Empowering the World with the Human Experience
We are a collaborative research, creative, and social innovation incubator in the College of Arts and Letters at Old Dominion University. We help foster synergies among activists, artists, scholars, engaged global citizens, and local community stakeholders who are searching for meaningful ways to reshape people's lives.
Above all else, we are humanists that believe people - when given access to critical tools, skills, and literacies - can become agents of transformation in our society. We serve as stewards of such critical sensibilities, seeking creative, innovative, and multidisciplinary opportunities to engage students, serve our communities, and participate as citizens. In short, we aim to provide future leaders in the arts, the humanities and in public service with the knowledge, skills, and training they need to become global innovators and implement sustainable change.
One of the ways we accomplish these goals is through our interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree (MA) program in the Humanities.
We also serve as a key community outreach and engagement arm for the University, sponsoring and hosting an array of speakers, performers, and public forums as part of our Humanities in Hampton Roads initiative.
Our Students
Julius Clark: Class of 2026
Interests: Children’s and refugee rights advocate. Research focus relates to the rising number of Wounded Child-No Surviving Family (WCNSF) classifications in oppressed and underrepresented communities. Graduate Assistant for the Institute for the Humanities.
Marina Cortez: Class of 2026
Interests: With a background in intersectional feminist theory, Marina’s research centers on compulsory sterilization as an insidious form of reproductive injustices that targets the bodies of women of color. Graduate Assistant for Gay Cultural Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Mary Taetsch: Class of 2025
Interests: Ethnographic research including photography, and activism for human rights on a global scale. Her current graduate research looks at access to resources and advocacy for survivors of sexual assault on college campuses. Mary is a local doula offering reduced fee services to POC birthers and birthing fathers as an act of advocacy for access, and volunteers for survivors of violence at Samaritan House. Graduate Assistant for the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.