABIDESENIOR PI, RYAN GRIFFIS

The Earth Will Not Abide



13

research process invites input from farmers, technical

specialists, academics, and public intellectuals and draws on multiple

disciplines to connect global-scale transformations with local experiences

and to pose questions about the ecological and social viability of industrial

agriculture and extractive land use.

and written analysis, but also aesthetic and artistic experimentation via the

gallery exhibitionartworks, spanning video, cartography, painting, and installation, which

comprise an investigation of and aesthetic response to the dramatic

rural economy based on corporate labs, monocultures, and giant machines.

structure wrought by extractive agriculture, takes

up the tools of political ecology to visualize and critique the industrial food

system, while turning hungry eyes toward more desirable futures.

in Chicago in the spring of 2017, and has since traveled to the Southern

public forum invites artists, ecologists, farmers, and activists to

sustainability, and the grassroots aspiration to land sovereignty. Under the

title , the public

forum explores both traditional and emerging alternatives to the industrial

food system.

TThhheeree is ggrooowwinng ppuubbllic rreeccoognnittiiioonn thhaatt thee iissssuuess invvvolvveed wwwitthh thhee gglobball ffoood ssystteemm——froom ppproodduccttioonn ttoo ccoonssuummmppttionn ttooo diisstriibbuutiioon tto wwwastte——ppposse ccoommmplleex eeetthhicaal, socciial, aanndd polliiticccaal cchalllleennggess tthhat rreqqquuiirre cccrriticcal ccooonnssiiderratiiioon. Cliimmmaatte cchhaannggee, exxpppanddedd gggllobbal iintteeerdeepennnddeenccee, aanndd shhiiifftss iin tthhhe uurrbann//rruurall inttteerffaace ffoorr fooodd ssyssttemmms crreatteee vexxingg eethhicaall quuuesttionnss ooff juusttiicce.

THE NEW ETHICS OF FOODSENIOR PI, GRETEL VAN WIERENMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

The New Ethics of Food



15

industrial and food sectors, the Midwest has experienced dramatic

downturns in key industries, which have exacerbated problems

related to food insecurity. In both the urban and the rural Midwest,

vulnerable and underserved populations have endured the most

of water pollution, mostly due to contaminants from agricultural

practices, and ethical perspectives around food and agriculture,

narratives and ethical debates surrounding agriculture and food in

and Chicago, for example, have been leaders in innovating the

food system, from urban gardens to a rapid expansion of food

universities and their legacy of involvement with agriculture and

food-related issues have a built-in capacity to foster the development

of such narratives. Humanities disciplines in particular—with their

emphasis on multi-perspective thinking, deep and expansive ethical

framing, and commitment to the narratives, stories, and imagination

humanities process and bring stakeholders together.

To address these issues, the project has two big

community-based partners in a common commitment to research

and dialogue around a broadened understanding of the new ethics

this century’s global, regional, and local food economy and culture,

and to demonstrate how the public humanities, broadly construed,

project is dedicated

to creating space for scholars and practitioners to share stories of

another’s experience and advancing food ethics work that does justice

to the diverse projects happening on the ground.

Grand Research Challenge: “The Work of the Humanities in a Changing Climate”



17

partners around a broad question that resonates with many

contemporary humanist scholars—namely, what is the work of the

intellectually focused and capacious. In its narrowest interpretation,

it calls for collaborative work on geophysical climate change,

so much about the problem of geophysical climate change we have

yet to understand, in part because as both a historical phenomenon

and an urgent contemporary problem, it has many dimensions

contended, science itself must be understood as a set of practices

and methods shaped by social relations, political conditions, and a

cannot be understood outside these powerful frameworks. HWW

projects around the environment take these contexts seriously by

exploring geophysical change and variation through the prism of

interdisciplinary humanistic methods.

TThhhee cchanngiinnng cclimmaatee inn tthhhee hhuummaanniitiees———inccrreeaassedd useee off tecchhhnoolooggyy aandd mmmuuullttimmoodddaal wwrittiinngg, greeateeer ppaarttiiccippatiioonn oof mmuulllttilliingguuaaal annd mmuulttiiculltturrraal ssttuddeentts iinn UUU..S. uunniiivveerrsiittieess, andd ecoonnommic aannddd poolitiicccaall prreessssuuree onnn hhhuumaanittiieess pproggraaammms——deemmaandds nneww appppproaachees ttoo resseaarrrchh, teaacchhiingg, aannd mmennnttoriing.

CROW, THE CORPUS & REPOSITORY OF WRITING

Crow, the Corpus & Repository of Writing



19

, responds to this changing

Crow is

writing with a repository of the pedagogical texts that guide student

work. Crow combines humanities approaches to archival methods,

qualitative research, and quantitative, data-driven analysis, and

considers the changing environments and technologies of writing

Crow

provides models for sustainable interdisciplinary research and inter-

institutional collaboration by thoughtfully engaging graduate and

undergraduate researchers in creating digital archives which support

new forms of writing research.

Crow’s expansive team of researchers have built a web-based archive

of pedagogical materials and student texts designed to support

writing research and professional development in applied linguistics

which uses this platform, and collaborating with others interested

Crow researchers and

developers improve and extend the Crow digital platform. Finally,

Crow researchers are developing methods for inter-institutional

collaboration and research which meaningfully integrate graduate

and undergraduate researchers in team-building and project

Crow graduate students earn their doctorates and

students as well, creating a larger network of faculty and students

conducting data-driven writing research with each other.

TransmediaCollage:Histories of Violence and Futures of Health on Chicago’s South SideTRANSMEDIA COLLAGE: HISTORIES OF VIOLENCE AND FUTURES OF HEALTH ON CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO



21

explores how a climate of structural violence has

impacted the health and well-being of black and brown teens and the

communities in which they live in Chicago’s South Side. It addresses a

social and economic climate that disadvantages communities of color

and neighborhoods that face persistent poverty and seeks to intervene

in and transform these processes by extending methods of critical

making to young people in selected neighborhoods on the South Side

of Chicago.

Over two years, used both historical and

speculative approaches to represent and transform these

examined the impact of structural violence on the health and wellness

undertook traditional archival and innovative media work. Youth

met with adults from their neighborhoods and used oral history

methods to conduct and record interviews that delved into histories

of Chicago. Based on these interviews, they created visual, textual,

and sonic collages that channeled and re-imagined the pasts of the

South Side.

In the second year, youth used their expanded understanding of the

importantly: How do we want the future of the South Side of Chicago

design, we engaged in digital fabrication and the production of short

challenged an instrumental problem-solution framework. Instead

of claiming to solve problems,

stage, and make problems of the future in order to inhabit the many

complexities of the present.

WWhhillee thhee cooonceeptt oof tthee AAnntthrroppooocceenee ggrreww outt oof eeartth sssyystteemm ssciieenccee,, iit hhaas cccapptuurreedd thhe iimmaggiinnaationn offf maany hhummaanniisstts. BByy pppoorrtrraayyiingg huumaannnss aas a colllllecttivee sspeeciieess,, aa sppattiiioo--ttemmpporraall eenntittyy tthhhat aacttss ass a ggeeoommoorpphhhicc

Annntthroopocceennee plaacee hhummannss iinntoo tthhhee off geoolloogyy.

BEING HUMAN IN THE AGE OF HUMANS: PERSPECTIVES FROM RELIGION AND ETHICS

Being Human in the Age of Humans: Perspectives from Religion and Ethics



23

scientists to engage with humanities frameworks.

religious genres—storylines of decline or ascent; tales of hubris,

forbidden knowledge, theodicy, and eschatology—making the

raises religious and ethical questions about how to understand

humanity’s place within planetary evolution, and how to envision

the future trajectory of human societies. Scholarly debates arise over

dystopian and utopian visions; whether some human groups bear

greater moral responsibility than others for environmental harms

stemming from colonialism, capitalism, and industrialization; and

within the purview of religion, philosophy, theology, and ethics. Yet

disciplines, despite their potential to analyze and correct dominant

1. Counter-narratives of Anthropocene Agency

justice and

for mitigating climate change, such as climate engineering and

solar radiation management, may well perpetuate these disparities.

narratives that are genuinely sensitive to climate injustice and

disparities of wealth and accountability, but also powerful enough

responsibility, personhood, agency, and identity are needed in the

feminism and Indigenous studies.

2. Implicit Religion

propositions about human nature and the planetary future, exhibiting

storylines, foreclosing alternative futures. Scholarship in religion,

theology, and ethics is needed to analyze implicit religious structures

analyses to the attention of relevant scientists and create a more equal

exchange of disciplinary perspectives.

Indigenous and Alternative Cosmologies

breached ignores current knowledge of human evolution, as well

many a radically altered environmental future, tribal communities

or post-apocalyptic present

as a continuation of human-caused environmental degradation

how Indigenous cosmologies and histories narrate the present and

knowledge systems, and unique adaptive strategies, of Indigenous

communities.

humanities nexus by (1) delivering concrete outcomes that address

neglected areas of scholarship and (2) establishing an ongoing

presence of such interdisciplinary humanities research in the

Midwest. By establishing a framework for ongoing collaboration

among scholars of religion, theology, and ethics, we hope to initiate

scholarship and promotes a continued dialogue with the sciences.

MMuusiicc haas ooofftenn beeeen ann immmpporrtaannnt ccattaallyyyst fforr socciaal cchaanngeee. HHoow wwwe commmmmmunnicaaatte anndd fffrrammee eenviirroonnmmenntaalll quueesttiioonnss liikkee nnoiisse pppollluttiioonnn, alltternnaattivve ennerrrgggy, aanddd cclliimaattee chhaangggee mattterss ggrreeatllyy, aaannd mmuusssiiciiannss ccaan pperrfforrm aaann immporrttaannt roole iiinn tthhatt ccculltturraall ffraammiinnng, esspppeciiaally oonn tthe lloccaal lleevell.

FIELD TO MEDIA: APPLIED ECOMUSICOLOGY FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Field to Media: Applied Ecomusicology for a Changing Climate



27

environmental stewardship—and ecomusicology in particular as a

to build synergy between community action, participatory research,

such synergistic scholarly and practical engagement builds bridges

between the academy and community, enriching both.

Few music scholars, however, have applied their research to help

communicate and frame critical environmental questions, despite

the increasingly active role the environmental humanities have

generally taken in ecological problem solving. draws

based applied ethnomusicology, and communication studies to

create synergy between participatory research, community action,

Minnesota, in which researchers not only engage in participatory,

ethnomusicological study of how local musicians educate and

mobilize their audiences to confront environmental problems,

but also critically collaborate with these communities to produce

and disseminate environmentalist music videos that extend the

ecocritical impact of the musicians’ existing labor. Each member of

the

environmentally-threatened sites around the globe (Washington

and senses of place and how local musicians creatively mobilize

audiences will each collaborate with their musician-informants to create a

music video and social media campaign designed to confront a local

promises to generate new theoretical insights into the actual and

potential relationships between music, communities, and place.

Upon completion of the production phase, the team will publish an

video about noise pollution in the Salish Sea and the Earth’s oceans

in Washington State and British Columbia to create a work designed

to raise awareness about the ravages of noise on local wildlife, as well

BC, Canada, and Seattle and the San Juan Islands in Washington

to organize and inform their communities so that they can more

can communicate more freely and thrive.

TThhhee ((BBHHHCC) pproojjjecct emmppphhaasizees hhhummaniittieess exxppeertiisse iiinn ccarree. TThe pprrojjectt creeeateess annn innfraasttrrucctturreee whheree hheaalthhccarrree pprroffeesssiioonaallss, huumaaanniittiess rreseearcchhheerrss, coommmmmunnityy ppaartnneerrrss, aandd aaccttiviistttss cccaan wworkk ttoggethher ttto ssolvveee kkeey pprrooobbleemmss ffaaccinngg thheee U.SS. heeaallthhcarre sssyyystteem.

BUILDING COLLECTIVES IN A CHANGING HEALTHCARE CLIMATE


Building Collectives in a Changing Healthcare Climate



29

unequal quality of care, and rapidly changing technological processes.

In response, healthcare experts have recommended widespread

BHC brings together interdisciplinary research teams focused on

shared decision-making, preventative care, and a focus on health

disparities due to social, economic, and environmental factors.

expertise: rhetorical aptitude; attunement to ethics, access, and

equity; multiliteracies; qualitative methods; critical engagement

with emerging technologies. Humanities scholars urgently need an

infrastructure that connects our work to the health sciences; reduces

research-related redundancies; and supports collaborative idea

generation, sharing, and research design. Yet, an infrastructure that

mobilizes these skills across disciplines and institutions does not yet

exist. BHC will help mitigate current infrastructural constraints for

humanities researchers to participate in work outside of the walls

of the humanities by connecting humanities scholars with health

collaborative scholarship that contributes to improvements in clinical

and public health outcomes.

BHC is led by researchers from Michigan State University and

are interested in participating in or leading action-oriented

health equity research. BHC Fellows participate in at least one

professional development and networking events to facilitate their

work on matched research teams according to shared interests and

to participate in online workshops, and research teams will continue

to work together to develop and share best practices for team building

and research across academy, industry, and community, integrating

these through targeted research venues and clinical training.

to become Fellows will receive leadership training; support for grant

writing and research design; opportunities to conduct cutting edge

research; networking opportunities; and, for clinicians, CME credit.

to sustain communication about healthcare service improvement

among stakeholders including practitioners, researchers, patients,

will equip BHC Fellows to become leaders in action-oriented health

equity research.

stakeholders, creating multiple interdisciplinary teams that will

collaborate to address health services concerns. Some Fellows may

bring existing projects; others will bring their unique perspectives

to create new project possibilities. BHC will match Fellows to create

teams with members poised to do complementary work, and also

serve to develop each Fellow to further their professional goals and

their needs—some will spend more time in project design and grant

writing, while others may immediately move into research and

TThhhee FFresshhwwwaaterr Laabb aatt thhee UUniivverrssittyy ooff IIllllinnooiss-Chicago, whhoosse ppriimmaarrry ggoall iis tto “ccoommmmunnniicaate GGrrreatt LLaakes water iisssueess too thhee ggeeenerral pppuubblicc,,”” iiss ann exxxammpllee ooof aa reesearch prroojecctt tthhat ccrossssess waalllls ffroomm aa seet ooff ssppacce wwwitthhoouut wwalllls—tthhe GGreeaat LLLakkees tthhhemmseelvvees. UUndddeerr thhee dddireecttiion and ggguuiddaancee ooff iits ffoouunnndeerr, PPrrrooffeesssoorr RRaccheelll HHavrrellloockk, tthhe Laabbb noot onnllyy mmoddeelss tthee kinnndd oof oonngggooinngg wwwoorrkk tthhaatt mmuulltti-ssiteeddd teaamss ccaann doo,, itt ddemmonnsstrraatees hhhooww coolllllaabborrattiionn caan

onee puurrrposse too pprroovidde aaa plaatfoorrrmm forr aa vvarriietyyy ooff ussesss annd posssiibilliiittties..

THE GREAT LAKES AND THE GLOBAL MIDWEST

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO

HYDROLOGIES OF THE ANTHROPOCENE: SOCIAL FLOWS AND ENGINEERED WATERSHEDS IN THE GREAT LAKES BASINSENIOR PI, SAMER ALATOUT

The Freshwater Lab



31

Humanities Without Walls experiment: that is, that relationship-

building is key to the development and long-term sustainability of

interdisciplinary work.

the current state and future scenarios of water sources, engage

reach outward to build relationships with water stewards from other

parts of the world.

watershed governed by collaborative relationships and known

for relative political stability. To highlight the strength of these

summit brought

the most prominent humanistic thinkers about water together with

in order to advance the agreement signed at UIC.

Bringing together water leaders from the binational, federal, tribal,

state, county, and city levels with humanists revealed the need

to open public dialogues about water to wider demographics. In

the project members committed to elevating the perspectives of

women and people of color. To date, four cohorts of Freshwater

leaders, and toured many sites where water and people meet. Each

student works individually or in a group on a project that addresses

with professional advisors, and plans for an internship program,

their projects.

,

in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee focuses on the circulation of

commodities, waste, and species through urban rivers and looks at

adaptations are necessary.

greater prosperity and stability throughout the region. With the

aim of promoting greater awareness and political engagement with

new models for government guided by the idea of —

that everyone present in a watershed has a say in the management of

valued resources. In a watershed that holds 20% of the world’s fresh

planning the infrastructure, housing, and businesses of the future.

Our research encourages creative engagement with a freshwater

future, as well as the leadership of younger generations.

Hmong Memory at the Crossroads

Michigan State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin

A History of World Music Recording

University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin-Madison Aggregating Great Lakes Environmental History: Exploring the Value of Distributed Digital Archives for Research and Teaching

University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Humanities Collaborations and Research Practices: Exploring Scholarship in the Global Midwest

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University Bloomington

The Great Lakes and the Global Midwest

University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Michigan, Michigan State University

The Midwaste: Midwestern Wasteways and Global Futures

University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin Perform Midwest: Incubating Collaborative Research

University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, Michigan State University,University of Minnesota

Muslims in the Midwest: An Oral History Project

Michigan State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, Indiana University Bloomington,Purdue University

The Midwest Heritage Language Network

Ohio State University, Michigan State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Nebraska African Immigration and the Production of the Global Futures: Detroit & Berlin

University of Michigan, University of Minnesota There There: A Journal of Global Contemporary Art in the Midwest

Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan The Importance of the Last Generation: Midwest Heritage German Speakers

Penn State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison Open Fields: The Chicago Field Museum’s Anthropology Collection

University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Field

The Religious Soundmap Project of the Global Midwest

Ohio State University, Michigan State University

Growing Up Hmong at the Crossroads

Michigan State University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Michigan

“BlackLivesMatter”: Racial Tension and Police Violence in the Midwest and Beyond

Purdue University, Northwestern University

Grand ResearchChallenge Projects



33

¡Latinoamérica Presente!: Tracing the Hidden Histories of Latina/o Art, Aesthetics, and Expressive Culture in the Global Midwest

University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois at Chicago, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska-Omaha Collaborative Innovation and the Global Midwest: Inter-disciplinary Design and Envisioning Prairie Futures

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, University of Minnesota

The Earth Will Not Abide

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Minnesota, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

A Comparative Study of the Great Lakes and the Jordan Valley: Articulating Water Needs, the Right to Water, and Water Sovereignty in the Quest for Water Justice

University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University Insurgent Midwest: Transnational Dialogue for a Humane Urbanism

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU), Organizacion Popular Francisco Villa de Izquierda Independiente (OPFVII), Housing Assembly (HA), Pathways to Free Education (PFE), We Demand Better UIUC Detroit in China: Postindustrial Cities and Urban Representations in the Midwest and China

Michigan State University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago The New Ethics of Food

Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pennsylvania State University, Ohio State University

Performing History: Documenting and Enacting the Asian American Midwest

Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Building Sustainable Worlds: Latinx Placemaking in the Midwest

Ohio State University, Northwestern University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin-Madison Legacies of the Enlightenment: Humanity, Nature, and Science in a Changing Climate

Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University

Crow: the Corpus & Repository of Writing

Purdue University, Michigan State University, University of Arizona

Political Ecology as Practice: A Regional Approach to the Anthropocene

University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison Garden for a Changing Climate

University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison Transmedia Collage: Histories of Violence and Futures of Health on Chicago’s South Side

University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Cincinnati Being Human in the Age of Humans: Perspectives from Religion and Ethics

Indiana University Bloomington, University of Chicago, Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame Hydrologies of the Anthropocene: Social Flows and Engineered Watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin

University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Arendt on Earth: From the Archimedean Point to the Anthropocene

Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Pennsylvania State University, Williams College Field to Media: Applied Musicology for a Changing Climate

University of Minnesota, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The Classroom and the Future of the Historical Record: Humanities Education in a Changing Climate for Knowledge Production

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Coping with Changing Climates in Early Antiquity: Comparative Approaches between Empiricism and Theory

University of Chicago, Purdue University, University of Michigan

Building Collectives in a Changing Healthcare Climate

Michigan State University, Ohio State University Indigenous Art and Activism in Changing Climates: The Mississippi River Valley, Colonialism, and Environmental Change

Northwestern University, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maine, University of Mississippi

LLaauunnccheedd iinnn 20015 aass aann iinniitttiiatiivve ooof tthee HHWWWW ccoonsortium, thee PPree-ddooctttooorall Caarreeer DDiivveersiity SSSuummmmeerrr WWoorkkshops aaim ttoo ppreppareee doocctoorrraall stuuddeeenntss forrr caareeeerrss boothh within annd ouuttsiidde tthhe aacaaddemmmyy. TThhee mmmoddeel fffooor tthiiss aaappprroaach was dessiigneedd aannd ddevvveeeloppedd bby thhee CCChhiccaagooo HHuummaannnitiiees FFestival, wwwhichh haas ussed ttheee cittyy offf CChhicaaggooo ass a sspppaacce fforrr exxpplooring thheee vasst poosssiibbiliittiesss opeen ttoo hhuummaannnitiees PPPhhDDs iinn ttthhiss arrts-aanddd--culltturee iinttenssiveee envviroonnmmennt.

HWW Pre-Doctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshops



35

To this end, these three-week workshops bring together cohorts of

thirty graduate students, selected in a competition conducted by the

and in a limited submission competition drawing on a national

applicant pool (for the 2017 and 2019 summer workshops).

work in a variety of academic disciplines in the humanities

and humanistic social sciences, from English and history to

and practitioners who bring experience in community building,

invested in issues of social justice and seek ways to bring humanistic

values, insights, and skills to the public and private sectors.

In the spirit of practice-oriented learning, HWW has partnered

and the Joyce Foundation to lead students in real-world problem-

solving exercises around important contemporary issues including

expertise have been primarily oriented toward an academic or

para-academic track, each summer workshop includes sessions on

values-based career planning, resume and cover letter construction,

networking, and social media strategies from experts in career

they work.

HWW Summer Workshop Fellows emerge with a network of contacts

Fellows (and friends!) from whom they may draw support and advice;

and a set of resources aimed at helping them advance into the various

applicants with broad interdisciplinary interests and with the capacity

to represent a broadened vision of life in the humanities upon

returning to their campuses. It has been HWW’s expectation that the

centers themselves will strengthen their capacity to serve as cross-

disciplinary engines for the reorganization of graduate programs in

the humanities.

institutions of the 149 Fellows who have participated in the HWW

highlighted a handful of Fellows and their comments on the

Workshop.

“TThhee mmosst vvaaaluaablee aassppecct oooff thhis ppproogrraammm is iittss uunndeerstttaanddingg ooff whhaatt tthee gaaapppss off kknowwlleddge aareee forr cuurrrrreennt PPhhDD sttudddeeenntts wwhhhoo arree inntteereesteedd iinnn caareeerrs oouttsiidddee tthhe ttteennuree-ttracck roouutee. HWWWWW’s oorgaaanniizzedd ccoommmittmmmeent tttooo taccklinngg aall ooff thhhoosee gapppss oonee bbyyy onne mmmadde eaaccch ddaay bbootthh useefuulll anndd ennnggaagginngg..””

meentmmmadde

MichelleMay-Curry

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANAMERICAN CULTURE



37

“I rreeaallly ddo ttthhinnk HHWWWW hhaasss ann invvvalluuabblee miissssioonn foor gggrrradd stuuddenntss oofff aalll sstrriiippees, wwhetthherr theey aaare ffeelliiinngg forrlloorrn aaboouuutt ttheeirr prrosppeecctss or jjussstt soouundddiinngg oouutt ttheeiir ooopppttiionnss. It’s bbeenn aa mmasssivvveee enncouuurraaggemmeennt ffoor mmmee ttthhhesee passtt coouplle oooff yeeaarss,, noot ttoo mmmennttioonnn haaavvvingg reaalliizeed wwhaaattt exxaacttlllyy II caann dddoo wwithhh mmyy sskilllllls ouutsiddee off thhee acccadeemyy.””

“I lleeftt knoowiiinng tthaattt I wwanntteedd aann aacccaddemmiiccc jobb ((eevveen tthhouuughh I hhaaadd ccommee iin tthinnnkkiingg II wannttedd a nnonnn-accaadeemmiicc joobb)), anndd tthhhe skkills tthhaatt I lleearrnnnedd (+ hhharrd wwoorrkk ++ LUUUCCKK

jjooob aapppliiccaatiioon pproocccesss.”

Matthew Schownir

NadiaChana

HISTORY

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Marcus Cederström“HHWWWW ddiid aaa goood jjooob oof sshhooowwiinng uuus hhoww tttoo traannnssllaate oourrr huummannnitiiees ttrraaaiiniinng ttto aa vvaarriiieetyy oof caarreeeerrs aanddd shoowiinnngg uus wwhhheeree thhooosee jobbss exxisteeddd,, bbut HHWWWWW aalsoo sshhoowweedd uus hhowww ttoo rrecoogniizzee tthe sspaaaccess in wwwhhiichh tthhhoosee jobbbs mmaayy ooonne dday eexxisstt. AAnndd ttthaatt’s ssuuppeer vvaallluuabble aaas thheee jobb maarrkkeett coonstttanttly cchhanngees.. II suuppppooosee tthattt’s wwhhat II wwaant tto ssseee HHWWWWW cconntiinnnuue tto ddoo. TTooo noott jusstt iinnttrodducccee peeopplllee ttoo aavvaaiillabblle jobbss annndd thhe peeooppllee wwhho wwworrk tthhheemm, bbuuttt aalssoo introoducccee uss to tthhe ooppportttuuniitiess foorr caarreeeeerss tthhat mmay nnnot eevenn eexiist yyeet.””

“TThhee tthinng ttthhhatt I leeaaarnnedd tthhhaat hhass ssttaayeedd wwwitthh mee ttoo tthe ppreeesennt iss tto tthhiinnkkk exppannnsiivvelyy aabouutt thhe skkillllssset II allrrreeaaddy ppoosssesss aaanndd crreeatiivveelyy abboouttt thee waayyys mmyy iinnntterreesttsss mmigghhtt

HHHWWW, I aamm aablee too aappply mmmy rresseaarrchh,, wwrrrittiingg, annndd coommmmuuniicattiionn skiillls ffrromm mmyy PPhDD tooo mmy dddaillyy woorrkk. Reccoggnnniziinng aaandd owwnniingg myyy hhuumaaanitiiees skkkiilllss annd wwworkkingg aggainnssttt aanyy shaamee oor ffeeeliinnggs of rreesooortinng ttoo ‘pplaann BBB’ helppeed mmme seee thhee wwidee raannngee off pppotteenttiaalliitiees wwheree befffoore II haaddd oonnly sseeennn onne.””

EricaDamann

UNIVERSITY OF IOWAENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES

Maureen Owens “NNoott oonlyy diiiddd HHWWWWW shhappee mmmy oouttlllooook oonn carreeeerr posssibbbilittiies aaanndd trraajjeeecctoorrieesss, bbutt itt sshappeedd mmy ooutttllookk onnn wwhhatt II wwannt/nnneeeedd iinn mmmy liffee onn aa bbroaadderrr scaale tttoo bbe ppeerrrssonnallllyyy aandd

HISTORY



41

“I lleeftt [HWWWWW]] wwiithh aaa mmucchhh cclleaarrerr seensee oooff whhaatt mmy ccaareeeer vvaluuees aaree aass weell aaas aa sooliiddd iiddeaa ooff mmy sskillllll-seet annndd hhoww ttoo prreseeentt thhaatt inn a leegggiibblle wway. II haave aaalssoo aapppprroaaccheeedd tthe acaadddeemmic jjoob mmmarrkettt wwiithh mmuuchh lessss tttrrrepiiddatiioonn aas I nnowww viieew aaan aacaaddeeemmiicc joobbb ass jjjustt onee ooff mmanny ttthhinnggs ttthhaatt I ccaann doo wwithhh thee skiillllss II haavve sssppennt tthhhee ppasstt ffeeww yeearss massterriinngg. Alsso, III waalk aaarrouundd tteellinng eveeryoonnne I kknoowww ttoo apppplyyy to HHWWWWWW!!!”

“I kkknnoow tthhattt I wwoulldddn’’tt hhaavvee lanndeeedd thee jjoobb I hhaaveee nooww ifff II hhaddnn’’ttt bbeeen aaabllee tto hhiiggghhlliighhtt hoooww mmy aaaccaaddemmiicc caarreeerr accttualllyy aappplliiess tto tthe wwworrk, evveen tthoouuugghh ttheyy woouulddn’t hhavvvee thhouuggghhtt soo juusst bbyy llooookiinng aatt a ttrannsccrrriptt.. I aallsoo lovvee tthaatt it’’sss a coommmuunnity tthaaatt haas sstttuucckk wwiitthh mmee bbeyyooond tthe pprrooggraamm.”””

Traci-Ann Wint

AbigailShade

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

2015 Humanities Without WallsPre-Doctoral Fellows


NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY


Matthew Schownir, History



Tyler Miller, History

UNIVERSITY OF IOWANoaquia Callahan, History

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN


Janel Cayer, EnglishBrian Sarnacki, History

Monica Bykowski, History

Marcus Cederström, Scandinavian Studies and Folklore




HWW Pre-Doctoral Fellows



43

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYElizabeth Newton, History



Ilana Miller, History


John Moore, English

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA



Evan Taparata, History

Michael Skaggs, History


COLUMBIA UNIVERSITYCaroline F. Marris, History

CORNELL UNIVERSITYSean Cosgrove, History


PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGONadia Chana, Ethnomusicology UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUTWinifred Maloney, History


UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Morgan Hess, Communication UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI



Christy Hyman, History

Natalie Carroll Sargent, History (United States) UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY


Stephanie Huezo, HistoryJennie Williams, Ethnomusicology



OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Erik Scaltriti, Italian




Sharaya Tindal Wiesendanger, History

Jamil Jorge, Musicology

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Makayla Steiner, English


Eshe Sherley, History


Maureen Owens, History

Caitlin Smith Oyekole, English


BOSTON UNIVERSITY

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITYJoshua Schwartz, History



45

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITYE. Bennett Jones, History

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYSophia Enriquez, Ethnomusicology


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARAOlga Faccani, Classics

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT



UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONEthan Ucker, English

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

Principal Investigator:

Antoinette Burton

Champaign

Dianne Harris

Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Director of Operations:

Jason Mierek

Business Operations and Grants Manager:

Jenna Zieman (2017–present)

Communications Coordinator

Kelly Delahanty

Graduate Lab Practicum Coordinator:

Margaret “Peggy” Brennan

Grants Specialist:

Paula Baucum-Williams (2014–2016)

Graduate Research Assistant:

Mariagabriella “Gabriella” StuardiDerek Faux (2014–2015)

2019 HWW Pre-doctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshop On-Site Project Director:

2019 HWW Pre-doctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshop On-Site Project Coordinator:

Andreea Micu (Northwestern University)

HWW

Program for Research in the Humanities:

Antoinette BurtonDianne Harris

Teresa Mangum

Peggy McCrackenSidonie Smith

in the Humanities:

Katherine Walter, Co-director (2014–present)

University of Notre Dame, Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts:

Alison RiceKen GarciaMargaret Meserve

Maura Ryan

Sara GuyerGregg Mitman

Chicago Humanities Festival (2014–2019)

Alison CuddyJonathan Elmer (2014–2017)Matti Bunzl

Indiana University Bloomington, College Arts and Humanities Institute:

Jonathan Elmer

William Hart-DavidsonDavid Prestel

Wendy WallJessica Winegar

David StaleyPaul ReitterRick Livingston

John ChristmanLauren KooistraMichael Bérubé

Sorin MateiMelissa RemisHyunyi Cho

Richard NeerFrançoise MeltzerJames ChandlerMargot Browning

Mark CanuelSusan LevineLinda Vavra

HWW MemberInstitutions

IPRH | Illinois Program for

Research in the Humanities

EXPERIMENTS IN

COLLABORATIVE

RESEARCH AND

GRADUATE TRAINING

HumanitiesWithoutWalls

HWW

humanities without walls · “collaboration and interdisciplinarity are the watchwords of 21st...

Documents