Tanner Humanities Center

Tanner Humanities Center is an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Utah dedicated to advancing scholarship in the humanities. Founded with philanthropic support from the Tanner family, it fosters collaborations among faculty, students, and the public across fields such as history, literature, philosophy, and religion. The Center hosts fellowships, lectures, and publications, partnering with scholarly organizations and cultural institutions in the United States and internationally.

History

The Center emerged amid debates about the role of the humanities in higher education during the late 20th century, drawing on precedents set by institutes like the Institute for Advanced Study, the School of Historical Studies, and centers at Harvard University, Columbia University, and Princeton University. Early leadership included scholars trained in programs at the University of Chicago, Yale University, and Oxford University, who sought to bridge disciplinary divides exemplified by work from the New Historicism movement and scholars associated with the School of Criticism and Theory. Institutional support came through grants and gifts similar to donations from philanthropists like Phyllis Lambert and foundations such as the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over decades the Center engaged with visiting scholars from Cornell University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and international partners at University College London and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.

Mission and Programs

The Center’s mission emphasizes interdisciplinary inquiry informed by methodologies from scholars affiliated with the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, and the American Philosophical Society. Core programs include residential fellowships modeled after the MacArthur Fellowship and the National Humanities Center residency, graduate workshops akin to those at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and public lecture series patterned on forums at the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress. Signature initiatives have featured collaborations with departments at the University of Utah—including the Department of History (University of Utah), the Department of English (University of Utah), the Department of Philosophy (University of Utah), and the Religious Studies Program (University of Utah)—and partnerships with external cultural organizations such as the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Salt Lake City Public Library, and the Ballet West.

Research and Publications

Research supported by the Center spans specialties linked to scholars from the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Modernism studies, and engages with archival materials comparable to collections at the Library of Congress, the British Library, and the New York Public Library. The Center publishes monographs, edited volumes, and working papers in collaboration with university presses including the University of Chicago Press, the Oxford University Press, the Cambridge University Press, and the Princeton University Press. Faculty and fellows have produced work engaging with figures like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant, Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Frantz Fanon, Toni Morrison, W. E. B. Du Bois, and James Baldwin, and with movements tied to the Romanticism, Postcolonialism, and Critical Race Theory traditions. Research projects have received fellowships and awards from bodies such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

Public Outreach and Events

The Center’s public programming includes lecture series, symposia, and exhibitions that echo events at venues like the Getty Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern. Notable speakers and participants have included visiting academics from Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, and practitioners associated with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Knight Foundation. Community-oriented efforts have linked the Center with local initiatives including collaborations with the Utah Symphony, the Hale Centre Theatre, and civic projects supported by the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office. Conferences have addressed topics related to the histories of the American West, Indigenous studies with contributors from Navajo Nation scholars and representatives of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and transnational dialogues involving colleagues from the University of Toronto, the Australian National University, and the University of Cape Town.

Facilities and Collections

Housed within facilities on the University of Utah campus, the Center provides seminar rooms, archives, and digital humanities labs equipped for research that crosses disciplinary boundaries similar to centers at the Digital Public Library of America and the Humanities+Design Lab. Its collections include donated papers and archival materials comparable to holdings at the Rockefeller Archive Center, special collections tested against catalogs at the Bodleian Library and the Getty Research Institute. The Center’s resources support teaching and public engagement and include partnerships with campus units such as the J. Willard Marriott Library, the Office of the President (University of Utah), and the College of Humanities (University of Utah).

Category:University of Utah Category:Humanities research institutes