Through participation in regional and international consortia, the Franke Institute fosters collaboration within the University of Chicago and also with other institutions in Chicago, the Midwest and around the world. 

The Franke Institute is a member of the Humanities Without Walls Consortium (HWW), a partnership of fifteen research universities in the Midwest and beyond, that creates new avenues for collaborative research, teaching, and scholarship in the humanities, forging and sustaining areas of inquiry that cannot be created or maintained without cross-institutional cooperation. The Humanities Without Walls Consortium has been supported by awards totaling approximately $7.2 million to the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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UChicago faculty have received the following HWW grants for collaborative research projects with colleagues at participating institutions:

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2018 

“Coping with Changing Climates in Early Antiquity: Comparative Approaches between Empiricism and Theory,” awarded to Prof. Herve Reculeau (Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations) and colleagues

2017

“Transmedia Collage: Histories of Violence and Futures of Health on Chicago’s South Side,” awarded to Prof. Patrick Jagoda (English) and colleagues

2015

“A History of World Music Recording,” awarded to Prof. Philip Bohlman (Music) and colleagues

"Open Fields: The Chicago Field Museum’s Anthropology Collection and Its Influence on European Enchantments with Native America,” awarded to Prof. Justin Richland (Anthropology) and colleagues

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UChicago predoctoral students have received HWW summer fellowships for Career Diversity Workshops:

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2018 

Christopher Grant (Anthropology) and Laura Turner (Ethnomusicology)

2017

Nadia Chana (Ethnomusicology)

2016

Hanna Brooks-Motl (English) and Ilana McQuinn (History)

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2015

Bill Hutchison (English) and Antje Postema (Slavic Languages & Literatures)

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For more information, please see: Humanities Without Walls Consortium

Founded in 1988, the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes fosters cross-disciplinary activity and helps scholars around the world identify new directions and strategies in humanistic research, teaching and engagement. It has a membership of over one hundred and fifty centers and institutes that are remarkably diverse in size and scope, and are located in the United States, Australia, Canada, Finland, Taiwan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

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The Franke Institute has historically provided leadership in this international network of humanistic scholars. The current director of the Franke Institute, Prof. Richard Neer, is a member of the CHCI Advisory Board, as was the previous Franke director.

In Chicago, Humanities Festivals include the on-campus ‘Humanities Day’ in October, a UChicago tradition since 1980 that features the latest research of award-winning faculty in free discussions, tours, performances, and lectures; and the Chicago Humanities Festival’s ongoing, city-wide exploration (since 1990) of humanities and arts with visiting speakers and performers:

Humanities Day at the University of Chicago

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Chicago Humanities Festival