'It's exciting to see how my research capabilities have expanded each semester'
Kate Sullivan is a history major.
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The Society for the Humanities conducts several grant competitions for research, writing, and travel throughout the year. These grants are intended to foster the excellence in humanities research and writing for which Cornell faculty and graduate students are known. The Society places particular emphasis on innovative, interdisciplinary projects that involve Cornell colleagues from across the various disciplines of the humanities. In addition, the Society is proud to provide funding for humanities events organized by Cornell’s distinguished faculty as well as sponsor six to eight Visiting Fellows each year.
Society Research/Funding Resources
Upcoming Application Deadlines
Upcoming Application Deadlines
| Joseph E. Connolly '72 Memorial Prizes | Prizes for undergraduate essays on the intersection of religion and politics or society. Deadline: April 18, 2025 |
News
First Guerlac Lecture to celebrate ‘rock star’ science historian
Princeton history professor Michael Gordin will give the inaugural lecture celebrating the life and work of Henry Guerlac ’32, M.S. ’33, an influential historian of science and Cornell faculty member for three decades.
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In ‘Silence’ spring conference, Fellows ‘attend to what is not there’
On April 25, seven Society for the Humanities’ Fellows will present their projects in progress during the annual Spring Fellows’ conference, highlighting the various ways that the theme of silence has been explored –
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Symposium launches archive of Venezuelan migrant testimonies 
On April 18, this collection of migrant experiences will be presented to the public in a daylong symposium at the A. D. White House.
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Professor’s book probes afterlife of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela
Latin American studies scholar Irina R. Troconis, assistant professor of Romance Studies, and 2021-22 Society for the Humanities "Afterlives" Faculty Fellow, publishes book, "“The Necromantic State: Spectral Remains in the Afterglow of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution,” (Duke University Press).
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Jane Bennett to deliver Culler Lecture in Critical Theory
Bennett, a founding scholar of the field of new materialism, will talk about the limits of “data” as the unit of humanistic study.
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University Lecture examines ‘The Narrative Brain’
Our minds and the ways we tell stories are closely attuned, research shows, and scholar Fritz Breithaupt will explore how that connection works during a March visit as University Lecturer.
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2025-26: The Year of Scale
Announcing the 2025-26 cohort of Scale Fellows at the Society for the Humanities.
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Rural Humanities
Rural Humanities is an Andrew W. Mellon-supported initiative in public and engaged humanities that uses the tools of the humanities to critically approach, learn from, make visible, and support the realities of rural America, particularly in Central-Western New York: its histories, cultures, challenges, and futures.
Society’s Rural Humanities initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, features a Radically Indigenous focus in the academic year 2021-22, collaborating with the American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program, Cornell faculty, and local community partners to offer a Spring Seminar and a Summer Practicum that address the past, present, and future of Indigenous lives in Central New York and beyond. Additionally, students and faculty can apply for funding to support radically Indigenous research projects.