Humanities Institute at Stony Brook Endowment for Discovery and Excellence

Since 1987, the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook (HISB) has been the central location at Stony Brook University for students and scholars alike to produce new and preserve historic knowledge through scholarly research within its disciplinary branches. HISB unites these specialized disciplines with the overall mission of the university — and with the broad public interest — by cultivating critical thinking, cultural awareness, a sense of historical responsibility and a theory and practice of democratic citizenship. The Humanities Institute at Stony Brook is a place to find some of the best research, theory, criticism and art that the humanities have to offer.

The Humanities Institute at Stony Brook is a resource for humanities academic life at Stony Brook University. With arts and humanities funding still in decline in public schools, colleges and universities are frequently the first places for young adults to discover the nature of the human experience through differing perspectives, to step out of their world and see a whole new universe, to discover strengths and passions they didn’t realize they had. Endowment monies will support our continuing efforts to re-envision the role of the humanities within the public sphere with initiatives such as expanding student enrichment programs like Pressing Matters, which brings prominent scholars and artists to SBU classrooms; expanding the HISB undergraduate internship program; and funding a Pedagogy Hub for graduate students and faculty to hone their skills through writing workshops, teaching-focused seminars and new skills–building, etc.