Speaking of the Humanities: Building Communicative Capacities for UC Humanities Centers

Julia Lupton
Humanities Commons
UC Irvine

UC humanities centers frequently provide training for our faculty on how to talk about their research to multiple audiences, whether by hosting an OpEd workshop, consulting individually on grant proposals, or organizing public lectures on campus. Yet we must also communicate about the work we do as centers, about the value of the humanities, and about our faculty’s scholarly work to multiple audiences. Those audiences include central administration, university advancement staff, external funders, and our local communities. This Humanities Center Collaboration grant supported a two-day capacity building retreat in September 2016 for faculty and staff leadership. Three representatives from each participating campus received communications training and shared best practices and challenges on translating, communicating, and advocating for our work to multiple audiences.