About

Humanities for Our Times: From Epistemologies and Methodologies to Liberatory Creative Practices and Social Justice is a project supported by
The Mellon Foundation and facilitated by the Team Key Members.

Overview

At the center of the Humanities for Our Times project is a commitment to educate students about how and why humanities methods are integral to the struggle for social justice and liberation.

By prioritizing the development of CC’s critical perspectives Equity & Power and Creative Process, we could provide our students with courses and engagements to prepare them to understand and change the forces that work to (re)produce social inequalities and injustice.

The Mellon Grant was awarded to support the development of these courses by supporting faculty pursuing professional development and research opportunities in their respective humanistic disciplines’ engagement with and reorientations around antiracism, equity and inclusion, and decolonization of disciplinary narratives and canons.

Block visitors, guests, seminars, and events by or about BIPOC scholars, public intellectuals, and social-justice advocates past and present, allowed faculty to draw upon critiques and studies of the liberatory potential of both the discipline-specific and shared features of humanities questions, modes of inquiry, and projects.

Faculty Commitment

CC faculty recognize the central importance of the humanities to help students identify, understand, and solve the systemic problems of racism, injustice, and oppression. This work demands that each of us reflect critically not just on how and why we create knowledge, but also on how and why we teach–and on the classroom environments we create.

CC’s DEI Initiatives

We recognize the myriad ways in which white supremacy has shaped our institution. CC has and continues to take steps to work our way out of its grip. Our GE requirements were developed after a 2015 student petition challenged the faculty to undertake thoroughgoing curricular reform focused on DEI concerns. In 2018, following an external review of racism at CC, we made the commitment to become an antiracist institution. At this pivotal historical moment, our students are demanding an education that will empower them to make social change.

---

About Us

Claire Oberon Garcia, Professor of English (Principal Investigator)

Chet Lisiecki, Assistant Professor of German Studies (Project Coordinator)

Nene Ndiaye Diop, Assistant Professor of French

Steve Hayward, Professor of English & Director of the Journalism Institute

Jameel Paulin, Assistant Professor of Art

Natanya Pulley, Assistant Professor of English & Creative Writing

Kris Stanec, Senior Lecturer in Education & Faculty Fellow in Creativity and Innovation

Erica Hardcastle, Admin Support