New Oakland University Center for Public Humanities the first in Michigan

Oakland University and the College of Arts and Sciences are proud to announce the fall 2019 founding of a new Center for Public Humanities. It is considered the first humanities center in the state of Michigan focused exclusively on the public humanities. 

Public humanities represent a cutting-edge approach to arts and humanities research, holding that public intellectuals must offer humanistic scholarship and creative work in accessible formats for the benefit and enrichment of the region’s populace. With this new center, Oakland University joins a handful of leading universities dedicated to raising the profile of artistic and humanistic research through prominent humanities centers.

The Center’s mission is to advance excellence in public humanities and the arts to support and enrich Southeast Michigan’s diverse learning communities. While it will not have a brick-and-mortar facility, the Center will instead work “nomadically,” bringing engaging programming to diverse communities in their preferred gathering spaces. This model aims to reduce access barriers that might prevent students and the general public from engaging with the arts and humanities.

This fall, Co-Directors Andrea Knutson and John Corso Esquivel will begin to solicit nominations for a Community Advisory Board and Student Advisory Committee to shape the Center’s vision. The Board will solicit requests for programming directly from community leaders and Oakland students. Listening to their feedback will enable the Center to consolidate project requests and address crucial debates within the humanities and the arts today.