Full-time faculty from all colleges of the University are invited to submit a course proposal for the Humanities Center’s Seminar in the academic year 2025-26.
The proposal should outline a broad, interdisciplinary theme that will attract students from across the University. Recent themes have included “Evidence in a Post-Truth World,” “Transversing Gender,” “Lights, Camera, Activism,” “Anti-Politics and Conspiracy Theories,” “Ethnic Studies,” “Fiction, Fabulation, Futurity” and, for 2024-25, “Banned Books.” Past seminar leaders have found that working with the University’s best students as well as with colleagues and visiting lecturers who share their interests is intellectually rewarding.
Here is how the seminar works and what one needs to do to submit a proposal:
• The seminar leader is the instructor for two honors courses on a particular theme, HON 389 in the fall and HON 390 in the spring. The seminar meets each semester on Monday evenings from 5 p.m. – 7:20 p.m., and is taught to student fellows, fifteen excellent students from across the University. Students must apply to be fellows and must take the seminar both semesters. In addition, faculty fellows, who are working on research projects related to the Center’s theme, are chosen to give lectures in the spring and to contribute in other ways as agreed upon with the seminar leader.
• The leader works with the director to plan a public lecture series in the spring that supplements the course’s interdisciplinary focus. Each faculty fellow presents one of the spring lectures. The seminar leader also invites outside speakers to participate in the spring lecture series.
• The seminar leader receives a stipend of $1,500 for planning the course.
• Please submit your proposal to
Nicholas Ealy, Director (
ealy@hartford.edu) by
Nov. 1, 2024, include a description of the proposed seminar theme, topics the seminar would address, possible readings, a brief discussion of the format you would use, and a brief CV.
• Remember that the seminar should emphasize the humanities but also approach the proposed topic from multiple disciplines, including those outside the humanities.
• Proposals that include a diverse and inclusive lens will be prioritized.
• Samples of successful past proposals are available upon request.