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.
Yale Review wins 2026 National Magazine Award for Fiction
The Yale Review, led by Professor in the Practice of English Meghan O'Rourke, has been named the winner of the 2026 National Magazine Award for Fiction.
Marlene Daut awarded 2026 James Tait Black Prize
Daut, Professor of French and of Black Studies, was recognized for her latest book, The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe.
Marlene Daut selected as Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Fellow
During her fellowship, Daut, Professor of French and of Black Studies, will work on a new project: a biography of Jean-Pierre Boyer, a Haitian revolutionary turned president.
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