The Stanford Humanities Center confronts this moment in history and culture with insights into the questions that define our world.
The humanities—philosophy, history, literature, art history, classics, music, and religion, among other disciplines—investigate ideas and culture, as the sciences and the social sciences demonstrate their own ways of thinking about the world. These core disciplines enjoy long histories as foundations of knowledge, while newer, interdisciplinary fields such as the study of race, gender, or performance afford their distinctive insights. As a Center we promote provocative discussions, the exchange of ideas across languages and cultures, and continual, rigorous reflection on how knowledge is made.
The Center sponsors advanced research in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences by investing in experiences—fellowships, workshops, lectures, and other events—that enrich knowledge in and across the disciplines. Through a partnership with the renowned Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA), the Humanities Center embraces emerging digital methods to complement traditional kinds of analysis and interpretation. Together, the Stanford Humanities Center and CESTA serve as the hub of an international network of fellows, visiting scholars, students, and alumni.
While we all attempt to read widely for our research, the Humanities Center allows for the kind of intellectual proximity to scholars from other disciplines that is hard to come by.