Well, it may seem perverse to be thinking about yet another campus humanities center at a time when it seems as if the world is falling apart, but I suppose that thinking about ordinary concerns is one of the ways to hold on to one’s sanity in a world that seems to have gone mad. Perhaps I will feel better about the larger world after watching the second debate tonight, but somehow I doubt it . . .

Last Thursday I flew to Cincinnati and spent the evening and most of the next day consulting with members of the humanities faculties of Miami University in Oxford about the humanities center that an enlightened dean of arts and sciences and provost have authorized. I agreed to go both because I know and admire the faculty member who has been asked to direct the center, and because Miami is a very important sort of educational institution. It is a mid-sized public institution, serving mostly undergraduates (though it has a variety of MA and Ph.D. programs), that plays an important role in Ohio public education. I think that institutions like Miami are the heart and soul of what is going on at the core of higher education —and of course I am convinced that the humanities are crucial to the performance of liberal arts institutions.

I was impressed by the caliber and commitment of the faculty who attended our meetings last week. They came from most of the departments in the humanities, and had generous ideas of the scope of research and teaching in the humanities. My advice was that the new center, as it developed, should reach out to the rest of the faculty, both in the arts and sciences and the professional schools, since it needs to extend its reach across the campus.

But mostly we talked about what sorts of activities the center should sponsor, how it should be governed and what its general goals should be. The initial funds allocated to the center are significant for a campus of this size (especially given the financial problems confronting all public institutions these days), but nevertheless they will not sustain a great many activities — or indeed any single large project. So from the start the center faculty have to consider the possibility of projects that will attract external (grant) support. The center must foster interdisciplinary research (including disciplines outside the humanities), but it must also have an impact on teaching and student research (both undergraduate and graduate). It needs to concern itself with the emerging world of the digital humanities. It needs to speak to the administration, students, and faculty about the needs and opportunities of the humanities. There is much to be done by few hands and limited funds, but the faculty are clearly optimistic about the prospects for the center.

I was quite excited by the discussions. These were serious, engaging, and devoted faculty members imagining a new chapter in the history of a fine university. I felt honored to be working with them, and committed to their project. The world may indeed be falling apart in some significant ways, but I think we have to continue to do the best job we can of perfecting our profession with the resources available to us. Small significant steps in perilous times keep us moving ahead. The folks at Miami are doing just that, and I think they are going to do some interesting things in the years to come.