Reimagining the PhD Cohort
In July 2015, the Simpson Center launched Reimagining the Humanities PhD and Reaching New Publics with the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The conviction animating this initiative was that doctoral education, especially at a public university, must be guided by a capacious vision of its fundamental purpose: to contribute to the public good. From 2015-2021, the program prepared UW doctoral students in the humanities for this task by meaningfully connecting them to the diverse, access-oriented institutions of higher education in the Seattle District community colleges, and by supporting the development of both doctoral students’ public projects and publicly engaged graduate seminars taught by UW faculty in the humanities. Find out more about our programming below.
2021 - 2022 Scholars
2016 - 2017 Reimagining the Humanities PhD Scholar
Leigh Mercer (she/her/hers)
Spanish Film Programming and the Film Festival Phenomenon
Faculty in area-studies departments are increasingly asked to organize film series, design exhibits, and assist in the administration of archives, and yet PhD programs in literary and cultural studies departments rarely prepare graduate students for such endeavors. Film festivals in particular offer scholars an opportunity to connect with broader audiences, and this course seeks to train graduate students in the critical implications of festival organization. Students will gain both practical curatorial experience and a greater historical understanding of the film festival as a phenomenon while also examining what it means to translate their area studies expertise for new publics.