Located in the Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Lyceum, the Center for Humanistic Inquiry (CHI) provides resources for Amherst faculty, staff, and students to engage a broad vision of the role humanistic thinking can play in scholarly and public life. 

Each year we invite several fellows into residency at the Center to conduct research and collaborate with each other under the rubric of a resonant theme. The Center also hosts performances, forums, exhibitions, digital interventions, conferences, and workshops designed to foster humanities inquiry.


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Propose a CHI Salon for Spring 2024

Submit ideas at any stage of development, including ideas in progress.

Salons can take the form of lectures, panel discussions, music performances, book talks, poetry readings, or hands-on workshops. The CHI will provide an honorarium for visiting speakers, administrative and staff support, and publicity.  We encourage you to consider this year's theme, Political Imagination. However, we welcome proposals on any topic, and we are happy to work with you on developing your concept. Please use the proposal form here (login required).

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CHI Advisory Board for 2023-24

Welcome and thank you!

The CHI Advisory Board supports the development of programming for the CHI by considering potential themes, helping to generate proposals from interested faculty and staf, and ensuring that the full range of work in the humanities done on the campus is represented. The 2023-24 CHI Advisory Board welcomes back current members Martin Garnar, Maria Heim, Austin Sarat, and Jane Wald; welcomes new members Nusrat Chowdhury, Aneeka Henderson, Chris Kingston, Siddharta Shah, and Chris van den Berg; and is deeply thankful for departing members Rafeeq Hasan, Sheila Jaswal, Emily Potter-Ndiaye, Olufemi Vaughan, and Niko Vicario. 

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Digital Humanities at Amherst College!

Digital Humanities is an aspect of scholarly activity in the humanities that is advanced through the use of digital technologies, opening new avenues of inquiry. Check out projects by Amherst College faculty, students, and staff!