About Institute for the Humanities

In January of 2018, a group of MCC faculty from the Schools of the Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences & Global Studies met with the division dean to discuss the prospect of establishing a humanities institute. The members of this group included teacher-scholars working in the fields of literature, philosophy, sociology, history, political science, world languages, and the visual and performing arts. This initial meeting led to a gathering of potential community partners from the region’s educational, cultural, and civic institutions. These included the Native American Cultural Center, Rochester Out Alliance, Writers and Books, Genesee RiverWatch, National Assoc. for Multicultural Education, Rochester Public Library, Rochester Contemporary Arts Center, and more. From there, a new public humanities initiative by which MCC and its community partners would collaborate on the development of timely, relevant, high-quality, and regionally-focused educational programming was born.

Photo of a slide show in a presentationCommittee

Michael Jacobs, Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences    
Thomas Blake, Associate Professor of English
Jasna Bogdanovska, Assistant Professor of Photography
Joy Braselton Management Assistant, Humanities & Social Sciences
Heather Chang, Assistant Professor of Theater
Marj Crum, Associate Professor of Graphic Design
William Drumright, Associate Professor of History
Katherine Ghidiu, Director of Library Services
Robert Muhlnickel, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Joseph Scanlon, Assistant Professor of History