Research & Engagement Support

By its very nature, research in the arts and humanities disciplines has broad social impact and diverse community applications. Yet too often, faculty are siloed in their own departments or apprenticed into ways of working that emphasize individual achievement over collaborative or commuity engagement. Research culture is changing, however, and exciting opportunities exist for faculty and students to connect their research and expertise to other fields and public contexts.

Such societal benefits also are important to external funding agencies such as private foundations, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health. The UT Humanities Center wants to help our research faculty and graduate students connect their work with external funding opportunities that they may not have considered.

But we also want to help to inform them about how locate local, regional, and state partnerships—with cultural organizations, aid organizations, even technical operations—may enrich and enliven their work and its social impact.

What is “engaged scholarship?” At UT, it is defined as working with a community partner for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge that is connected to one’s research project.

• Find more information about engaged scholarship at https://engagement.utk.edu/ 
• Find listings of examples and funding agencies at https://research.utk.edu/research-engagement/

The UTHC will be working closely with UT’s Office of Research to create programs that inform arts and humanities faculty about existing funding and outreach opportunities. We also are planning new programming to help educate arts and humanities faculty and graduate students about how to dovetail their research with engagement objectives and use their expertise to make an impact in the world beyond the classroom or the scholarly community.For more information, contact us at humanitiesctr@utk.edu.