CRASSH

CRASSH
Vysotsky · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Established	2001
Type	Research centre
City	Cambridge
Country	United Kingdom
Affiliation	University of Cambridge
Director	Various

CRASSH

The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Cambridge that fosters collaboration across the humanities and social sciences. It convenes scholars from colleges, departments and faculties including King's College, Cambridge, Trinity College, Cambridge, St John's College, Cambridge and the Faculty of English, the Faculty of History, the Department of Politics and International Studies and the Department of Sociology. CRASSH acts as a hub connecting fellows, visiting researchers and postgraduate students to partner organisations such as the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and international institutions including the Max Planck Society and the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz.

History

Founded in 2001, the centre was created amid broader institutional changes at the University of Cambridge intended to stimulate interdisciplinary enquiry comparable to initiatives at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University and Princeton University. Early leadership built programmes that engaged figures and organisations like Isaiah Berlin, the Wellcome Trust, the European Research Council and the British Library. Over successive directorships CRASSH expanded networks with cultural institutions such as the Tate Modern, the British Museum and the Royal Society, and with research universities including the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics, University College London and the University of Edinburgh. The centre’s development was shaped by major interdisciplinary projects and thematic clusters addressing the aftermaths of events like the First World War, the Cold War, and the European Union's transformations, while drawing on methodological currents influenced by scholars associated with Cambridge School (intellectual history), Annales School, and debates around figures like Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt.

Research Areas

CRASSH hosts research in comparative literature, cultural history, visual studies, science and technology studies, political theory and legal pluralism, frequently linking to scholarship on persons and institutions such as Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler and Jürgen Habermas. Programmes examine archives and performance linked to collections at the V&A Museum, the National Archives (UK), and the Royal Opera House, while collaborations touch on methodologies advanced by centres like the Centre for Contemporary Literature and the Institute of Modern Languages Research. Ongoing strands interrogate memory and trauma inspired by events such as the Holocaust, decolonisation movements connected to the Indian independence movement and the Algerian War, and migration studies with reference to cases like the Syrian civil war and the European migrant crisis. Interdisciplinary labs investigate intersections between literature and neuroscience alongside projects with the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

Academic Programmes and Teaching

CRASSH contributes to postgraduate supervision and to doctoral training partnerships, linking to training consortia funded by bodies like the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It runs seminars and reading groups attended by members from departments including the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, the Faculty of Classics and the Department of Archaeology, and supports doctoral students pursuing collaborative projects with institutions such as the National Trust and the Smithsonian Institution. Teaching initiatives often involve visiting professorships with scholars from Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University and Columbia University, and include summer schools modelled on formats used by the Scuola Normale Superiore and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.

Events and Public Engagement

The centre organises lecture series, conferences and workshops that feature speakers drawn from institutions including the Royal Society of Arts, the Institut Pasteur, Harvard University and the European University Institute. Public-facing events have partnered with cultural sites such as the Cambridge University Library, the Gonville and Caius College, and media outlets including the BBC. CRASSH curates exhibitions and performance collaborations with entities like the Royal Shakespeare Company and curatorial teams from the Tate Modern to translate research into public programmes. Its events have addressed topical debates connected to the United Nations sustainable development agendas and legal discussions resonant with the European Court of Human Rights.

Governance and Funding

The centre operates under the governance structures of the University of Cambridge with advisory input from academic committees and external advisory boards that have included fellows from the British Academy and the Royal Society. Funding derives from competitive awards from organisations such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Trust and the European Research Council, as well as philanthropic support from foundations and donors associated with Cambridge colleges and museums including the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts and private benefactors linked to the Gates Cambridge Scholarships.

Notable Fellows and Alumni

Fellows and associates have included scholars and public intellectuals with links to institutions such as Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Oxford and King's College London. Alumni and former affiliated researchers have gone on to positions at places including the British Museum, the European Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and leading universities worldwide such as University of Chicago, New York University and Stanford University. Notable names associated through visiting posts, collaboration or fellowship patterns include intellectual historians, literary theorists and cultural critics who have also been affiliated with prizes and institutions like the Holberg Prize, the British Academy, the Guggenheim Fellowship and the MacArthur Foundation.

Category:University of Cambridge research institutes