Institute of Humanities

Welcome to the Institute of Humanities 

The Institute of Humanities, based in the Department of Humanities, provides an intellectual home for all the Humanities research conducted across the University. Colleagues in History, English Literature, English Language and Linguistics, Creative Writing, American Studies and Music form the core membership of the Institute, but our research activities are deliberately interdisciplinary, with colleagues working together through our research groups, holding regular reading groups and writing workshops, and coming together for a weekly Institute Research Seminar.

Institute members are committed to promoting the importance of the Humanities, working across faculties and sectors to address the pressing issues of the modern world. We aim to catalyse new research projects in strategically important areas, especially those that combine scholarly Humanities research with the Sciences, Arts, and Business and Law. To this end, the Institute facilitates engagement between its members and other faculties and institutions, but also supports meaningful public engagement with local and national partner organisations. With research funded by UKRI, AHRC, The Leverhulme Trust, The British Council and The British Academy, and research partners including Historic England, The National Railway Museum, The Bowes Museum, Arts Council England, New Writing North, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Shandy Hall, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle, the Institute of Humanities is a dynamic and outward looking community. 

All Humanities scholars, postgraduate students and faculty in the University are members of the Institute and are invited to join one or more Research Groups. Membership of the Institute provides access to seminars, workshops, writing retreats, bid-writing advice, and book launches, as well as access to seed-funding streams. We regularly welcome visiting international scholars and support promising postdoctoral candidates in applications to leading funding bodies including the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy, and we are always keen to hear from anyone wishing to partner with us, or to propose new projects.

Dr Jennifer Aston

Director of the Institute of Humanities