What is the Humanities Symposium?
In the simplest formulation, the humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture. The study of languages, literature, history, linguistics, jurisprudence, philosophy, archaeology, comparative religion, ethics, and the arts—use methods that are primarily critical and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the empirical approaches of the natural sciences. The study of humanities “tell us where we have been and help us envision where we are going.” (The Heart of the Matter, Report of the American Academy of Arts & Science’s Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences to the U. S. Congress in June 2013). As a part of Show Me Research Week, the Humanities Symposium will spotlight the scholarship of undergraduate students working in these important fields, allowing them to help us envision where we are going together.
About the 2026 Humanities Symposium
For 2026, the Humanities Symposium is being co-sponsored by the University of Missouri Center for the Humanities. Dr. Seth Howes will be co-coordinating the Humanities Symposium programming.
Contributors to the Symposium are invited to submit research and creative projects in all areas of humanistic studies.
The Center for Humanities will be offering hands-on workshops to support students develop and present a project for the Symposium
- Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 from 3:30-4:45PM: Writing a Proposal to Present Humanities Research
- Thursday, April 9th, 2026 from 3:30-4:45PM: Presenting Humanities Research
Proposals to present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium are due Monday, March 13th, 2026 through humanities.missouri.edu
Coming soon: Check back to learn about the keynote speaker for this year’s Symposium, presenting on Friday, April 24 at 11:00 a.m. in Monsanto Auditorium.
Check this space and the Office of Undergraduate Research for further information about the Humanities Symposium, Student Poster Presentations, and Student Panel Presentations, including online information sessions sessions on how to present humanities research.
The above video is of the “Humanities Symposium; Information Session” held on February 3, 2022 led by Dr. Seth Howes and Dr. Linda Reeder, the organizers of the 2022 Humanities Symposium. It has a lot of great information about what the Humanities Symposium is, definition of the theme “Borders and Boundaries”, how students may participate, and some of the many benefits of participation.