People news: Cornell names Fleming to lead Society for the Humanities

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences recently announced that Paul Fleming, professor of German studies and comparative literature, will become the new director of its Society for the Humanities when Timothy Murray’s term ends next June 30.

Cornell says it established its Society for the Humanities in 1966 as one of the first humanities institutes in North America. Located in the historic home of Cornell’s first president, Andrew Dickson White, the society brings together “distinguished” visiting fellows, Cornell faculty, and graduate student fellows to pursue research. The society sponsors internal grants, workshops, and funding opportunities for Cornell faculty and graduate students in the humanities as well as hosts annual lectures, workshops, colloquia, and conferences organized by Cornell’s humanities faculty, according to the university.

Fleming is currently director of Cornell’s Institute for German Cultural Studies. He is also leading a humanities and arts task force, known as CIVIC, as part of a new provost initiative to support research collaborations across the university.

“I am pleased to welcome Paul Fleming as our new director of the Society for the Humanities at Cornell,” Gretchen Ritter, dean of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, said in a news release. “Paul’s impressive body of scholarship combined with his leadership experience and enthusiasm for collaboration makes him a great fit for the directorship of one of the premier centers for the study of the humanities in this country.”

Fleming’s teaching and research interests include 18th and 19th century German and European literature, especially the novel; aesthetics and hermeneutics from 1750 to the present; critical theory; and the relationship between narration and knowledge, the release stated.

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