2025-26 Humanities Fellows

Exploring human thought and culture can answer important questions about the impacts of global conflict. In my focus on social history, I explore how personal narratives reflect broader global changes. Understanding individuals at a personal level enables us to feel empathy and thus more deeply engage with our past. Examining human experiences through history, as well as through language, religion, or art, makes way for a meaningful understanding of our world.  

The humanities provides an exciting opportunity for us to contextualize the human experience through a variety of disciplines in order to understand more about ourselves and the world around us. The broad nature of the humanities is a significant draw as there is always an alternate perspective or a stone unturned that can be explored.

From linguistics to philosophy and pottery to literature, I am enthralled by what inspires people to care, communicate, and transcend limitations. In a world that seems to de-emphasize humanities, I think it’s more important than ever to realize that humanities are the world.

They were called the Polyhistors: a group of Renaissance scholars who aimed for the embodiment of all existing knowledge in the goods of society. The modern study of the Humanities exemplifies the same ethics—the study of the human past and present for the good of the human future.

I am most interested in the ‘human’ aspect of the humanities; the notion of studying and yielding insight from the tapestry of human creation is incredible. In addition, the discipline rewards curiosity, rather than closure, with the critical thinking skills necessary to interpret and reinterpret the world.

Humanities translate the mind and its connections with the world through language, paintings, math symbols, songs, architecture, etc. I am always astonished by the degree of understanding between drastically different individuals and the convergence of ideals behind each medium. This makes me thankful for being a human.

I feel drawn to the humanities because of its room for interpretation, curiosity, and creativity. A question asked in a humanities class will never have one “right” answer, and each person brings unique experiences and perspectives to their studies in the humanities. This, to me, is what makes the humanities special and endlessly interesting.

The humanities help me navigate passages across time, place, and perspective, offering a compass for my own life. They challenge my assumptions, relativize my worldview, and deepen my curiosity about humanity, cultivating what I think of as the art of asking better questions.

I’m open to any subjects within the humanities realm, because I think it is important to learn from a more diverse discipline. When you learn about the history of something, you also learn about how the economy, society, and politics impact it.

The humanities not only provide fundamental skills that help answer questions of our own nature, but this group of disciplines also serve to develop empathy and contentment in my own life. I look passionately at the humanities since learning from human cultures is crucial to today’s world.

I am intrigued by the humanities because, as Robin Williams said in The Dead Poets Society, “poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” So much can be learned from studying the human experience through differing perspectives. They make you feel alive.

Through the humanities, I am challenged to think differently and see numerous perspectives. I’ve learned that nothing fits neatly into a box and there are many nuances to be aware of. Because of this, studying the humanities creates a bridge between many different people, allowing us to engage with and attempt to understand our world in a new way.

I see the study of humanities as a way to interact with and understand the world in a conscious and connective way. What I appreciate most about it is the way in which it allows us to connect both emotionally and intellectually with other people, making the exploration of ideas very engaging and relevant to discuss.

I love the humanities because I enjoy seeing how other people move through the world and learning about other perspectives. It’s so cool to learn about and relate to people from all over the world throughout history and see what people have in common.

I love how humanities have the power to connect us with other people, both in the past and present. Art, literature, and language are forms of communication, and history brings us together with the people of the past. I can’t wait to build a greater community through humanities!

I love a good story. Whether it be events in an author’s personal life that informed their best-seller or a mysterious ancient document, these unique tidbits bring otherwise mundane stories to life. I’m particularly a fan of the historical side of the humanities, but I’m excited to learn about other perspectives.

My interest to pursue the humanities is driven by a desire to explore identity, culture and belonging. I am excited to examine how humanities, paired with technological advances, can create long-term solutions to strengthen communities. I hope to deepen my understanding of culture and history to better appreciate how these shape diplomacy.

Whether evaluating philosophical reasoning or navigating lines of consciousness, I utilize humanities as my lens to examine how multifaceted truths are constructed by real human beings. Humanities hence reveals a fascinating world where ambiguity bridges together opposing perspectives and identities rather than forcing them into dichotomies. Such flexibility empowers me with unique intellectual autonomy to question inherited assumptions and form meaning on my own terms.

Studying the humanities encourages us to embrace radically different worldviews that may all simultaneously be true. Objectivity is challenged. While the sciences and social sciences also question the status quo, I think the humanities do so in a way that is particularly good at training empathy. This is crucial for building strong, healthy communities.

I love STEM, but I am also really interested in the humanities. My A&I was a philosophy class that I loved, and I’m also enjoying the linguistics class I’m taking right now. There are so many ways of thinking about and discussing interesting ideas within the humanities, and I look forward to exploring them.

In a time where the distribution of knowledge and information often seems more widely and easily accessible than ever before, via channels like social media and digitalization, the study of humanities helps us critically process the media we consume and apply it towards creating a better and more equitable world.