PAST DIRECTORS
The Franke Institute collaborates with departments, committees, schools, divisions, workshops, and student groups from throughout the University to undertake short-, medium- and long-term initiatives related to innovative research and teaching in the humanities. More recently, Franke directors have acted as formal PIs on the University’s inter-departmental grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, even as the Institute’s staff has provided essential administrative support.
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1990-92
Former Acting Director; Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor in Japanese Studies, Emerita, East Asian Languages & Civilizations and the College, The University of Chicago
1990: established the Franke Faculty Fellowship program
1992-96
Former Director; former Professor of Anthropology, South Asian Languages & Civilizations, and the College, The University of Chicago
1993: established the Franke Doctoral Fellowship program
1994-97: “Public Spheres and the Globalization of Media,” a grant from the John D. Rockefeller Foundation
1995-96: “Toleration, Repression and Authority in the Early Modern Period,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
1995-98: “Globalization Project,” a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
1996-01
Former Director; Barbara E. and Richard J. Franke Professor Emeritus, English Language & Literature and the College, The University of Chicago
1996-97: “Religion, Law, and the Construction of Identities,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
1997: established the ‘Every Wednesday’ luncheon talks at the Franke Institute
1997-98: “Sexual Identities, Identity Politics: Cross-cultural Investigations,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
1998: established the ‘Faculty Publications’ reception, celebrating recent faculty publications
1999: established the ‘Franke Forum’ lectures at the Gleacher Center downtown
1999: co-founded the Big Problems Curriculum in the College with Prof. William Wimsatt
1999: “Journalists and Scholars Project,” a seminar on visual literacy, sponsored by Regents Park at Hyde Park
1999-2000: “Computer Science as a Human Science: The Cultural Impact of Computerization,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2001-06
Former Director; William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor, English Language & Literature, Cinema & Media Studies, and the College, The University of Chicago
2001-02: “The Range of Contemporary Literacy: The Circulation of Poetry,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
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2001-02: “From Medieval to Modern in the Islamic World,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
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2002-03: “Senior Capstone Project,” a grant to the College, coordinated in conjunction with the Franke Institute
2003-06: “New Perspectives on the Disciplines: Comparative Studies in Higher Education,” a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and its CHCI conference on "The Fate of Disciplines," including the public art installation "Instance the determination"
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2006-07
Former Interim Director; Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor, The College, Divinity School, and Comparative Literature, The University of Chicago
2006-07: “Inquiries in Aesthetic theory, Forms of Representation, and the Logic of the Humanities: The Problem of Non-Discursive Thought from Goethe to Wittgenstein,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2007-18
Former Director; William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor, English Language & Literature, Cinema & Media Studies, and the College, The University of Chicago
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2006-19 and continuing: “Center for Disciplinary Innovation,” a series of grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2011-12: “Around 1948: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Transformation,” a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2012-15: “Disciplines & Technologies Project,” a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2015-19: "Studies in Climate Change: The Limits of the Numerical,"a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
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2016-20: “Musical Pasts Consortium,” a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
2016-20: “Algorithms, Models, and Formalisms,” a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
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2018-19
Former Interim Director; Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor, The College, Divinity School, and Comparative Literature, The University of Chicago