SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Launches Hansen Humanities Network

SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Launches Hansen Humanities Network

On Tuesday, August 26th, more than 60 students, faculty, staff, and administrators gathered in Lovejoy Library's Goshen Lounge to celebrate the launch of the Hansen Humanities Network established by a generous endowed gift from Julia Y. and Stephen L. Hansen to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Highlighting the Hansen's many contributions to the College and University, Dean of the College, Kevin Leonard, PhD, noted that "Over the course of their long careers in the SIUE Department of History, Graduate School, and Lovejoy Library, Steve and Julie Hansen demonstrated their deep understanding of the value of the humanistic disciplines to our students' learning and personal development and to the health of our communities and the larger society. The College of Arts and Sciences is grateful for Steve and Julie's generosity and their unwavering support for innovative projects in the humanities."

The network, developed by Howard Rambsy, PhD, Distinguished Research Professor in English, Elizabeth Cali, PhD, associate professor in English and Associate Dean in the Graduate School, as well as Tisha Brooks, PhD, professor in English and Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences will establish lasting humanities programming at SIUE over the coming years, while ensuring that current and future students benefit from the Hansen's legacy of support for the humanities.

The Hansen Humanities Network seeks to cultivate a vibrant culture of reading, expand access to valuable humanities resources, and create dynamic public spaces for thoughtful conversation and reflection.

According to Rambsy, Cali, and Brooks, "By fostering a deeper engagement with reading and ideas, we aim to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of our university and broader region."

During opening remarks, Steve Hansen, Emeritus Professor of History and Graduate School Dean Emeritus, as well as former Interim Dean of the College and Interim Chancellor of SIUE reiterated the value of long-term investment in the humanities, which helps us to understand the "why" of our lives and in particular why our work and contributions matter not only for ourselves but for our communities and broader world.

Similarly, Julia Hansen, former humanities librarian at SIUE, reiterated the value of reading books as a transformative practice that sustains our individual and collective lives.

Given that creating a culture of reading is a central goal of the Hansen Humanities Network, it is fitting that the launch of the network coincided with the kickoff of the first public humanities project to take place this academic year: SIUE Reads.

SIUE Reads is a campus-wide reading project involving more than 200 students and several affiliated faculty and staff supporters across campus. This humanities program aims to advance a dynamic reading culture by connecting students, faculty, and staff through free books, engaging discussions, and shared resources.

According to Rambsy, "We coordinate weekly gatherings where readers come together to discuss books, while also distributing copies so participants can read and share on their own. The project also includes occasional podcast episodes featuring the experiences and lessons learned from readers."

Beyond book series and podcasts, the Hansen Humanities Network may also include additional public programming such as exhibits and reading pods, as well as symposia and a Humanities Hub where scholars, schoolteachers, students, and active readers can gather to develop resources to support a broad community of readers, as well as to discuss books and ideas.

Since one of the primary purposes of the Network is to provide opportunities and funding to support faculty-led humanities programming, future projects will be proposed by humanities faculty and reviewed by a committee of humanities faculty to ensure alignment with the vision for the network.

The College Dean's Office will oversee the proposal submission and review process each year.

PHOTOS: Julia Y. and Stephen L. Hansen; students, faculty, staff and administrators celebrate the launch of the Hansen Humanities Network