About the Centre for the Humanities
Mission statement: The Academic & the Civic
The Centre for the Humanities at Utrecht University is the platform for pioneering, innovative research & research training activities across the faculty and between this faculty and the rest of Utrecht University. Activities such as symposia, seminars and conferences aim to profile excellent research results in the Faculty of Humanities and to stress the social relevance of the Humanities in a broader non-academic world. This aim is also implemented through an active arts programme held in conjunction with the leading festivals held in the city of Utrecht.
The Centre promotes research in social theories of the Humanities and the public perception of the Humanities, with special emphasis on the role of religion in the public sphere, issues of diversity and tolerance and the notion of cosmopolitan European citizenship. The CfH also sponsors new interdisciplinary areas of the research on Humanities in the 21st century – notably in the areas of environmental, cognitive and digital humanities.
Within all of the three thematic areas of its Academic & Civic programme the CfH strives both to engage with the University on a Faculty-broad basis and to connect to the academic and scientific world at large. This is achieved by both a vibrant activities programme and extensive fellowship scheme . CfH actively cooperates with the leading research institutes in the faculty as well as with the five Utrecht research focus areas in which the Faculty of Humanities participates. Moreover, the Centre strives to further develop its already existing connection to the four Utrecht Strategic Areas . On top of which CfH actively and successfully cooperates with the following campus-broad departments at Utrecht University: Law, Anthropology, Economics, Earth Sciences and the Social Sciences.
Finally, the work of the CfH cultivates an international dimension, with which the CfH aims to profile the Faculty and the University through targeted European and international activities. The Centre for the Humanities at Utrecht University is co-founder of the European Consortium for Humanities Institutes and Centres (ECHIC). This European consortium is a university-based initiative to organize European Research Institutes, Humanities Faculties and Centres for the Humanities. ECHIC is affiliated to the international Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes (CHCI). These international activities aim at boosting the outstanding quality of research in the Humanities at Utrecht University and increase their visibility. This is implemented also in high-level intensive research training courses, gathered in the Utrecht School of Critical Theory, which is funded by the European Commission and jointly taught with a number of selected partners.