Our program takes pride in UW’s “Wisconsin Idea,” which believes in the power of education to directly influence and change people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Many of our faculty and students are involved in public humanities projects, showcasing the vitality of humanistic knowledge in the real world. Some of these projects include, Brittle Paper (an online African Literary Magazine), Holding History (a program dedicated to mentoring the next generation of public thinkers and writers), the Odyssey Project (a program offering humanities courses to adults facing economic barriers to college), the Center for Humanities, the Madison Writing Assistance Program (a program that provides free writing assistance to members of the greater Madison community), and so much more!
Brittle Paper: Founded by UW-English assistant professor, Ainehi Edoro, Brittle Paper is a leading online literary platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of African writers from the Continent and across the African diaspora. The English Department offers two graduate project assistantships with the platform– [1] assistant editor [2] social media manager– allowing graduate students to harness a range of editorial skills and deeply engage with the African literary landscape. Responsibilities across these roles include researching for and compiling reading lists, arranging and conducting author interviews, sourcing and writing book reviews, creating content for and managing multiple social media platforms, and more! Many students have used their experiences with Brittle Paper as a pathway to a new literary focus in their own research or as a foundation for pursuing other editorial opportunities. For example, English PhD Candidate, emerald rutledge, built on the knowledge and skills they acquired while working for Brittle Paper to secure an editorial fellowship with JSTOR’s public facing platform, JSTOR Daily. Check out the Brittle Paper website for more information on this groundbreaking platform and for ways you can get involved as a graduate student in our department! Brittle Paper – Explore African Literature
Pictured: English Department Professor and Brittle Paper Founder Ainehi Edoro.
Holding History: Co-Founded and Co-Directed by English associate professor and associate chair, Joshua Calhoun, Holding History is a multi-modal student-driven public humanities program that connects intergenerational audiences to historical media, special collections archives, and book objects. In addition to hosting an array of annual events, from interactive paper-making workshops to events in rare book libraries, Holding History also hosts a variety of bookish dialogues on digital platforms, including through a podcast and blog. The English Department offers a number of graduate project assistantships with the platform–[1] Program and Production Assistant [2] Editorial Assistant [3] Assistant Director [4] Project and Podcast Consultant. Working with Holding History is rife with opportunity to develop the necessary skills for rigorous archival research while gaining editorial and production experience that can be useful throughout your graduate studies and beyond. Check out the Holding History website for more information and for more details on how you can participate as a graduate student in our department! Holding History | Bookish Conversations Across Generations | Education
Madison Writing Assistance Program: The Madison Writing Assistance Program offers free, one-to-one writing support for Madison community members at a number of libraries and neighborhood centers across the city, and online. Staffed by UW-Madison Writing Center Teaching Assistants (many of whom are English department graduate students), MWA offers a unique opportunity to help improve the writing skills of our broader community and expand your editorial knowledge by assisting community members with a variety of written projects, including application essays, grant proposals, creative writing, resumes, and cover letters. Read more about the impact the Madison Writing Assistance Program is having on the Madison community here: Writing the Future You Want | Madison Public Library
Center for the Humanities: The Center for the Humanities encourages collaborative, cross-disciplinary research that extends beyond the boundaries of the university – offering public humanities fellowships with an array of community partners, including WORT Community Radio [Spanish Language Fellow], Madison Public Library Foundation [Public History and Engagement Fellow], and RENEW Wisconsin [Energy Access Research and Community Engagement Fellow], among many others. The English Department’s very own, Diego Alegria, was awarded the 2023-2024 Fellowship with WORT Community Radio. On his experience, Diego wrote:
As a writer and scholar, my work at WORT 89.9 FM has allowed me to practice cultural journalism, and to cultivate a public-facing style. This can be illustrated by a bilingual feature story I produced on how the Mexican and the Chilean communities in Madison celebrate their independence days during the National Hispanic Heritage Month. In this feature, I addressed the legacies of the independence days through my ongoing research on Spanish-American literature and culture during the long nineteenth century, particularly the discourses we have inherited around national and regional identities.
The Center for the Humanities also offers a program [HEX] that provides funding and strategic support for student initiated and led public humanities projects that cultivate relationships between community organizations and UW-Madison students, addressing community needs and building on students’ expertise and research interests. Interested in learning more about how the Center can enhance your graduate experience? Check out their website: Center for the Humanities – UW–Madison
Odyssey Project: Directed by UW-Madison English Professor, Emily Auerbach, the Odyssey Project offers six core programs that understands the needs of its participants as holistic, offering a range of resources and support to help them succeed at completing the educational aspect of the program and utilizing their knowledge and experience beyond it. These core programs include: Odyssey Junior, Onward Odyssey, Odyssey Beyond Wars, Odyssey Senior, Odyssey Beyond Bars, and the Odyssey Course. UW-Madison graduate students have the opportunity to expand their pedagogical knowledge and experience by working with the Odyssey Project, even if public humanities isn’t an explicit part of their research. For example, Seth Umbaugh, an English PhD graduate and current Writing Center Teaching Faculty, had this to say about his work with the Odyssey Project:
My research does not really connect me with the Madison community precisely, but my research interests are rooted in the same experience that motivates my interest in increasing access to high quality educational support and higher education broadly. During my time as an English grad, I taught in the community through Madison Writing Assistance, the UW Odyssey Project, and Odyssey Beyond Bars. My interest in doing this kind of teaching and my research interests both stem from my experience as the child of a single, working-class mother and as a first-generation college student.”
With many of Odyssey’s participants being racial and ethnic minorities, and are often experiencing issues like homelessness, single parenthood, drug and alcohol addiction, and incarceration, the urgency of this project is clear and is a generative opportunity for communal connection and pedagogical growth. Check out their website for more information on their six core programs and ways to get involved: About – UW Odyssey Project – UW–Madison
If you’re interested in learning more about the Wisconsin Idea, visit their website here: Wisconsin Idea – University of Wisconsin–Madison