As editor of the prestigious German Studies Review, Katharina Gerstenberger, professor of German at the University of Utah, uses the opportunity to foster an international community within the German Studies discipline.

Science and the humanities seem to be the oil and water of academia. In a black-and-white world, these two fields are opposites, two fields of study with not just a picket fence dividing them but a concrete wall. A man crossing this divide and blurring these lines is Stephen Downes, professor of philosophy and adjunct professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah.

The Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah is pleased to host award winning science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson for The Tanner Lecture on Human Values Thursday March 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall.

Associate Professor Mark Bergstrom was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western States Communication Association. The WSCA Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Western States Communication Association.

When first-year students at the University of Utah step inside the classroom of HUM 1500: Great Books in the Humanities, they will not only begin to explore seven global texts that have changed minds and influenced generations, but they will also learn how each of these books has been interpreted and understood by scholars from seven different disciplines. A team of leading professors from the departments of communication, English, history, world languages and cultures, linguistics, philosophy, and writing and rhetoric studies will lead first-year students in close reading of transformative books from each of these fields, offering students a unique opportunity to engage across the humanities.

Utah is home to several organizations whose missions prioritize education, research, and community outreach, but the long-standing partnership between the American West Center (AWC) and Utah Humanities (UH) in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s Travelling Exhibitions Services (SITES) Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program, has been especially fruitful. By combining their individual strengths, they have cultivated an approach to “doing history” that not only demonstrates the discipline’s importance, but also its ability to help people and communities more meaningfully connect to the past, each other, and to their own time and place.

Living in Salt Lake City, you’ve probably heard The Great Salt Lake is rapidly drying up and its disappearance could cause immense damage to Utah’s public health, environment, and economy. What you may not have heard is there’s a name for that overwhelming feeling of dread; climate anxiety. Britt Wray’s acclaimed book, "Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis" (2022), blends scientific knowledge with emotional awareness to help make sense of the mental health impacts amid the ecological crisis.

In a brief break from the winter weather, the John R. Park Debate Society traveled to Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona for the Western States Communication Association Forensics Tournament on February 17-19. The tournament, which is part of the Western States Communication Association Conference, allowed students to engage in both forensics competition and conference presentations. At the tournament, the team had 15 final round appearances, winning six of the 12 events and closing out 3/4 of the semifinal round of open IPDA debate to secure the top spot for the tournament and reclaim the Best of the West Perpetual Traveling Trophy. In addition to graduate coach, Averie Vockel, serving as the Forensics Activity Coordinator for the conference and tournament, undergraduates Adelyn Kobe and Javier Tejeda, and graduate coaches Frankie Gigray and Ashton Poindexter, presented at the conference.

The University of Utah hosted the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research, Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. Students from all over the state showcased their research and learned from each other. The College of Humanities was delighted to host a networking breakfast for humanities students and faculty from across Utah. The College of Humanities is thrilled to have many undergraduate students presenting at the conference about their research in the humanities and other areas.