Welcome
The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was established in 1997 to promote interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The IPRH grants fellowships to U of I faculty and graduate students; and in fall 2009 welcomes the first Post-Doctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities, appointed jointly by the IPRH, the Illinois Informatics Institute, and the Department of History.
The IPRH coordinates and hosts numerous lectures, symposia, and panel discussions on a wide variety of topics, including a new series devoted to climate change from a humanities perspective and faculty presentations on “My Favorite Book.” The IPRH also organizes a yearlong film series and related programming. In addition to its own programming, the IPRH shares its resources and facilities with other university departments and programs, and coordinates its activities with other units wherever possible.
The 2009-10 academic year marks the fourth year of the Odyssey Project, a free nine-month humanities course offered to members of the Champaign-Urbana community who live at or near the poverty level. The course, which is supported by the U of I and a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, is taught by U of I faculty. The IPRH is also entering its second year of affiliation with the Education Justice Project, a prison education program supported by the Illinois Humanities Council and individual donors.