Programs and Events

The Center for the Humanities supports a variety of ongoing events and programs, including our colloquium series, our sponsored book series, and awards for both faculty and students.

Myron "Mike" Marty Arts + Humanities Lecture

The Myron “Mike” Marty Arts + Humanities Lectureship is awarded by the Center for the Humanities through the support of a generous donation from the Ralph & Sylvia G. Green Charitable Foundation. The 2021 Marty Lecture featured a performance and lecture by the artist Judit Hersko. She also ran a workshop with students.

Humanities Colloquium Series

Drake Faculty undertaking reseach in the humanities offer insights into their current work as the basis for discussion during occasional Friday afternoon meetings. For more information contact Mary M. McCarthy, Professor of Political Science.

Humanities Reads!

Faculty teaching courses in the humanities, or courses with a central-humanities related component are invited to adopt a common text annually. Nominations for each year's chosen text are due by Board's last meeting of the spring semester.

The deadline to nominate a book for the following year's Humanities Reads! program is the Friday of Drake Relays.

Faculty may submit Humanities Reads! nominations for the coming year, with a statement arguing for the campus-wide relevance of the book, via email to the director. (If the book is selected, excerpts from the statement may be used in the announcement.)

Awards

For students: the Edward C. Truman Award of $500 is given annually to a Drake undergraduate in the junior year. Please follow the link above to review the nomination process. 

For faculty: the Humanities Research Scholar Award offers a robust package of faculty research support over a three-year term.

The Center has also committed substantial support to several ongoing events and programs:

The Comparison Project

Affiliated with the Department of Philosophy and Religion, TCP is an experimental effort in philosophy of religion that is historically grounded and religiously diverse. The Comparison Project features a series of lectures by scholars of religion, interfaith dialogues by Drake students and local religious leaders, and panel discussions by philosophers of religion. For more information contact Dr. Timothy Knepper, Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion.

Susan Glaspell Writers & Critics Series

Hosted by the Drake University Department of English and sponsored by the Center for the Humanities, the Writers and Critics Series brings established fiction writers, poets, essayists, historians, and scholars to the Drake Campus to give public talks and readings, meet with students, and attend classes. For more information contact Leah Huizar, Assistant Professor, Department of English.