C.M. Naim, pioneer of Urdu studies and beloved mentor, 1936–2025
Choudhri Mohammed Naim, better known as C.M. Naim, passed away in Hyde Park, Chicago, on July 9, 2025. Naim—called Naim Sahib by his students and colleagues, using the Urdu honorific—was 89. An emeritus professor in the Department of South Asian Languages & Civilizations (SALC), which he first joined more than 60 years ago before retiring in 2001, Naim was a prolific author, cultural critic, and mentor to many across his long career, and widely regarded as the founder of Urdu studies in North America.
UChicago Arts & Humanities Day Announces Speakers, Partnership with Chicago Humanities
UChicago’s 45-year tradition of celebrating arts and humanistic scholarship partners with Chicago Humanities Festival—to showcase the work of scholars, writers, artists, philosophers, and other luminaries.
Curating Care: UChicago alum organizes Lifeblood, an international exhibition on Munch and medicine
Art History alum Allison Morehead (PhD ’07) expands connections between Edvard Munch’s art and the history of modern medicine.
During Year of Games, UChicago invites everyone to play
Year-long celebration of games launches with library exhibition and three-day symposium featuring game makers, writers and scholars
Gray Center launches Portable Gray issue honoring artist Pope.L’s “Chicago Years”
Pope.L’s impact at UChicago extended far beyond the classroom—through his groundbreaking performances, scholarship, and deep ties to Chicago’s art scene. On Aug. 27, the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry honors his legacy with a launch event for Portable Gray: The Chicago Years, featuring Theaster Gates, Mami Takahashi, and a DJ set in his honor.
Five gems from the South Side Home Movie Project
The South Side Home Movie Project exhibition at the Logan Center for the Arts runs through August 24. Explore five surprising gems from the 20-year-old archive dedicated to preserving and digitizing the rich tapestry of home movies created by Chicago's South Side residents.
Arts & Humanities faculty member Hoyt Long receives named professorship
Twenty-six members of the University of Chicago faculty have received distinguished service professorships or named professorships, including Hoyt Long who has been named the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the College.
Grant funds Smart Museum-Divinity School partnership to research religious objects
The University of Chicago has received a $2.45 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The grant will support the four-year project, Afterlives: Engaging Objects of Religious Origin in Museum Collections, a collaboration between the Smart Museum of Art and the Divinity School’s Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion.
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.