It’s hard to believe, but the Neubauer Collegium is now in its tenth year. A decade ago, the University of Chicago launched a bold experiment to catalyze and sustain collaborative research that transcends all divides. We undertook this work with the conviction that solving complex problems requires bringing together this kind of diversity of thought and practice. Indeed, the Collegium’s 10-year-milestone mantra is “The Solution Is Human.” But so are the problems, and getting people to work and think in new ways is no easy task. This is where humanistic research is key, and where universities are positioned to step forward in collaboration with partners who sit outside the academy.

One of our most enduring challenges has been to demonstrate the value of our work in an environment that prizes proof in numbers. As part of our 10-year-milestone activities, we have been reflecting on where we have been and where we hope to go next. Has the Collegium succeeded? By what measures? In a step toward answering these questions, we partnered with the Neubauer Family Foundation to enlist NORC, an independent social science research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago, to evaluate the impact of our research to date. The survey confirmed that the Collegium is an effective catalyst, instilling an interdisciplinary mindset among faculty and improving the quality of collaborative practices, particularly among disciplines where collaboration is rare.

We hope this special issue of Notions invites further reflection on the legacies of our work by showcasing research themes that have been particularly significant. These include efforts to address the climate catastrophe; intersections between medical and humanistic understandings of health; the challenges of cultural and linguistic translation and preservation; and humanistic responses to artificial intelligence.

We are also reflecting on our ongoing effort to integrate the arts and research. One highlight is the Panafrica project, a five-year global research initiative undertaken in partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago. The project culminates this year in the Project a Black Planet exhibition at the Art Institute; exhibitions featuring the Otolith Group and Betye Saar in our gallery; and a major international gathering of artists, scholars, and curators this spring. We are particularly excited to be incubating the Arts Labs at the University of Chicago, which consist of five projects that bring together arts practice and research in theater, dance, creative writing, and opera.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Notions, and that it inspires you to visit our gallery and attend our events. But more importantly, I hope it provides you with optimism about the power of humanistic thinking to transform the world for the better.

Tara Zahra
Roman Family Director
Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society

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