The James T. and Virginia M. Dresher Center for the Humanities promotes interdisciplinary research and scholarship in the humanities among faculty, students and visiting scholars. Originally founded in 1996, a recent gift from the Dresher Foundation enables the Center to expand its research mission in order to bring national attention to UMBC’s impressive achievements in the humanities. Through its emphasis on research and continued commitment to the Humanities Forum and the Humanities Scholars Program, the Dresher Center is working toward becoming the foremost humanities research center in the region.
The Dresher Center is pleased to announce the Spring 2013 Dresher Center Internal Residential Fellows: Dr. Kate Brown in the History Department, “Being There: Place, Space, and the Historical Method” and Dr. Preminda Jacob in Art History and Museum Studies in the Department of Visual Arts “The Painted Walls of Chennai: Street Semiotics in an Indian City”.
The two new Fellows will reside two days a week in their Dresher Center offices in the new Performing Arts and Humanities Building and will conduct workshops for faculty and Ph.D. students on their research and their methodologies. They will each receive a course release and research assistance for five hours a week from a junior or senior undergraduate majoring in the Humanities.
The Dresher Center is also home to the Humanities Scholars Program.
The Dresher Center for the Humanities is named in honor of Virginia Dresher (shown here with UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski) and her late husband Jim, whose shared interest in creating a better society is demonstrated through their commitment to education and enrichment. More information about the Dreshers can be found here.
The Dresher Center for the Humanities is located in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, Room 215. Telephone: 410-455-6798