About the center
Founded in 2005 and launched in 2009, the UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere (CHPS) is a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences center that supports humanities research, learning, and public engagement at the University of Florida and beyond.
OUR MISSION
CHPS helps scholars and students turn humanistic questions into visible work that matters, from research and publications to public programs, partnerships, and community-based projects. To do this, we:
WHAT ARE THE HUMANITIES?
The humanities are fields that study human culture, ideas, and experience. They help us explore a foundational question: what does it mean to be human? They strengthen our ability to interpret experience, evaluate ideas, and communicate across difference. Through comparative and global study, the humanities cultivate critical thinking and civic and moral responsibility in students and communities.
The humanities include, but are not limited to, the following fields: history, philosophy, languages, literature, linguistics, archeology, jurisprudence, history and criticism of the arts, ethics, comparative religion, and those aspects of the social sciences employing historical or philosophical approaches… including social and cultural anthropology, sociology, political theory, international relations, and other subjects concerned with questions of value.
WHAT WE MAKE POSSIBLE
175+
Undergraduate & graduate students supported
students engaged in CHPS-supported research, programming, workshops and institutes.
$117,920
Awarded to support humanities research
including faculty fellowships, library enhancement grants, speaker and workshop grants, and structured graduate and undergraduate initiatives
$18,000
Awarded to support public humanities programs
through public humanities grants and the Alexander Grass Scholars program.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CORE INITIATIVES
Undergraduate students
For undergraduate students, CHPS offers funded, hands-on opportunities to explore humanities research and public scholarship through mentorship, cohort-based learning, and community-engaged projects. These experiences help students build core research skills, gain confidence as emerging scholars, and connect their academic interests to meaningful work in the world around them.
Graduate students
CHPS supports graduate students through funding, professional development, and interdisciplinary opportunities that help advance their research and broaden its impact. Through fellowships, workshops, writing support, and collaborative programming, graduate students can refine their scholarly practice, build meaningful connections, and explore how humanities expertise matters within and beyond the university.
Faculty research
For faculty, CHPS supports innovative humanities research through funding, interdisciplinary collaboration, and opportunities for public-facing engagement. By helping faculty develop new projects, share their work with broader audiences, and build connections across fields, CHPS strengthens the humanities as a vital source of insight, creativity, and public value at UF and beyond.
Community engagement
Partnerships, public events, and collaborative initiatives allow CHPS to connect humanities scholarship with communities on campus and beyond. By creating opportunities for dialogue and shared learning, this work demonstrates how the humanities can deepen understanding and enrich civic and cultural life.
Digital scholarship
The Digital Humanities Lab gives students and faculty new ways to research, teach, and create. With access to digital tools, training, and collaborative space, scholars can experiment with new methods, present their work in dynamic formats, and expand the possibilities of humanities scholarship.
CONNECT AND SUPPORT
Want to help make the humanities visible in practice? Support CHPS with a gift that funds research, student opportunities, and public programs, or meet our team to learn how we connect scholars, students, and community partners across UF and beyond.
THE HUMANITIES IN CLAS
Meet some of the colleges and centers that comprise humanities scholarship at UF. We’re proud to collaborate with and support our partners across the humanities, and we invite you to explore their work and opportunities.
