Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities

 

 

Greetings from CEAH!

During this season of caucuses and primaries, I have been thinking about the importance of the arts and humanities in sustaining a democracy. Above all, we need an educated and engaged citizenry, a point illustrated again and again as Iowans evaluated the visions and values espoused by presidential candidates. We need to think critically and ethically about our political choices--whose proposals will be most effective and whose promises can we believe? And we need to think imaginatively--whose vision of our country's and our state's future is the most promising? In preparing us to think critically, ethically, and imaginatively, the arts and humanities play a vital role.

IMAGINING IOWA. How, for example, do we imagine Iowa? To explore this question in the emerging bioeconomy, the Center is launching Imagining Iowa, a public scholarship project that partners ISU faculty in the arts and humanities with the public. Through these partnerships, we will work to make Iowa a better place to live for all its citizens. Some of these public scholarship projects will begin next fall with a focus on environmentalism as part of our 2008 programming, Sustaining the Earth.

NEW ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR. University Professor of Philosophy, Joseph Kupfer will assume responsibility for the Imagining Iowa initiative. As the Center's new associate director, his immediate goal is to secure external funding to support public scholarship projects over the next three to five years.
Note: If you have ideas for projects, we would be pleased to hear from you.

FALL PROGRAMMING 2008. I invite students and faculty to participate in our fall 2008 programming, Sustaining the Earth, which will feature a photography exhibit at the Brunnier and a series of campus lectures by public scholars in art, creative writing, education, history, literature, rhetoric, and philosophy. Guest lecturers will also facilitate seminars in which ISU faculty, already devoted to the practice of public scholarship, will launch environmental projects with community partners. I applaud seminar participants who come from a range of disciplines at ISU: accounting, architecture, art, bioethics, business, community and regional planning, creative writing, landscape architecture, history, literature, philosophy, rhetoric, and sociology. Consult our events page for more details, including a list of readings by our invited scholars.

FUNDING. I am also pleased to announce new and continued funding opportunities for faculty and students. Here are just a few opportunities available; for more details, check our funding page.

Faculty Opportunities:

February 5: Applications due for Fellowships for Scholarship and Creative Activity

April 7: Applications due for assistance with external grant writing during summer 2008.

April 8: Applications due for new CEAH Collaborative Arts and Humanities Grant-Writing Award

Student Opportunities:

February 5: Applications due for the Phyllis J. Lepke Endowed Graduate Award

March 24: Submissions due for the Student Poster Design Contest.

SEARCH FOR A NEW DIRECTOR. Since I plan to retire in 2008, the search for a new director for CEAH has already begun. If you are interested in applying, watch for an announcement from the search committee, or contact Zora Zimmerman, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

SUPPORT PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP. The past three years have been the most rewarding of my professional life, transforming my view of the arts and humanities in our society. I believe that if we are to create a more humane, just, and beautiful society, faculty in the arts and humanities must be recognized for working with the public and for collaborating with colleagues in other disciplines. At present, the university rewards arts and humanities faculty for achieving international recognition within their disciplines; unfortunately, faculty committed to local, public oriented projects are not always rewarded for their work. We need to change Iowa State University's reward system so public scholarship is encouraged. ISU administrators have indicated their support of public scholarship by funding our membership in Imagining America, a consortium of over 80 colleges and universities committed to public scholarship. Visit their website at imaginingamerica.syr.edu.

FAREWELL. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the supporters of the Center--faculty, students, and administrators--who have made my work at the Center such a great pleasure during these past three years.

With all good wishes,
Brenda Daly, Director Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities