MISSION STATEMENT

The Humanities are today more than ever one of the great resources of any society.
Humanists research and work in areas as diverse as the study of culture to the teaching
of languages, from the development of models of communication, to the reconstruction of
ancient and modern history. The University of Illinois at Chicago is deeply committed
to its role as one of the innovators in the Humanities in the City of Chicago as well
as in the greater world. It both educates students and serves as a vital resource for the
people of Chicago by being part of the greater world of humanistic scholarship and public service.
The Humanities Laboratory is faithful to this broad mission. We seek to make academic research
available and useful to the public through the research projects we undertake and the events we support.

• Find new models for the way knowledge is produced and presented in the Humanities.
• Promote collaborative, multi-disciplinary research projects that demonstrate a concern
  for reaching out to the broader community in Chicago and the world.
• Support research projects that draw on the expertise of experienced professors
  while including graduate and undergraduate students in the project, so that the
  project serves as an apprenticeship and incorporates a mentoring function.
• Partner academics with leading public institutions, such as museums, libraries,
  cultural centers, so that their research may be made accessible to a public audience.
• Encourage research projects that can span both traditional modes of presentation, such as books,
  while also assuming the form of exhibitions, videos, CD Roms or employ other media.

As a showcase for the cutting-edge research for which UIC is renowned, the Humanities Laboratory serves to galvanize different departments and centers on Campus and to forge relationships between them and the city's leading public institutions. As a clearing-house for academic research,we provide a model for the future as a living laboratory.

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