LEXINGTON, Ky. (October 8, 2024) — The University of Kentucky is dedicated to preparing students for lives of meaning and purpose through collaborative learning and real-world experiences. This spring, the UK Gaines Center for the Humanities introduced a pilot course designed to strengthen this effort.
HMN 303: Humanities in Action is a hands-on, high-impact laboratory course that immerses students in a variety of careers in the humanities and engages them in the community beyond the classroom. This team-led seminar rotates through three distinct units that focus on the pressing needs of trained humanists in today’s society.
According to Chelsea Brislin, deputy director of the Gaines Center, the course was developed for three main reasons.
“First, it highlights how the study of the humanities correlates with successful careers that play an important role in our communities,” Brislin said. “Second, it fosters interdisciplinary engagement between students and faculty. Finally, it fosters high-impact community participation for undergraduates.”
To take students out of the traditional classroom and show them how archivists preserve history, how historians create and revise historical indicators, and how statewide digitization projects work. And we demonstrate the existence of these carriers,” Brislin said. “We also give students the confidence and experience to pursue a humanities education.”
Past units have included digitally unraveling previously buried marine documents at EduceLab with Brent Shields, a computer science professor at the Stanley and Karen Pigman Institute of Technology, and exploring circus art through a philosophical lens. This includes conducting training sessions and exploring how commemorative markers are proposed and developed. And it was placed.
“This course provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in practical applications of the humanities across three different disciplines in one semester,” said Michelle Sizemore, director of the Gaines Center.
Founded in 1984, the Gaines Center has long embraced diverse avenues of knowledge and strived to integrate creative work with traditional academic learning. One of the university’s primary goals is to prepare students for life outside the classroom, and this mission is equally important to the Gaines Center’s approach.
A Spring 2024 student said, “The range of topics covered in the course included both familiar and unfamiliar subjects.” “It made me enjoy attending classes and allowed me to explore new ideas in a collaborative environment.”
As an essential institution in the state of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky transforms the lives of students and contributes to the advancement of the commonwealth through research, creativity, and collaborative teaching and learning. Course offerings must also evolve to meet the demands of an ever-changing global landscape. Brislin believes HMN 303 embodies this necessary change.
“Trained humanists contribute to nearly every aspect of community life, presenting endless possibilities for the future evolution of the course. We already have computer engineers, local historians, archaeologists, librarians, and We are working with our staff and others,” Brislin said. “We engage every corner of our campus, from design to education, medicine to social work, to enhance understanding of how the humanities can advance understanding and support across disciplines, both on campus and in the broader community. I want to emphasize how we can deepen our involvement.”
The second installment of HMN 303 will be available in the spring 2025 semester and will be taught by Jim Seaver of the Kentucky Historical Society, Matthew Strandmark of the British Library and Special Collections, and Elena Sesma of the Department of Anthropology.
For more information about the Gaines Center, please visit https://gaines.uky.edu/.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation under award number 2131940. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. .
