Research in the Humanities

What is research?

The word itself is rooted in Old French, recercher, which means to “go about seeking” Research is the answer to the call of curiosity. It is as limitless as the imagination (or, more often, the approved budget). Forward movement, in any field, comes hand in hand with research.

We closely associate our modern notions of research with S.T.E.M fields; the term conjures images of white coats and pipettes, and it’s no surprise. The Scientific Method itself is founded on the basis of researched hypotheses. But research fits in just as organically in the humanities and social sciences as in the hard sciences.

Fellowships belong as much to artists as they do to science researchers.

Photoshop is just as much as workbench as a laminar flow hood.

Autocad, Sketchup, Matlab make scientists of artists and artists of scientists.

Past UVM research in Humanities and Social Sciences:

English:

Queer Nostalgia: Frank Ocean’s Blonde and Contemporary Queer Identity, Edward R. Pomykaj

Women of the North: Defining Heroism in The Lord of the Rings and Medieval Germanic Literature, Briggs M. Heffernan

Art History:

Depictions of Enemies of the Roman State, Celine A. Fraser

Religion

Sounds from a Dream Place: Politics, Religion, and Tourism in Kagbeni, Nepal, Abra K. Clawson

History:

Personalities and Perceptions: Churchill, de Gaulle, and British-Free French Relations 1940-1941, Samantha Sullivan

My Fair Lady: Exotic Women on the Midway Plaisance and the Challenges to White Womanhood at the Chicago World’s Fair, Courtney A. Smith

Anthropology:

Statistical Analysis of Auction House Prices Through Maya Pottery, Dillon J. Healy 

Linguistics:

Can linguistic innovations bridge the gender divide?: Inclusive language in contemporary Spanish social media, Julia Higa, Michael Dunham