Humanities Alliance Research

Research in humanities-based pedagogies and humanistic inquiry in higher education, both in and outside the classroom, has been an integral part of the Humanities Alliance since the beginning of Phase I. Throughout the grant period, many of our staff, graduate fellows, and sometimes our undergraduates engaged in meaningful research, wrote reports, compiled bibliographies, and presented at academic conferences. One unique facet of the HA program was the inclusion of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (also named a Research Associate or Mellon Senior Researcher). The postdoctoral fellow’s primary responsibility was to conduct academic research in connection with CUNY programs, and assist others in conducting and leading research efforts. Our HA staff and postdoctoral fellows have: conducted interviews and classroom observations; participated in HA seminars and meetings on-site at the partner campuses; organized events; authored or co-authored proposals for conferences; and presented at national academic conferences.

Humanities Alliance Blog

The CUNY Humanities Alliance blog served several purposes during the program’s tenure. As part of their fellowship, HA graduate fellows were invited to blog about their experiences in their fellowship or some other aspect of their academic research or teaching that meaningfully intersected with the Humanities Alliance’s lines of inquiry. Through these blogs, fellows reflected critically on their lived experiences within CUNY and beyond, practiced their public writing skills, and shared important on-the-ground insight into the fellowship and the workings of the university more broadly. The blog also served as a space to report and reflect on the CUNY Peer Leaders’ regular meetups and annual showcases, and other noteworthy HA events happening at the Graduate Center. Communication fellow Mehrnaz Moghaddam and documentation fellow Zoe Alexander also crafted profiles on and interviews with HA fellows, faculty coordinators, and key staff. These posts helped provide a well-rounded public picture of the HA program, celebrated the work of HA fellows and personnel across the program, and strengthened the writers’ interview and documentation skills.