2008-2009 Annual Report
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE JACKMAN HUMANITIES INSTITUTE 2008-2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Overview: The First Full Year at the Jackman Humanities Institute 1 2. Statement from the Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute 2 3. Governance 4 4. Space and Staffing 6 5. Fellows 9 6. Jackman Humanities Institute Program for the Arts 12 7. Jackman Humanities Institute Working Groups 14 8. Looking Ahead: Announcements for 2009–2010 15 1. OVERVIEW: THE FIRST FULL YEAR 1 1. Overview: The First Full Year at the Jackman Humanities Institute Annual Theme, 2008–2009: Telling Stories Most fellowships and programs at the Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) are chosen for their achievement, scholarly merit and their relevance to a single annual theme. This annual focus permits coherent, imaginative and meaningful communication between widely separated disciplines, while the year-by-year variation allows for an equitable rotation of concentration between units. The themes are chosen by consensus of the Advisory Board of the Jackman Humanities Institute. The following are selected both for scholarly excellence and for relevance to the annual theme: Fellowships . Jackman Humanities Institute Faculty Research Fellowships (12 Month) . Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships (incoming year only) . Chancellor Jackman Graduate Fellowships in the Humanities . Jackman Humanities Institute Undergraduate Fellowships . Jackman Humanities Institute Distinguished Visiting Fellows Programs . Jackman Humanities Institute Program for the Arts The following are selected for scholarly excellence independent of relevance to the annual theme: Professorships . Chancellor Henry N.R. Jackman Distinguished Professor in Philosophical Studies . Chancellor Jackman Professorships in the Arts Fellowships . Jackman Humanities Institute Faculty Research Fellowships (6 month) . Chancellor Henry N.R. Jackman Junior Fellowships Programs . Jackman Humanities Institute Working Groups 1.1. 2008–2009 Annual Theme: Telling Stories Making sense of our world depends on the practice of narrating events. In both oral and written traditions, and ranging from the historian's monograph to the epic poem, a film, or a single painting, the activity of telling stories serves as a topic for diverse kinds of scholarly inquiry. Humanities research explores various modes of telling and the social, political, epistemological and ethical implications of how and why stories are told. 2 2. STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE JACKMAN HUMANITIES INSTITUTE ROBERT B. GIBBS PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY 3 2. Statement from the Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute Robert B. Gibbs The Inaugural year of the Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) was a great and bold success. The report that follows summarizes a vast array of activities and accomplishments; here, I wish only to highlight a few key aspects of our first year. Let me note at the outset that this report is not accidental to the JHI. We are developing an ongoing process to publicize the achievements of humanities scholars at the University of Toronto in order to offer focus on the excellence and importance of their work. Reporting is at the core of the work of the Institute. We will have at least five versions of this report—and the current one includes information designed to offer you a quick overview of our work year by year. More detailed information is available upon request. The JHI exists in order to further research of humanities scholars at the University of Toronto. Its goal are to draw together scholars who might otherwise not engage each other; to foster creative new methodologies; to connect our scholars with those beyond the U of T; and in general, to raise the profile of the humanities at the U of T. We do not support proposals that can properly belong to a single department or centre; nor do we develop curriculum. Instead, we use our resources to fund fellows who conduct their independent research in a community of inquiry, and to support a wide range of other initiatives across the three campuses. Through the course of the past year three key features of the Institute came into existence: 1) the physical space, 2) the staff, and 3) the virtual space (the website at www.humanities.utoronto.ca). Working closely with John Shnier (of Kohn Shnier Architects), we were able to design and to build a unique home for the JHI. It is a space ennobling for the humanities and hospitable for collaboration and research. The staff members provide extensive support for the multiple activities of the JHI. The website is still in its earliest phases, but it is already creating a new image of the humanities at the University of Toronto. It is visually linked to the physical space, but more importantly, as it grows over the summer, it will allow us to multiply the communication and collaboration we are supporting with funds for events in real space. We will be guiding humanities scholars of all ages to unleash the capacity of digital communications and research. These three features supported a full set of programs whose reporting occupies most of the rest of this document. The planning process of the past two years has drawn together a range of previously endowed programs (Research Fellows, Graduate Fellows, Distinguished Visitor, Program for the Arts, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows), as well as a new Working Group program and an Undergraduate Fellows program. Many of these were linked by theme, all were coordinated by the JHI, and the synergy was dramatic and exciting. We have made ambitious plans for 2009–2010. Of necessity, given the economic climate, we have scaled back the funding for various elements of our programming; however, with the exception of the Distinguished Visiting Fellow, every program will continue. Moreover, we are adding a new program to help just-tenured faculty develop interdisciplinary projects. We are also engaged on many fronts with Digital Humanities research and similarly with the Arts and Humanities. Finally, we are developing partnerships with other institutes at McGill, Cornell, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Our roster of 2009–2010 Fellows, Working Groups, and Programs for the Arts is outlined later in this report. In short, the JHI’s second year holds great promise to step up the momentum achieved in 2008—2009. 4 The Jackman Humanities Institute is emerging rapidly on the international scene. The Advisory Board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), an international body of almost 170 institutes, welcomed a Canadian presence, offering me a seat. The University of Toronto’s Jackman Humanities Institute will host the annual conference of the CHCI in May of 2011. We are playing a leading role in an initiative to coordinate CHCI with a younger consortium of Digital Humanities Centers (CenterNet). This initiative is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and is in conversation with the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation from the USA as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in Canada. In all of these activities, the JHI is raising the profile of the University of Toronto; moreover, it is rapidly emerging as an international leader in humanities research and in advocating for the humanities with governmental bodies and foundations. The key benefit of the JHI, however, is in the growth of individual humanities scholars. Some of our Faculty Research fellows wrote books; Graduate fellows completed their Ph.D. theses; Postdoctoral fellows engaged in teaching. Several of our fellows are moving on to new universities and new stages of their careers, as suits our programs. Our undergraduate fellows placed into leading graduate programs (Harvard, Oxford, Michigan), and one Postdoctoral fellow left after one year for a tenure track position at Syracuse University. In these cases, the JHI provided a home for their individual projects, but also created a web of relations and conversations that they will take with them as they pursue their careers. Students and Faculty across the university participated in our working groups and in the Jackman Humanities Institute Program for the Arts. We focused our resources on events and groups that would enrich and advance humanities scholarship at the U of T, awarding funding to proposals that furthered ongoing research here. Our faculty fellows will be teaching a course based on their research leave; our working groups are seeding new collaborations; and new programs next year will address challenges of recently tenured faculty. In all of these activities the goal is to augment the fundamental and widely recognized excellent work of our departments and centres. We welcome suggestions for new initiatives as we continue to build the JHI. 5 6 3. Governance 7 3.1. Synopsis of Jackman Humanities Institute Governance, 2008–2009 The Jackman Humanities Institute has three levels of governance. The Advisory Board meets 5–8 times during each academic year. Its purpose is to advise the Director on major questions of orientation and vision for the JHI, including policies, programs, and general oversight on all activities, including the budget. The Advisory Board connects the JHI with the humanities departments and their faculty and students across the University of Toronto. This committee is composed of senior faculty members and department chairs from the humanities disciplines, representatives from the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and other Faculties. Members are appointed for three-year terms. The Council of Humanities Institute Deans meets at least once each year. The Director of the JHI reports to this body, which provides both oversight and financial resources. The purpose of this body is to oversee the JHI, including the appointment of the Director, and to assess its success at achieving its mandate. The Council connects the JHI with the administration within the University of Toronto and assures that the JHI contributes to the mission of the University.