University of Cincinnati
08/20/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/21/2026 16:21
UC's Taft Research Center names two new Taft distinguished professors to advance humanities research with public impact
UC's Taft Research Center names two new Taft distinguished professors to advance humanities research with public impact
Five-year professorships for faculty whose research crosses disciplines and reaches beyond UC
6 minute read August 20, 2026 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Story Like
The University of Cincinnati's Charles Phelps Taft Research Center has named Erynn Masi de Casanova and Muhammad U. Faruque as the newest Taft distinguished professors. Recognized for their outstanding records of scholarly distinction, engagement across multiple fields, and continued promise, Casanova and Faruque will hold the title for the next five years, delivering inaugural public lectures and events on campus this fall.
One of the highest honors available to faculty at UC, Taft distinguished professorships provide faculty with $25,000 in dedicated research funding to support ambitious projects and broaden the impact of their work. Professorships are staggered and awarded to tenured faculty from Taft member units by application, typically every other year.
Casanova and Faruque's appointments highlight the range of scholarship supported by the Center and emphasize its role in advancing research that demonstrates the importance of the humanities in their broadest sense.
Erynn Masi de Casanova studies work, inequality and everyday survival across borders
Photo/Fatemeh Rezaei/UC Taft Research Center
Casanova, professor and head of UC's Department of Sociology, is a qualitative sociologist whose award-winning books have been recognized by the Latin American Studies Association, American Sociological Association and National Women's Studies Association and garnered national media attention from The New Yorker, The Boston Globe and The Guardian.
Casanova's research focuses on gender, work and the body. She uses ethnographic and collaborative methods to investigate how people navigate inequality in everyday life, crafting strategies for survival.
From direct sales in Ecuador and paid domestic labor in Latin America to white-collar masculinity in the United States, Casanova said she is "interested in how people make decisions about how to present themselves and their bodies in social settings."
We're in a moment where social sciences and humanities are under attack. We need to come out very loudly and proclaim the usefulness of these disciplines and these approaches.
Erynn Masi de Casanova, Taft Distinguished Professor
These decisions, she went on to explain, are "always constrained" and often consequential.
Her new research projects foreground climate and cross-national research collaborations. In one project she explores what the cultural meanings of the guayabera, a traditional Latin American garment, across several regional contexts reveal about shifting relationships between climate, dress and masculinity. In another, she and two international colleagues compare how paid domestic workers in Ecuador, Puerto Rico and South Africa navigate unstable access to water and electricity at work and at home.
During her tenure Casanova plans to do just that, training a multinational cohort of student research collaborators, advancing comparative climate and care research and building a public-facing website for scholars studying domestic work in Latin America.
Muhammad Faruque brings philosophy, climate ethics and public humanities into dialogue
Photo/Fatemeh Rezaei/UC Taft Research Center
Faruque, associate professor of environmental studies and Islamic philosophy, is an interdisciplinary scholar who connects global philosophy, environmental humanities, ethics, spirituality and consciousness studies. His research is motivated by deeply humanistic questions. His work asks: What does it mean to be human? What is consciousness? How should people understand their place in the cosmos? How might philosophical and spiritual traditions help address contemporary challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence (AI)?
In his forthcoming book The Interconnected Universe, Faruque argues that climate change should not be understood as only a technical or economic problem, but instead a humanistic one. "It is ultimately a problem of meaning, a problem of value, and a problem of how we understand our place in the universe," he explained. Faruque develops a theory of the "interconnected universe," offering a new way of understanding the relationship between human beings, the climate and the more-than-human world.
"My scholarship seeks to demonstrate how traditions often viewed as historically or culturally distant can illuminate shared philosophical concerns," said Faruque. From his research on the 17th-century Persian philosopher Mulla Sadra to his current project on AI, transhumanism and the future of humanity, Faruque underscores the vital role humanists should play in the public sphere.
Since joining UC in 2020, Faruque has cultivated sustained relationships with local religious and cultural organizations, including the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Faruque sees the humanities as a public good. With the Taft Distinguished Professorship, he plans to organize interdisciplinary conversations and conferences that bring together scholars from philosophy, environmental policy, religious studies and the social sciences while also building public-facing resources on climate ethics and AI.
Taft's support, he said, is especially meaningful as it creates space for work that crosses fields and reaches beyond the university.
Inaugural events
Casanova and Faruque each will host an inaugural event this fall. Both are free and open to the public. Registration is required for all attendees.
2026-31 Taft Distinguished Professor Inaugural Event: Erynn Masi de Casanova Nothing Compares: The Value and Process of Comparison in Qualitative Research, an interdisciplinary panel discussion 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 9 at Valentine Overlook, 5280 Clifton Court Hall. Register for the Casanova inaugural event
Across disciplines, researchers use comparison to analyze and understand. But why and how do we compare, and how do we decide what to compare? This event brings together scholars to discuss comparative research design, case selection and methodology, and how these practices shape the claims that we make.
2026-31 Taft Distinguished Professor Inaugural Lecture: Muhammad U. Faruque Beyond Technical Fixes: Climate Change and the Future of Humanity from 2 to 3 p.m. Nov. 6 at 1170 Clifton Court Hall. Register for the Faruque inaugural lecture
This lecture investigates why the climate crisis cannot be solved through technology and policy alone. Drawing on the environmental humanities, Sufism and ecological economics, the lecture argues that climate change is ultimately a crisis of values and meaning, calling for a new way of understanding the relationship between human beings, the climate and the more-than-human world.
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