Your big ideas drive the work we do in the Center for the Arts and Humanities. Through annual humanities themes and labs, we inspire discussions and challenging conversations around campus. Through our internships, research grants, and events sponsored by and focused on students, we raise and amplify the intellectual might and passion of the Colby student body. We empower you to chart your own course inspired by the transformative experience of work, play, and collaboration in the arts and the humanities.
Team | Origin | Testimonial | Pillars | Past Events
Laura Saltz, American Studies
Marta Ameri, Art
James Taylor, Classics
Chris Walker, Creative Writing and English
Hong Zhang, East Asian Studies
Valérie Dionne, French & Italian
Arne Koch, German & Russian
Kelly Brignac, History
Kevin Smith, Libraries
Jacqueline Terrassa, Museum of Art
José Martínez, Music
Annie Kloppenberg, Performance, Theater, and Dance
Jim Behuniak, Philosophy
Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Religious Studies
Ana Almeyda-Cohen, Spanish
The Center is able to carry out the work that it does thanks to the energy and commitment of the many people, programs, and departments it serves. From coming up with new events, designing courses, sponsoring themes, and more, your departments and your students keep the Center thriving.
The process which would eventually lead to the development of the Center was started by former Director Kerill O’Neill in 2009. At the time, he was serving as the Humanities Division Chair, and had become alarmed by the decreasing amount of apparent interest in the humanities at colleges across the country. Less funding was offered, fewer tenure track faculty positions were available, and it seemed that the humanities were being pushed further and further to the periphery. Kerill wrote a letter to his colleagues in the division arguing that they had to work together to come up with something big, something that would draw attention back to the humanities. In the ensuing discussion, the idea of the Center was born. With the help of many other humanities faculty members, Kerill applied for and received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund the initial development of the Center. The Center for the Arts and Humanities opened in fall of 2012, and has been a part of the fabric of Colby’s identity ever since. Over the years, it has grown in size and scope, incorporating a wide range of programs which impact every aspect of life at Colby.
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Keynote Speaker
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Award-winning poet, essayist, and novelist
Baratunde Thurston
Keynote Speaker
Naomi Klein
Mellon Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Humanities
Ibram X. Kendi
“Not Racist or Antiracist: What’s the Difference”
Dr. Craig Santos Perez
Decolonial Eco-poetry
Dans L’Engrenage with Compagnie Dyptik
French Hip Hop Performance
Carolina Caycedo
“BE DAMMED: Art as Resistance to Environmental Destruction”
Roxanne Gay
Keynote Speaker
Liberal Arts and the Humanities:
Case Studies from Liberal Arts Colleges and Small Universities
A Conference
Mark Dion
Mellon Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Humanities
Dr. Cornel West
Keynote Speaker
Kim Stanley Robinson
Mellon Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Humanities
Dr. Andreas Weber
Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Keynote Speaker
Winona LaDuke
Mellon Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Humanities
Regina Jose Galindo
Guatemalan poet and performance artist
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