What’s the VALUE of Your Humanities Research?

Panel Discussion to replace final seminar of the year: The final seminar of the year provides time and space for self-reflection, collaborative and individual. It’s a fair guess to say that NO ONE did as much work as they hoped to during their fellowship term. That’s par for the course. But it’s also a fair guess to say that EVERYONE’S concept of their project and specific ideas within it grew, expanded, contracted, shifted, turned corners, refocused, got turned upside down or right side out: in short-changed, even transformed.

• How did YOUR project change, if at all? And why?
• Did any of these changes reflect your experience in the interdisciplinary environment of the Institute? If so, how?
• What’s the VALUE of your humanities research? Explain its significance to a wider public, beyond your immediate subfield? How do you answer the “SO What?” question to concentric circles of ever-wider audiences?

Eight IRH fellows drawn from a variety of fields, methodologies, historical periods, and areas of the world will reflect on these questions for about 5-7 minutes each (c. 1 hour). Their remarks are intended to spark the second hour of open discussion, with all fellows urged to participate.