UChicago announces 2025 winners of Quantrell and Ph.D. teaching awards
UChicago annually recognizes faculty for their incredible teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students through the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching; and the Faculty Awards for Excellence in Ph.D. Teaching and Mentoring, which honor faculty for their work with graduate students. Two recipients are faculty members in the Division of the Arts and Humanities: Lenore Grenoble, the John Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Linguistics; and Timothy Harrison, Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.
Three UChicago scholars receive 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships
Guggenheim Fellowships have been awarded this year to three University of Chicago scholars, including two from the Division of the Arts & Humanities, and several alumni. The distinguished artists, writers and scientists join the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows honored for “prior career achievement and exceptional promise.” Prof. Theaster Gates, Lect. Richie Hofmann and Prof. Marcus Kronforst are among the 198 distinguished individuals selected from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants.
Visionary Opera Director Yuval Sharon to Deliver Berlin Family Lectures
On May 6, 13, and 20, visionary opera director Yuval Sharon will present this year’s Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Family Lectures, produced by the Division of the Arts & Humanities at the University of Chicago. Sharon’s three lectures are titled “Anarchy at the Opera” and will explore reimagining opera not through modes of nostalgia or imitation, but through experimentation and collaboration. Sharon’s third and final lecture on May 20 will include a rare performance of John Cage’s Europera 5. The lectures and performance will be offered both for in-person and online attendance—at 6 p.m. CDT at the Logan Center for the Arts, and on Zoom.
UChicago Arts Co-Hosts EXPO CHICAGO’s South Side Night April 22, 2025
For the fifth consecutive year, UChicago Arts showcases arts excellence across the University of Chicago and throughout neighboring south side communities.
Media Mentions March 2025
The latest media mentions, quotes, profiles, and writings from Division of the Humanities faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Visit us on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook for more updates.
What is 'recession pop' — and why is it making a comeback? New music from Kesha, Lady Gaga signals return to 'escapist pop bangers.'
Yahoo Entertainment
Paula Harper (music) was interviewed for this article on the resurgence of "recession pop"—the dance-floor anthems that offered escapist joy during the Great Recession and are now making a comeback. Harper explains how these songs served as “overcompensating counterpoints” to economic despair, offering “sonic bodily pleasure” in moments of uncertainty.
How much influence did white supremacist groups have on Chicago housing?
WBEZ
Adrienne Brown (English Language and Literature) was interviewed for this article on how white supremacist groups influenced Chicago housing segregation. She explains that while extremist groups like the White Circle League played a role, segregation was also upheld by real estate boards, neighborhood associations, and banks that adapted discriminatory practices even after legal barriers fell. Brown emphasizes that these systemic issues not only shaped Chicago’s housing market but also the lives and works of Black thinkers like Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, and Gwendolyn Brooks.
Meet the Staff: Joshua Oaks
More than 100 staff members work in the Division of the Humanities. We’ll introduce you to our staff in this continuing series.
Joshua Oaks
Director of Digital Communications
Office of the Dean
UChicago announces unified Division of the Arts & Humanities
The University of Chicago has announced the Division of the Humanities and UChicago Arts have been unified into the new Division of the Arts & Humanities.
In a message to the UChicago community on April 9, President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker called the announcement “an important milestone in the University’s academic evolution.”
Media Mentions February 2025
The latest media mentions, quotes, profiles, and writings from Division of the Humanities faculty, students, staff, and alumni.
The Necessity of Nussbaum
Aeon
Martha C. Nussbaum (Philosophy and Law) is praised for her influential work in ethics, political philosophy, and human development. The article highlights her capabilities approach, her theory of emotions as central to ethical reasoning, and her critique of anger as a response to injustice.
Agnes Callard: «What is Free Speech?»
Det humanistiske fakultet UiO
Agnes Callard (Philosophy) discusses a Socratic approach to free speech, rejecting standard liberal models—debate, the marketplace of ideas, and persuasion—for failing to prevent the politicization of speech. She explains what politicization is, why it is coercive, and how Socrates’ conversational method offers a way to avoid it.
Theaster Gates: ‘I’m an artist. It’s my job to wake things up’
The Guardian
Theaster Gates’ (Visual Arts) 1965: Malcolm in Winter: A Translation Exercise explores the intersections of civil rights history, material culture, and global craft traditions. By engaging archival materials—including a rare collection of Malcolm X translations—Gates reactivates historical memory as a form of aesthetic and political resistance.
The Biggest Reason to Be Optimistic About 2025, According to Philosophers
Newsweek
Martha C. Nussbaum (Philosophy and Law) is quoted in this article, stating that the greatest reason for optimism in 2025 is “the energy, intelligence, and compassion of young people.”
Neubauer Collegium Selects Faculty Research Projects for 2025–2026
The Neubauer Collegium has announced nine new faculty-led research projects exploring interdisciplinary topics such as (socio)linguistic theory, the evolving role of AI in the humanities, the opportunities and challenges of artistic research, among others. Sixteen faculty members from the Division of the Humanities will participate.
Life with Untimely Questions: Q&A with Agnes Callard
Agnes Callard doesn’t only study and teach philosophy—she lives it. Whether debating a friend over dinner, leading a late-night discussion in Hyde Park, or questioning her own beliefs in print, she treats inquiry as an open-ended pursuit rather than a search for fixed truths. A philosopher of ancient thought and modern dilemmas, she is known for her relentless curiosity, her insistence on argument as a mode of friendship, her appreciation for colors and their beauty, and her commitment to intellectually challenging both herself and others—often in public.
For Callard, inquiry is essential to living a meaningful life. The following conversation delves into Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life, its central themes, and why, for her, philosophy is not just something we can study—it’s something we can live with.