The Center for the Humanities promotes the cross-disciplinary, collaborative, and public humanities across and beyond the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We support traditional and new forms of inquiry in the humanities and engage the public through reciprocal partnerships that broaden the ways that knowledge circulates.
Events
Announcements
A Year in Review
We want to thank you—the students, faculty, staff, and community members who make this all possible.
Lost Children Archive in Wisconsin
During the 2023-2024 Great World Texts program, high school teachers and students throughout the state will read Valeria Luiselli’s novel Lost Children Archive.
Upcoming Events
Please check out our slate of exciting events for the 2023-24 year. All events are free and open to all. More details will be added soon.
Get Involved with Us
Research Programs
Our research programs provide unique opportunities to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and to pursue innovation in writing, teaching, and scholarship.
- Borghesi-Mellon Workshops
- First Book Workshop
- Iwanter Prize for Undergraduate Research
- Humanities Education for Anti-racism Literacy in the Sciences and Medicine (HEAL)
- Humanities Without Walls
Public Humanities
Our partnerships with schools, museums, libraries, nonprofits, and cultural organizations demonstrate the value of the humanities inside and outside of the university.
- Graduate Fellowships
- Public Humanities Exchange
- Humanities Without Walls Summer Workshop
- Public Works Seminars
- Community Partners
- Public Humanities Resources
Events
Our events inspire audiences. They are always free and open to the public, invigorating cultural and civic life across Madison.
- Borghesi-Mellon Workshops
- Focus on the Humanities
- Friday Lunches
- Humanities NOW
- Humanities Without Boundaries
- Nellie Y. McKay Lecture in the Humanities
- Tejumola Olaniyan Memorial Lecture
Great World Texts in Wisconsin

Launched in 2005, Great World Texts in Wisconsin engages high school students and teachers across the state through the shared reading of a novel.
During the 2023-2024 program, high school teachers and students throughout the state will read Valeria Luiselli’s novel Lost Children Archive, a fiercely imaginative follow-up to the American Book Award-winning Tell Me How It Ends.
Lost Children Archive in Wisconsin
View a slideshow below from last year’s Great World Texts student conference, in which we read Tommy Orange’s novel There There.