A Message from the Dean

Dear friends,
Welcome to the 2024–2025 issue of Perspectives, the College of Humanities annual magazine. The humanities are a driving force in our world, an invisible web connecting us with each other locally, nationally, and globally. The disciplines of the humanities animate every aspect of life, bringing centuries-old knowledge to illuminate the challenges we face today. From the traditional disciplines that many people first think of when they consider the humanities to innovative interdisciplinary collaborations, our work leaves an unmistakable imprint.

The skills that form the basis of humanistic study are the same ones the world most desperately needs right now. Close reading, contextually situating texts within broader contemporary or historical times and geographies, complex and nuanced analysis, oral and written communication skills that support reflection, understanding, and problem solving—these all make us better people, better prepared for careers, and also make us better at being human together.

As you explore this issue of Perspectives, I hope you recognize the force with which humanities both makes and moves our world. In these pages, we examine innovative research in Linguistics and Writing & Rhetoric Studies, consider the value of internships for humanities students and how our graduates succeed in the job market, and survey the richness of our academic centers within the ecosystems of the university and the community.

We immerse ourselves in the beauty and importance of poetry and contemplate how acts of art ground us in our humanity when we truly need it. We live by the ethos of sharing the power of humanities education with all who want it, and delve into the college’s collaboration with the Utah Prison Education Project that offers hope and durable skills to people pursuing a degree while incarcerated. We celebrate the Department of Philosophy’s new Medical Humanities major and study connections between medicine and humanistic inquiry.

We learn about the tremendous care and effort that goes into student success in our college, salute our faculty’s research accomplishments, and hear from a distinguished alumna and an incredible graduating student about what their time in the College of Humanities has meant to them.

I have seen how this college upholds the essence of the humanities— critical thinking, synthesizing ideas, and bringing that knowledge into the world in meaningful and productive ways. As you explore these pages with us, we hope that you also feel the living, beating heart of the humanities driving us forward into the future together, embracing both the uncertainty and excitement we are guaranteed to find.

Sincerely,

Wanda Pillow

Dean, College of Humanities
University of Utah