Division of Humanities
Knowledge from antiquity to the present
The faculty of the FAS Humanities division cover an expansive intellectual terrain. They are experts in history, literature, language, philosophy, and the arts. Their work asks who we are and what we might become as they make new discoveries about the past and present that will shape the future of human culture. Through collaboration, research, and teaching, they initiate conversations around the most pressing questions that humankind has addressed from antiquity to the present.
The divisional dean of the Humanities is Marc Robinson.
Humanities departments and programs
The FAS's 20+ humanities units cover the range of human knowledge: from English to Classics; from History of Art to Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; from the world's languages and literatures to History. In addition, several programs are cross-divisional, bridging Humanities and Social Science.
News
Nana Osei Quarshie wins 2026 Cheiron Book Prize
Nana Osei Quarshie, Assistant Professor of History, has been named the winner of the 2026 Cheiron Book Prize for his book African Pharmakon: The Asylum as Shrine from Slavery to the Return.
Francesco Casetti appointed as member of Venice Film Festival Jury
Francesco Casetti, Sterling Professor of Humanities and Film and Media Studies, has been appointed as a member of the International Jury for the Eighty–Third Venice International Film Festival, reflecting both Casetti’s longstanding influence on film and media studies and the international prominence of Yale’s Film and Media Studies program.
Luciano Flordi Awarded 2026 Strega International Non-Fiction Prize
Luciano Floridi, John K. Castle Professor in the Practice of Cognitive Science and Director of the Digital Ethics Center, has been awarded the 2026 Strega International Non-Fiction Prize for his recent work on AI and information ethics.
Piecing together the past: Yale scholar reconstructs ancient Egyptian writings
A new exhibit at the Peabody Museum explores assistant professor of Egyptology Victoria Almansa-Villatoro’s study of thousands of papyri fragments from the Old Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt.
Becoming better thinkers through art and culture
How does architecture affect the way we live? Does it influence our health and our healing? Fatima Naqvi, the Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of German and Film Studies in the FAS, explores these questions in her new book. She looks at how writers and directors portray the architecture of hospitals and describe their experience from the 1880s to the present. Naqvi’s scholarship lies at the intersection of architecture, literature, and film. She argues that by experiencing culture and the arts, we become better thinkers in ways that are difficult to quantify but nevertheless profound.
FAS Humanities contacts
- FAS Dean of Humanities; Malcolm G. Chace '56 Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and of English; Professor of American Studies; Professor in the Practice of Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism
- FAS Dean's Office
- Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (Program)
- English
- American Studies (Program)
- Senior Associate Dean; Dean of Faculty Affairs
- FAS Dean's Office