Congratulations to this year’s Center for Ideas & Society award winners!
What happens when scholars across medicine, dance, philosophy, and environmental science join forces? The Center for Ideas and Society’s 2026–27 funded initiatives demonstrate the transformative power of interdisciplinary research. By pairing critical humanistic inquiry with community action, our research community is producing vital insights, from environmental justice to living historical archives, and beyond. Congratulations to all our funded project partners!
✪ CONFERENCE AWARD
Jaye Austin Williams (Black Study)
Desirée Melonas (Black Study and Political Science)
“Black Study at the Limit of Humanism: Creating Space for Divergent Black Perspectives in Times of Global Onslaught”
✪ FACULTY RESEARCH COLLABORATIVES
Amanda Lucia (Study of Religion)
“Archives of Bodies/Embodied Archives”
Jade Sasser (Society, Environment, & Health Equity)
“Climate Health and Justice Working Group”
✪ Humanities Graduate Student Research Awards
Esther Aguayo (Anthropology)
Elizabeth DeWolf (Creative Writing)
Mara De Gregori (Anthropology)
Rory Fewer (Music)
Nico Valdivia Hennig (Hispanic Studies)
Ariel Texis Muñoz (Anthropology)
Cal Plett (Music)
Brenda Rincon (Psychology)
Derly Johanna Nieto Rojas (Hispanic Studies)
Justin Tran (Anthropology)
Jenna M Wilson (English)
✪ Jean Rowe Warnke Graduate Student Research Award
Christella Maldonado (History)