Liberal Arts Research Colloquium Series
The Humanities Forum
ABOUT THE FORUM
The Humanities Forum at RISD is a colloquium series that offers faculty, staff, students, and invited guests a platform for intellectual exchange across disciplines. This monthly series provides a dynamic space for scholars to present ongoing research, explore emerging ideas, and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue. At its core, the Forum promotes interdisciplinary thinking, where diverse perspectives and methodologies intersect to deepen our understanding of complex cultural and intellectual issues. The Forum fosters a collaborative environment where participants critically examine, refine, and debate ideas, expanding their academic horizons in ways that reflect RISD’s unique integration of art, design, and the liberal arts.
VISION
The Humanities Forum at RISD seeks to function as a catalyst for critical thinking and cross-disciplinary exchange, emphasizing the Division of Liberal Arts’ role in integrating the humanities with art and design education. By bringing together diverse voices from within and beyond our institution, the Forum aims to:
1. Cultivate a vibrant intellectual community across the wide spectrum of disciplines within the
division.
2. Inspire new research directions and creative projects that emerge from the convergence of humanities, art, and design.
3. Enhance the academic experience of our students by exposing them to the scholarship and diverse perspectives of faculty within the division.
4. Strengthen RISD’s reputation as a leader in interdisciplinary education and research.
5. Foster partnerships and dialogues with other institutions and communities, thereby extending our impact beyond campus borders.
2024-25 Humanities Forum
THE FORUM’S STRUCTURE
The Humanities Forum is designed to facilitate regular, focused academic discourse throughout the academic year. Its structure is as follows:
The Forum convenes for a total of five sessions (once a month) during the academic year, excluding Wintersession.
The meetings will be during the months of September, October, November, February, and March. The concluding session of each year, will be an invited keynote speaker which will be selected by the organizing committee from a list of scholars solicited from the faculty in early spring.
Each session features a single presenter and live presentation format, where the presenter delivers a live presentation of their paper, lasting from 20 to 30 minutes. This is followed by a discussion based on the presentation.
Each session is moderated by a chair to ensure productive and focused dialogue. The presenter may suggest a colleague to serve as a discussant, further enriching the conversation and providing additional perspectives. This structure is designed to promote in-depth engagement with the presented material, foster lively discussion, and accommodate different presentation styles and preferences of our diverse
speakers.
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
The Forum strongly recommends adopting a formal presentation format to maintain a cohesive model of engagement across all sessions. This approach ensures a consistent standard of scholarly discourse and allows for more substantive interactions among participants.
Presenters are requested to prepare a formal paper of approximately 3,000 to 4,500 words, corresponding to a 20-30 minute presentation. Presenters are encouraged to accompany their presentation with an audiovisual component, such as slides, images, or other relevant media. While works-in-progress are welcome, all presentations should represent substantial, well-developed research or critical analysis.
SUBSCRIBE HERE
THEMES AND TOPICS
The Humanities Forum at RISD aims to explore an extensive range of themes that embody the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary humanities scholarship and its intersection with art and design. While specific topics will vary based on presenters’ expertise and current research, the Forum will focus on the following overarching themes:
Art and Design History
art historical methodologies; critical approaches to art historical research and object-based analysis; interdisciplinary methods in art history; historiography of art and its institutions; global art histories; non-Western art traditions; cross-cultural exchanges in art; decolonizing art historical narratives; museum and curatorial studies; critical museology and exhibition practices; institutional critique and alternative art spaces; art and social change; art as a tool for activism and social justice; material cultures and object biographies; heritage studies and cultural custodianship; etc.
Cultural Anthropology
socio-cultural anthropology; urban anthropology; emotional geographies and cultural expressions; anthropology of religion; environmental anthropology; etc.
Cultural Studies
critical theory; affect theory; studies of popular culture; subculture studies; film studies; television studies; digital culture; digital media and new technologies; media archaeology and history of technology; visual literacy and media studies; visual and material culture; American studies; disability studies and representations of the body; religious studies; food studies; etc.
Digital Humanities
digital technologies in the humanities; digital mapping; augmented reality; artificial intelligence and the arts and humanities; etc.
Environmental Studies
environmental humanities; eco-criticism across literature, art, and philosophy; Anthropocene studies and climate change narratives; environmental justice and cultural representations; etc.
Area Studies and Studies of Race and Ethnicity
postcolonial studies; studies of globalization; diaspora studies and transnational identities; cross-cultural analysis of images and objects; critical race theory; indigenous studies; intersections of race, class, and gender; Asian and Asian-American Studies; African Studies; Latin American and Latine Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; European Studies; Slavic Studies; South Asian Studies; etc.
Gender and Sexuality Studies
women’s studies; queer theory; feminist methodologies in humanities research; etc.
Literature
comparative literature; postcolonial literature; modern literatures; critical theory; psychoanalytic criticism; theories of the novel; drama, theater and performance studies; poetry and poetics; translation studies; film studies; memory studies; trauma studies; sociolinguistics; etc.
Philosophy
aesthetics; phenomenology; epistemology; situated knowledges and border gnosis; ethics and social justice; philosophical approaches to social inequalities; etc.
Public Humanities and Education
public humanities and engaged scholarship; community engagement; community-based research and participatory methods; museum education; art education; cultural policy studies; etc.
Social Sciences
history; historiography and philosophies of history; intellectual history; oral history; environmental history; psychology; psychoanalysis; behavioral science; social psychology; art therapy; political science; political economy; sociology; etc.
Urban Studies
histories of architecture and urban design; theories of space and place in cultural analysis; theories of “development”; urban cultures and global connections; etc.
Each academic year, the Forum will strive to cover a balanced selection of these themes, ensuring a diverse and stimulating series of presentations. Art History, Literary Studies, and Material Culture will serve as a cornerstone of our discussions, informing and intersecting with many of the other themes. This integrated approach reflects RISD’s unique position at the intersection of artistic practice, historical inquiry, and material analysis. The Forum organizing committee will remain flexible to incorporate emerging themes and research areas as they develop in various fields of humanities.
If you’d like to present or help organize the Humanities Forum Colloquium Series, please fill out the linked form.
