For more information about the IPRH Film Series, click here.
For more information about the Madden Lecture Series, click here.

Time flies when you’re having fun. As the IPRH reaches the ten-year milestone, it is remarkable to consider the transformation from fledgling enterprise to a site of intellectual engagement that is an integral part of campus life. In the earliest publicity materials that we created for the IPRH, we devoted considerable attention to providing maps and detailed directions to our somewhat remote Pennsylvania Avenue location. It is gratifying, then – a decade later – to know that the IPRH is firmly situated on the U of I map, physically and intellectually.

We hope that you will join us in late March for our annual conference – in addition to the keynote address by W.J.T. Mitchell and the presentations by the IPRH Faculty and Graduate Student Fellows, we will set aside the opening sessions of the conference to look back at the first ten years of the IPRH – and to look ahead, too. The conference schedule can be found here – and more detailed information will be available in the coming months.

Speaking of our website. . .now that you are here, I hope that you will take advantage of the information that is available. The site is updated throughout the year to include details about additional events and application deadlines, as well as more detailed information about the programs and activities we sponsor. In recognition of the tenth anniversary of the IPRH, the website features a detailed retrospective of our programming over the years, here. Finally, the site includes a resource page listing “External Opportunities” for grants, fellowships, calls for papers, and other humanities-related activities sponsored by humanities centers at other universities nationwide.

You may have noticed a change in our graduate student fellowships – we have typically awarded six fellowships, but this year we are joined by eight Graduate Student Fellows, with the generous support of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Nicholson Endowment Fund. Two of the graduate fellowship recipients – Kevin Coe and Julilly Kohler-Hausmann – have been designated as Nicholson-IPRH Fellows for 2007-08. The Nicholson Endowment is a gift of Grace W. Nicholson (1906-1998), who pursued undergraduate studies in LAS, and Professor Emeritus John A. Nicholson (1891-1986), a faculty member in the Philosophy Department at the U of I for 33 years. The Nicholson Endowment, which was established in 1999, provides support for the academic programs LAS and excellence in the study of the humanities on campus.

Our calendar this fall also includes three lectures by faculty in the humanities and arts, under the auspices of the Madden Lecture Series. This lecture series – part of a joint initiative of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Fine and Applied Arts – provides an opportunity for the Madden Fellows in Technology, Arts, and Culture for 2006-07 to present their research to the campus. The IPRH is pleased to host this series, which will feature lectures by Lillian Hoddeson (History), Gabriel Solis (Music), and John Toenjes (Dance). The Madden Initiative provides a meeting point for interdisciplinary engagement between the sciences, technology disciplines, humanities, social sciences, and arts to explore the importance of technology to culture and society and to the university as an institution of learning. Information about the individual lectures can be found on the calendar of events.

We look forward to seeing you as we celebrate this special year. You know where to find us – we’re on the map.

Best wishes,

Christine Catanzarite
August 2007