Fellowship Residencies and an exploration of authenticity bring new interdisciplinary opportunities to the Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts.
Arts and humanities research is thriving at the Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts. The center has delivered a groundbreaking year with new staff hires, new program planning, and new cross-disciplinary collaborations. This spring brings a new cohort of Denbo Center Fellows and plans for a multi-year working theme for new projects.
The center supports advanced study in the arts and humanities, fosters interdisciplinary research that includes humanistic inquiry, collaborates with public organizations on humanistic and creative projects, and advocates for the social and intellectual value of the humanities and arts. The Denbo team works locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally to support faculty and student research through fellowships, research mentoring programs, lectures and symposia, exhibitions and performances, grants, and public engagement projects.
New Fellowship Residencies Explore a Range of Topics
The center’s Fellowship Residencies support a wide array of trailblazing research and creative activity at UT. These fellowships are open to UT faculty and graduate students working on research projects involving humanistic research topics and methods. A nationally recognized program, it features external review of all applications much like an external grant competition.
The fellowships offer a full year of research time to complete books and dissertations. An annual cohort of 10 faculty and students present their work, participate in writing groups, and engage with visiting speakers. Fellows are given their own offices within the center’s space and travel allowances to support their work.
Associate Director Katie Burnett introduced the latest fellows and their projects during the center’s 2026 spring celebration.
“Across the board, the external reviewers called these projects ‘imaginative,’ ‘elegant and provocative,’ ‘dynamic,’ and ‘innovative,’” remarked Burnett.
Denbo Center Director Amy Elias, Chancellor’s Professor and Distinguished Professor of English, expressed gratitude to Denbo Center supporters and joy in being in community with such inspiring scholars.
“UT arts and humanities scholars are recognized throughout the world for their commitment to research excellence,” Elias noted. “Our faculty edit top journals in their fields, publish books with internationally acclaimed presses, and see their work cited in outlets from Teen Vogue to the New York Times.”
2026-2027 Faculty Fellows:
- Amanda Evans, Assistant Professor, School of Art
- R.D. Perry, Associate Professor, Department of English
- Rachel Schneider, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies
- Emma Schroeder, Assistant Professor, Department of History
- Moussa Seck, Assistant Professor, Department of World Languages and Cultures
- Marie Balsley Taylor, Assistant Professor, Department of English
2026-2027 Graduate Fellows:
- Annamaria Haden, Department of History
- Morgan Schneider, Department of World Languages and Cultures
- Dave Strickler, Department of History
- Maggie Warren, Department of English
Authenticity: A Multi-Year Theme for Research
In fall of 2026, the Denbo Center will launch a new theme for arts and humanities programming that addresses the question, “What does it mean to live an authentic life in a time of radical change?”
The theme of “Authenticity” will be featured 2026–2029, with each year’s work emphasizing a different aspect of the theme, with the first year focused on “Authenticity: Identity and Place.” The theme will be built into existing programming, such as the annual Distinguished Lecture Series and faculty research seminars, but it will also structure new programming for each year, such as an annual summer conference and new collaborations across the state of Tennessee.
This purposeful approach to scholarship in humanities and the arts adds new dimensions for the center’s ongoing environment of boundary-pushing curiosity and expertise in exploring “the past, the present, and the possible.”
by Randall Brown