The Institute runs a variety of programs as part of its mission to stimulate interdisciplinary and collaborative research in the humanities.
The Institute fellows present their work in weekly seminars for IRH fellows and other interested faculty and students at UW-Madison. Seminars take place every other Monday afternoon from 3:00-5:00 p.m. and every Tuesday from 12:00-1:15 p.m. in room 212 of the University Club building. Refreshments are served at 3:00 p.m. on Mondays, with presentations beginning at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday seminars take place over lunch (bring your own). Consult the calendar of events for specifics.
Panel Discussions on the Humanities
The Institute sponsors two or more panel discussions on the humanities each year. Panels focus on such general issues as the history and meaning of the humanities, public humanities, the future of the humanities, as well as on specific themes of timely significance to the humanities. Panels typically take place at the beginning and end of the academic year and are designed to foster discussion about the humanities throughout the Institute seminars.
The Institute sponsors two faculty development seminars each year in conjunction with the Center for the Humanities and major support from the College of Letters and Science. The seminars provide a formal setting for faculty that promotes sustained collaboration and dialogue across disciplinary lines on a specific topic of wide interest and importance in the humanities. The seminar meets for two hours in ten sessions during the semester. A faculty leader or a team of two faculty leaders propose a topic, assemble a syllabus of readings, and preside over discussions. Faculty leaders receive a course release for leading the seminar, and their department(s) receive funds to hire a replacement lecturer. Faculty participants receive a stipend for research expenses.
Past and current seminar topics leaders include:
- Ovid, Carole Newland, Classics, Spring 2006
- International Governance, Jerimi Suri, History, and Jonathan Zeiltlin, Sociology, Political Science, LaFollette School of Public Affairs, fall 2007
- Migration and Diaspora: Cultural Theory and Representation, Susan Stanford Friedman, English and Women's Studies, spring 2008
- Visuality, Jill Casid, Art History, and Theresa Kelley, English, fall 2008
- Digital Humanities, Jon McKenzie, English, spring 2009
Application information for seminar leaders and participants
Each year, the Institute sponsors 1-2 Burdick-Vary Symposia organized by Institute Senior Fellows on topics related to their field of research. Scheduled symposia include:
- December 5-6, 2008. The Past and Present of Modernity: Ex-Colonies Before and After the Nineteenth Century.
Organizer: V. Narayana Rao, Languages and Cultures of Asia - April 17-18, 2009. Other People's Thinking: Language and Mentality in England Before the Conquest.
Organizer: John D. Niles, English - Fall, 2009. Graphic Pluralism: Amerindian and Non-Amerindian in the New World.
Organizer: Frank Saloman, Anthropology - Spring, 2010. The Mongol Empire in Eurasian Context.
Organizer: David Morgan, History
Consult the Calendar for details on upcoming Burdick-Vary Symposia
The Institute also sponsors conferences on areas of broad interest to the humanities. In the spring of 2010, the Institute will host a conference on Globalization and the Humanities - Then and Now as part of the Institute's 50th Anniversary.
The Institute co-sponsors two memorial lecture series:
- Germaine Bree Lecture in the Humanities. Co-sponsored with the Department of French and Italian, this biennial lecture honors Germaine Bree, a distinguished professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1950 to 1973 and a senior member of the Institute from 1962-1973. Victor Brombert of Princeton University delivered the first Bree lecture in 1992.
- Julius R. Weinberg Memorial Lecture. Co-sponsored with the Philosophy Department, this annual lecture honors Julius R. Weinberg.
Conversations with Distinguished Lecturers
The Institute hosts informal conversations with distinguished lecturers brought to campus by the Center for the Humanities. Typically, the lecturer makes a brief statement about current or recently published work to initiate a general discussion. Fellows and interested faculty and students are invited to participate. See Calendar for details.
The Institute organizes occasional satellite events such as conversations or panels around a specific theme of significance for the humanities. Consult Calendar for specifics. The Institute conference room is open for other groups in the humanities to hold meetings, seminars, discussions, and other events. Contact the director for more information.