Humanities Institute

One of such places is the University, where we can work together in a common pursuit of truth, share together our common heritage, and realise that artists in all parts of the world have created forms of beauty, scientists discovered secrets of the universe, philosophers asked the problems of existence, saints made the truth of the spiritual world organic in their own lives, not merely for some particular race to which they belonged, but for all mankind.”

- Rabindranath Tagore, 1922.

For four decades, Meditz College’s Humanities Institute has supported innovative faculty research in the humanities, provided unique educational opportunities for our students, and engaged our communities through an appreciation of the arts and a collective pursuit of the life of the mind.

During the 2024-2025 academic year, the Humanities Institute funded twenty-six faculty research projects, nineteen campus events, twenty student experiences related to courses, and ten scholarships for first-generation students with majors or minors in the humanities. We also hosted book talks, speakers, workshops and a two-day research conference on Buddhism and Tantra in honor of Professor Emeritus Ronald Davidson. Under the supervision of faculty editors Dr. Marice Rose and Dr. Silvia Marsans-Sakly, students enrolled in HUMN 3210 Digital Publishing in the Humanities edited and published two issues of Apollon, our undergraduate digital humanities journal that features interdisciplinary and multimedia student research from around the world. Six faculty fellows and six student fellows in the Humanities Institute Seminar came together as a vibrant research community that met monthly throughout the year to produce original humanities scholarship.

Amid the defunding, dislocation and disorientation of our time, Fairfield remains a place where the humanities are thriving. A deep and broad-based study of the humanities remains the hallmark of a Fairfield education, of our identity as a community, and our individual pursuit of cura personalis. As artificial intelligence reshapes life and work in profound ways and at tremendous speed, the study of the humanities, the core of a Jesuit education for centuries, will only become more vital. The study of the humanities fosters cognition and discernment, empowers individuals to engage the world and to pursue the good life, and remains an essential component of free, just, and sustainable societies.

I am grateful for, and in awe of, the labor and ingenuity of our faculty, students, and staff, who, together, give life to the humanities at Fairfield. The work of the Humanities Institute is made possible by Associate Directors Dr. Ryan Drake and Dr. Jennifer Adair, Digital Humanities Director Dr. Shannon Kelley, Ms. Julie Garbarino, Manager of the Meditz College Institutes, and by the unwavering support of Dean Richard Greenwald and Associate Dean Jason Smith. 

Dr. Sunil Purushotham
Associate Professor, History
Director, The Humanities Institute

Created by an NEH Challenge grant in 1983, the Humanities Institute in the John Charles Meditz College of Arts & Sciences is an endowed initiative established to ensure that the humanities will flourish at the heart of a Fairfield University education.

Since its inception, the endowment has funded hundreds of lectures, events, film series, workshops, and seminars, as well as most of our successful curricular and engagement initiatives. Over the past 30 years, the Humanities Institute has been one of the most significant sources of educational innovation and change at Fairfield University.

Moving forward in the 21st Century, the Humanities Institute continues to lead the way in catalyzing humanistic inquiry and dialogue across disciplines to inspire, guide, and respond to transformations in our lives and our societies, contributing to imagining and creating a more just, humane, and sustainable future for humankind. The Institute revitalizes the University, placing our traditional strengths at the center of our strategic priorities and ensuring that our students are not only technically equipped to analyze, innovate, and address real problems in professional contexts, but intellectually and ethically capable of doing so in ways that fulfill our educational pledge and deliver on Jesuit education’s promise.

The Humanities Seminar is a one-year commitment for Student Fellows. Student Fellows receive three credits and individual mentoring by a Faculty Fellow while completing an advanced research project in English, history, modern languages and literatures, philosophy, religious studies, visual and performing arts, or an interdisciplinary field with a substantive humanities component.

Student Fellowships are recommended for Humanities majors and minors, but are open to all exceptional students proposing advanced humanities research.

Congratulations to our successful 2025-2026 Student Fellows for their investiture in their one-year seminar membership:

• Aidan Pickett
• Ana Luisa Moura
• Ciara Weber
• Finn McMahon
• Manuela Baranowski
• Therafi 'Ariel' Lin

The Humanities Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to invite students to apply to become a Student Fellow in the Humanities Institute Seminar.

Apply to be a Student Fellow

Student Fellows Recommendation Form

The Humanities Seminar is a two-year commitment for Faculty Fellows. For each of the two academic years that they participate, Faculty Fellows receive a one-course reduction.

Congratulations to our successful 2025-2027 Faculty Fellows for their investiture in their two-year seminar membership:

• Carolina Añón Suárez
• Daniel Libatique
• Nels Pearson
• Sam Grimes
• Sonya Huber
• Upasana Dutta

Apply to Be a Faculty Fellow