Giving
The arts and humanities explain us to ourselves.
More relevant today than ever before, the humanities are a vibrant territory of research about human cultures and values. The humanities and arts are evident when we see a sublime landscape and try to communicate its spiritual power; when we ask about the meaning of life; when we encounter new languages, cultures, and customs; when we ask about the history behind our present realities; when we seek to defend democracy in a complex global context. The arts and humanities explain us to ourselves. They connect us to our ancestors and encourage us to understand our historical past; they help to make sense of the politics, changing values, and contexts of the present; they enable us to imagine the future. They connect us to the good, the beautiful, and the true in all fields of human endeavor and help us to see the infinite variety and possibility offered by the world.
The arts and humanities today at UT Knoxville need your support as we consider the past, the present, and the possible.
Unrestricted gifts from individual donors and charitable organizations will help the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts to be self-sustaining, continuing our vital work of supporting and promoting research in arts and humanities fields at the University of Tennessee. Gifts also help us to support and host interdisciplinary work between the humanities and other areas of study, such as digital media studies and big data analysis, health and medicine, environmental studies, law, and the social sciences. We are grateful for your support!
Save the date for the next Big Orange Give: November 8, 2023.
Join the Denbo Center for the next Big Orange Give with our Big Orange Give Zoomathon. Details and links will be posted as soon as they are available! Too inspired to wait? You can support the Denbo Center in lots of ways. Click the link below for the portal to our options for giving.
The Denbo Center relies on friends and alumni to support our vital work.
There are many ways to support the Denbo Center!
The Tennessee Humanities Center Endowment
Gifts to The Tennessee Humanities Center Endowment are unrestricted and will enable the Center to offer its most important and fundamental research programs, including its research fellowships, seminars, and manuscript review program. The fund allows us to update our space needs and is also used to provide Center-related compensation for Denbo Center administration and staff. Donors to this fund are supporting the long-term mission of the Denbo Center.
Opportunities:
Unrestricted gifts to the DCHA provide funding for short-term strategic priorities and may also qualify for College of Arts and Sciences and University gift society levels. All gifts are vital to the health of the Center, from continuous giving of small amounts from payroll as low as $10/month to larger gifts that fully sustain our programming.
The Center seeks gifts of $10,000 or more to establish ongoing support for programs crucial to sustaining cutting-edge humanities research at UT and sustain our core research programs. Donors at this level become members of the Director’s Circle.
Click on the link below, then select The Tennessee Humanities Center Endowment within the Denbo Center giving portal.
The Humanities Center Enrichment Fund
Gifts to the Enrichment Fund provide unrestricted support and secure the Center’s ability to respond to emerging ideas and needs within the humanities. Some examples of initiatives and activities your annual gift will help sustain include:
- Ongoing public and campus discussions such as book and film discussion series
- Support for undergraduate humanities initiatives
- One-time public event synergies with local and regional arts organizations
- Cross-campus research collaborations and events.
Click on the link below, then select The Humanities Center Enrichment Fund within the Humanities Center giving portal.
Thomas J. Heffernan Humanities Fund
To honor UTHC/DCHA Founding Director Thomas J.A. Heffernan and his many contributions to the University of Tennessee, a fund has been established to support humanities graduate students’ academic pursuits, such as, but not limited to, graduate internships in the Denbo Center, dissertation workshops, and expenses related to research.
Donors giving to this fund support the best arts and humanities scholarship at the University of Tennessee and contribute to vital investigation of the ethical, artistic, historical, and philosophical issues important to our world.
Click on the link below, then select Thomas J. Heffernan Humanities Fund within the Denbo Center giving portal.
The Stuart Riggsby Humanities Support Endowment
The income from this fund is used to provide awards for faculty members or graduate students to focus on research and publication while participating in the Denbo Center at the University of Tennessee. It also provides research travel awards for both faculty and graduate-student fellows.
The endowment is named for Dr. Stuart Riggsby, formerly Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a distinguished biochemist who was a great supporter of the humanities at UT.
Click on the link below, then select The Stuart Riggsby Humanities Support Endowment within the Denbo Center giving portal.
“Investing in the Humanities Center is investing in our entire campus and our entire academic community.”
—Joshua Ortiz Baco
Digital Scholarship Librarian, UT Libraries