Rural Humanities FAQ

The seminar is conceived to introduce students to the public humanities as both a disciplinary inquiry and a set of practices grounded in public and community engagement. It is intended to train cohorts of graduate students and advanced undergraduates in the various theories, methods, and practices of public humanities, to think collectively with and beyond disciplinary interests, and to bring these discipline-defined research agendas to much wider communities by first focusing on local rural communities.

Methodologically, RH recognizes that public scholarship is multifaceted: it may mean scholarship on public issues, for public purposes, with public partners, and/or the (co-) creation of public goods. From public-facing scholarly work on the rural (public humanities) to direct collaboration with community partners in the co-creation of scholarly projects (engaged humanities), we embrace all these forms of scholarly commitment, recognizing that we need them all if we are to address the staggering challenges that face our world today.

Within the field of public scholarship, we consider the public humanities to mean humanistic inquiries whose findings are made available to a broad public and/or that incorporate community partners in the research process. Examples of public-facing deliverables would be events, media coverage and dissemination, podcasts, Op Eds, performances, exhibits, projects with public-facing institutes, museums, digital humanities, etc.

In community-engaged learning courses, students go beyond the classroom, seeing firsthand how theory and practice connect in the real world. They collaborate with communities—in Ithaca and around the globe—to design, implement and evaluate real solutions to real problems. These academically rigorous courses advance knowledge within specific fields of study while challenging students to grow as global citizens.

No.

In addition to the seminar, which will be offered every spring semester, there will be a 6-week RH  summer practicum in which students will have the opportunity to work on their RH projects with a community partner. A stipend of up to $8,000 will be provided to help students to develop and complete their projects.

No, the course will help you develop your ideas into a public humanities project. 

Some students will have ideas for projects that they want to work on at the start of the seminar; we expect these ideas to evolve and become more refined during the seminar. Others may be new to the seminar’s goals, and we will take these various points of departure into account. Bear in mind that the RH is an open and collective experiment, and we value students’ intellectual profiles, experiences, and contributions in this campus-wide initiative. The seminar’s orientation will provide more specific information about the kinds and feasibility of projects.

For graduate and undergraduate students who wish to be considered for enrollment in our Rural Humanities Seminar, please apply by submitting a statement of no more than 300 words in which you describe: (1) why you are interested public humanities and/or community-engaged work; (2) what it means for your intellectual development; and (3) the type of project in these areas that you are interested in developing. If you have previous experience in public or engaged work, please also briefly discuss it. Spaces are limited, and an early response will assure consideration for enrollment. Please submit your statement and provide requested information using this application form by the deadline. 

The purpose of the stipend of up to $2,000 is to assist students with expenses as they develop their RH projects during the spring semester. Funds may be used for transportation, food, and supplies for public facing projects.

The stipend will be made available through the Society for the Humanities once you have been accepted and enrolled in the seminar. Students will receive more information about the stipend on the first day of the seminar.