Scholarly Programs Archives | National Humanities Center

Scholarly Programs

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Scholar-to-Scholar Talk: “Positionality and Inequality in the Humanities”

How do scholars’ backgrounds and communities inform the research questions they pursue in the humanities? Historian Devin Fergus (NHC Fellow, 2023–24), feminist cultural critic Lynn Mie Itagaki (Resident Associate, 2023–24), and anthropologist Matt Sakakeeny (NHC Fellow, 2023–24) discuss efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academy.

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Gregg A. Hecimovich, “The Zealy Daguerreotypes: Confronting Images of Enslavement”

In March 1850, five men and two women were photographed in the studio of South Carolina artist Joseph Zealy. When these daguerreotypes were uncovered in 1976, they quickly became some of the best-known pre-Civil War images of enslaved African Americans. Gregg A. Hecimovich (NHC Fellow, 2015–16; 2022–23) is asking important questions about why these images were captured, how they were lost for so long, and what they might tell us about legacies of white supremacy and enslavement in the United States.

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Jontyle Theresa Robinson, “Curating Change: ‘Bearing Witness’ and the Legacy of African American Women Artists”

In 1996, an exhibition entitled “Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists,” was produced for the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art’s contribution to the Olympic games held in Atlanta, Georgia. Today, Jontyle Theresa Robinson (NHC Fellow, 2022–23) is undertaking a multi-tiered initiative to reflect upon and advance the work of that exhibition thirty years later.

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Elena Machado Sáez, “Activism and Resistance in Contemporary Latinx Theater”

Theatrical productions allow playwrights and audiences alike to engage with historical and contemporary social realities. But what are the consequences when particular types of dramatic texts and performances are inadequately disseminated and preserved? Elena Machado Sáez (NHC Fellow, 2022–23) is analyzing the ways that Latinx theater in the United States depicts forms of activism and resistance while building shared archives and communities.

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Brian Lewis, “George Cecil Ives and the Transformation of Discourses on Sexuality”

The British writer, reformer, and criminologist George Cecil Ives lived through a transformation in our collective understanding of sexuality, witnessing the rise of sexology and psychoanalysis. But he did not simply observe these social changes; he chronicled them exhaustively through his published works, correspondence, scrapbooks, and a three-million-word diary. Brian Lewis (NHC Fellow, 2022–23) has analyzed these records to help us to understand how individuals actually experienced these philosophical and social shifts.