{"id":124,"date":"2026-07-10T10:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsci.utk.edu\/denbocenter\/?page_id=124"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:59:13","slug":"annual-report","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/artsci.utk.edu\/denbocenter\/about\/annual-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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2023-2024 Year in Review<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From the Director<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This has been a momentous time for the UT Humanities Center\u2014now the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts! We are thrilled that our name now reflects the generosity of alumnus\u00a0Don Denbo<\/a><\/strong>, always a dedicated supporter of the liberal and creative arts whose life exemplifies how the humanities can connect to all fields of endeavor and who models a vibrant life of learning. We also have\u00a0moved into a wonderful suite in historical Cherokee Mills<\/a>\u00a0on Sutherland Avenue, a space suited to public programming and to growing the DCHA into a nationally recognized humanities institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a banner year in terms of programming! In fall term,\u00a0One Health and Humanities Days<\/a>\u00a0included twelve events by faculty from ten different departments over the course of three days\u2014a cornucopia of programming that was free and open to the public and that also was a fabulous collaboration between the Denbo Center and the UT system\u2019s\u00a0One Health Initiative<\/a>\u00a0led by\u00a0Deb Miller<\/strong>\u00a0(professor of wildlife pathology at UTIA). We hosted a graduate-student-led research symposium by students in World Languages and Cultures, a special afternoon event for faculty about building interdisciplinary research centers, and a reception for graduate students in the\u00a0Digital Humanities Certificate Program<\/a>. Our Denbo Center graduate research assistant,\u00a0Michael Sutherlin<\/a><\/strong>, created new programming for graduate students, and we awarded nearly $21,000 to graduate students for research travel and symposia. Through the spring term, we also hosted our first Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Professor\u00a0Mari Hatavara<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from Finland, and learned from her groundbreaking work in narrative theory as well as her collaborative work with Professor\u00a0Lo Presser<\/strong>\u00a0in Sociology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read about more of our activities in this report, but we want to say \u201cthank you\u201d for your support of the Denbo Center: we are proud to be active Volunteers and to advocate for arts and humanities work in the state of Tennessee. In these polarized times, when people are increasingly siloed and suspicious of difference, we have forged interdisciplinary collaborations within the College of Arts and Sciences<\/a> as well as across the university, the state, and the nation. As Ai grows ever stronger, and as global politics become increasingly brutalizing, we continue to work to create hospitable and diverse communities of dialogue and care as we support research excellence. We are proud to enter our next stage of development as a research institute, and very much look forward to talking with you at our new location this year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amy J. Elias<\/em><\/strong>
Director, Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Lifelong Commitment to the Arts and Humanities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, celebrated the naming of the Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts on April 2, 2024. The center is named for alumnus Don Denbo, a former Vol football star, who is dedicated to promoting an education grounded in the humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the Denbo Center’s dedication<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pictured: <\/strong>Cutting the ribbon at the Denbo Center’s naming ceremony in April 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI came to Tennessee to play football! What I found, however, as a consequence of truly wonderful professors, opened my eyes to the wonder of learning and the value of all the humanities classes I took\u2026 All of these people opened my mind to all forms of human expression: the mind, the written and spoken word, and, most importantly, the expression of art in its many and inexhaustible forms. These studies framed my life and endowed me with a deep commitment to see that other people could learn to rejoice in these studies as I had.\u201d<\/p>\nDon Denbo<\/span>
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Pictured: <\/strong>The atrium outside of the Denbo Center\u2019s suite in Cherokee Mills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A New Name, A New Home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In early January 2024, we moved out of Dunford Hall<\/a>, where the UT Humanities Center had been housed since Fall 2019, and into a newly-renovated suite at Cherokee Mills, located in Knoxville\u2019s historic Marble City neighborhood. Our beautiful new space offers an exciting array of possibilities for future arts and humanities programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Special thanks to Barbara Tallent and the teams at UT Facilities Services and the Office of Innovative Technology (OIT)  for helping to turn the vision into reality!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pictured: <\/strong>UT celebrity animals Smokey I and Sinan the Squirrel endorse One Health + Humanities Days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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One Health + Humanities Days: Arts + Humanities Interventions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Equine history. Cinematic dance. Moroccan archaeology. Mental health. <\/strong>What do these topics have in common? They were just a few of the subjects explored during One Health + Humanities Days<\/a> (OHHD), a collaborative partnership between the Denbo Center (then the UT Humanities Center) and the UT One Health Initiative<\/a> (OHI). OHHD showcased the critical role that arts and humanities play in understanding and exploring sustainability and global wellbeing, including human, animal, plant, and environmental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about One Health + Humanities Days<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Denbo Center hosts Mari Hatavara, its first Fulbright Fellow-in-Residence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mari Hatavara is Chair Professor of Finnish Literature and director of Narrare: Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies<\/a> at Tampere University in Finland. Hatavara was invited to Knoxville by Denbo Center Director Amy Elias, a fellow specialist in narrative studies, and by Lois Presser, a professor of sociology and Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at UT. Hatavara was in residence at the Denbo Center for five months, from January through May 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Hatavara’s visit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2023-2024 Denbo Center Faculty & Graduate Student Fellows<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the support of the UT Chancellor\u2019s Office, the Office of Research and Engagement, our affiliated arts and humanities departments, and the College of Arts and Sciences, the Denbo Center supports the creation of groundbreaking humanities research through our fellowship programs. These individuals include our Faculty Research Fellows, a Digital Humanities Faculty Fellow, Graduate Research Fellows, and the affiliated Marco Haslam Dissertation Fellow<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gosia Citko-DuPlantis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Shaneda Destine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Georgi Gardiner<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Hilary Havens<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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DeLisa Hawkes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Eleni Palis <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Thorsten Huth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Henry Kirby<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Casey Price<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kelly Sauskojus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Kaitlin Simpson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Matthew Baker<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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About our 2023-2024 Faculty Fellows<\/div><\/h2>
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Gosia Citko-DuPlantis<\/strong>, World Langauges & Cultures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embracing Instability: Imagining \u201cMan\u2019yosh\u016b\u201d in Medieval and Modern Japan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaneda Destine<\/strong>, Sociology & Africana Studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuffy Witsell and Black Rural Resistance Rearticulated in Colleton County, South Carolina\u2019s Round O Plantation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgi Gardiner<\/strong>, Philosophy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She Said, He Said<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilary Havens<\/strong>, English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cambridge Edition of Frances Burney\u2019s <\/em>Cecilia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeLisa Hawkes<\/strong>, Africana Studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separate Yet Intertwined: Rediscovering Black Indigeneity in the New Negro Renaissance<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eleni Palis<\/strong>, English, Cinema Studies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cinema of Reparations: Contemporary American Media and the Reparative Mode<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thorsten Huth<\/strong> (Digital Humanities Fellow), World Languages & Cultures, English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building the Digital Platform \u201cInteraction in Second Language Studies\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n\n\n\n

About our 2023-2024 Graduate Fellows<\/div><\/h2>
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Henry Kirby<\/strong>, English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsettling Laughter: The Humor of Nineteenth-Century Native Literature<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casey Price<\/strong>, History<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given to This Land: Mapping Settler Colonialism in the Cherokee Homelands<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Sauskojus<\/strong>, English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grantwriting Ecologies in East Knoxville Urban Agriculture Nonprofits<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaitlin Simpson<\/strong>, History<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Flowers of El Dorado: Gender, Production, and the Cut Flower Industry in Colombia and the United States<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Baker<\/strong> (Marco Institute Haslam Dissertation Fellow<\/a>), History<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World of L\u00e9rins: A Late Antique Monastic Ontology<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Michael Sutherlin: 2023-24 Denbo Center Graduate Research Assistant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s hard to communicate how much of a blessing my experience at the Humanities Center\u2014now the Denbo Center\u2014has been to me. I\u2019ve learned so much just by attending many highly engaging events and working with the various scholars.\u201d<\/p>\nMichael Sutherlin<\/span>
PhD ’24<\/span>
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Read Michael\u2019s reflections on his time at the Denbo Center<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his assistantship, Michael planned and led two special events at the Denbo Center for UT arts and humanities graduate students. Read about them in the drop-down sections below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Art and Humanities Trivia Night<\/div><\/h2>
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Open to students in UT\u2019s arts & humanities graduate programs, the Denbo Center\u2019s first-ever trivia night (pictured at left) was a success! The VolShop generously provided prizes for the participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alt-Ac Career Panel Luncheon<\/div><\/h2>
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Alt-Ac Career Panel Luncheon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arts & humanities graduate students were invited to have lunch and hear from a panel of former humanities grads working at UT who have found enriching alt-ac careers. The panelists spoke about their own experiences going from graduate school in the humanities to finding work in a range of different jobs. They addressed practical elements of searching for alt-ac jobs, such as the differences between CVs and resumes and the various  available job search platforms, and spoke about the kinds of tasks that they perform in their roles on campus. They also discussed the emotional and personal sides of making a transition into an alt-ac career. Attendees praised it one of the best and most useful career events they have been to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n