About the Denbo Center
Advancing Scholarship through Collaboration
The Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts (DCHA) supports advanced study of the arts and humanities, fosters interdisciplinary research that includes humanistic inquiry, collaborates with public organizations on humanistic and creative projects, and advocates for the social and intellectual value of the humanities and arts. We work locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally to support faculty and student research through fellowships, research mentoring programs, lectures and symposia, exhibitions and performances, grants, and public engagement projects.
The Denbo Center’s Mission
The DCHA provides UT faculty and graduate fellows with vital writing and research time, space, and funding to complete books and large research projects. We provide opportunities for faculty and graduate students to prepare grant proposals, to vet book manuscripts through an external review process, and to bring renowned scholars to campus. We offer internships and research education for graduate students. We also provide support for research and conference travel as well as book subventions for faculty.
The DCHA also promotes the humanities through its public outreach programs and community collaborations. We are a member of the global Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) and of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA), and an affiliate of Humanities Tennessee, and we regularly partner with local as well as national arts and humanities organizations.
DCHA History
We are a relatively young research center on the University of Tennesseeโs flagship campus. A committee of department heads and administrators began work toward establishing the center in 2009 and it was officially established in July 2011. The UT Humanities Center began its first full term of operation in academic year 2012-13, under the leadership of Thomas Heffernan. Amy Elias has been the Humanities Centerโs director since 2017. In 2024, thanks to a generous gift from UT alumnus Don Denbo (’71), the Center was renamed as the Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts.
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The DCHA partners on arts and humanities outreach with state-wide, national, and international organizations such as Big Ears Festival, Humanities Tennessee, and the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes.
Graduate students chosen to spend a year in the DCHA working on their dissertations graduate, on average, 1.5 years sooner, publish their first book sooner, and receive better job offers than other students in the humanities.
Faculty who spend a year at the Denbo Center win NEH and other awards and publish award-winning books and research projects more quickly.