New Humanities Research Center builds upon Lycoming College's academic program

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Aug 17, 2022, 09:00 ET

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., Aug. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when many institutes of higher education are eliminating humanities programs, Lycoming College is showing its commitment to the humanities with the launch of the Humanities Research Center (HRC), a dedicated center that supports collaborative student-faculty research, internships, guided scholarship, global study, and more.

Located at the heart of the campus' academics in the Academic Center, the HRC houses offices for the inaugural director, Andrew Leiter, Ph.D., professor of English, and Lycoming's arts and humanities career advisor, Shanin Dougherty. The HRC offers a casual space for students and faculty to socialize and work, as well as a place to host student and faculty research presentations, professional workshops for students, reading series, guest speakers, seminars, research receptions, honors induction ceremonies, and much more.

"The HRC will benefit enrolled students by expanding experiential learning opportunities, instituting an undergraduate humanities research conference, and publishing a student-edited undergraduate research journal," said President Kent Trachte, Ph.D. "This design is expected to raise awareness of Lycoming's excellence among our peer institutions, provide a highly marketable model that attracts more top-ranked students, and engage the Williamsport, Lycoming County, and Pennsylvania communities to exchange expertise, expand educational opportunities, and promote cultural literacy."

Combined with a liberal arts and sciences education, students studying the humanities (English, history, modern languages, philosophy, religion) and related disciplines at the College have long enjoyed impressive achievements and experiential learning opportunities in terms of collaborative student-faculty research, internships, guided scholarship, study abroad opportunities, education certification, digital humanities, graduate school placement, scholarships, and fellowships.

Plans for introducing a new interdisciplinary humanities conference focusing on undergraduate research is a top priority for the HRC, and such a conference will target the humanities programs of colleges and universities in the region. In addition to participating in research panels, Lycoming students will be involved with several aspects of the conference planning, such as initiating calls for papers, evaluating submissions, establishing panels, and organizing the events.

As an extension of the conference, the HRC plans to institute and publish a new journal for undergraduate humanities research. The articles for the journal will be solicited from the best research presentations of the conference.

More information on the Humanities Research Center at Lycoming College is available at https://www.lycoming.edu/humanities-research-center/.

Read press release in full at https://www.lycoming.edu/news/stories/2022/08/humanities-research-center.aspx.

About Lycoming College

Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is one of the nation's oldest and most respected liberal arts colleges. Today, our community of 1,200 active learners from 29 states and territories and 14 countries comprises a student body that is 36 percent domestic students of color or international, all of whom work with our renowned scholars to craft customized combinations of market-driven majors, minors and concentrations across our 40+ academic programs. Students compete in 19 NCAA Division III sports, participate in faculty-driven research, thrive in a robust program of internship experiences, and study abroad in more than two dozen countries. Lycoming College has one of the highest endowment-per-student ratios in the country. The institution is a member of the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts Colleges and is recognized by The Princeton Review as one of The 387 Best Colleges. Lycoming College is dedicated to providing a high-quality liberal arts and sciences education for all students. Learn more at http://www.lycoming.edu.

SOURCE Lycoming College