About the Center

A sketch illustrating the concept of home to a program attendee. "Is This Home?" featured local storytellers describing how they've found a sense of home in Southwest Virginia through traditional monologue and movement. An event during Humanities Week sponsored by Center for Humanities. Photo by Andrew Adkins.

Virginia Tech’s Center for Humanities was established in 2017. Under the leadership of founding director Sylvester Johnson (2017—24), the center developed innovative ways to advance human-centered scholarship.

Programs such as “Future Humans” and “Tech for Humanity” fostered creative discussion about the societal impact of technological innovation through human-centered approaches, while “Humanities for All” provided educational opportunities to incarcerated students.

During Johnson’s tenure as director, the Center also initiated an annual Humanities Week, showcasing the wide-ranging value of humanities research and outreach, and launched the Institute for Leadership in Technology, a certificate program for mid-career professionals.

Now under the leadership of Paul Quigley, the Center is renewing its commitment to demonstrate the vitality of humanities scholarship and education. We advance research that illuminates the human experience across time and place, foster intellectual community, and connect academic insights with public needs. Embracing Virginia Tech's Land Grant mission, the Center cultivates the power of the humanities to serve the public good.