by Whitney Hale

(Dec. 18, 2013) — The University of Kentucky invites nominations and applications for the job position of director of the Gaines Center for the Humanities and John R. Gaines Endowed Chair in the Humanities.

Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK's campus. Devoted to cultivating an appreciation of the humanities in its students and faculty, the center embraces varied paths of knowledge, and particularly strives to integrate creative work with traditional academic learning.

The center is also designed to provide a link, intellectual as well as geographic, between the campus and town communities. It sponsors an array of public events — seminars, workshops, and culinary events — that bring rich and varied resources of the Lexington community and UK together.

As part of its curriculum, the Gaines Center provides an intensive education for approximately 25 third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. The main components of the center’s pedagogical program include an annual Gaines seminar taught by multiple faculty and a senior thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor.

The Gaines Center director and chair is expected to be a distinguished scholar in a humanities discipline or a closely related discipline who is committed to excellence in undergraduate education and has the ability to work both at the university and with the larger public to advance the humanities and humanistic learning. The director and chair will hold a tenured appointment in an academic department and will be expected to contribute to the academic life of the department, which may include teaching. The center director reports to the associate provost for undergraduate education. 

A more specific list of the responsibilities of the Gaines Director may be found here. Further information on the Gaines Center is available here.

Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae and names of at least four references (including at least one former student). Upon initial review, the search committee may request additional materials. Application materials should be sent to: The Gaines Center Search Committee, University of Kentucky, Office of the Associate Provost, 557 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506-0027.

Review of applications will begin Jan. 10, 2014, and will continue until the position is filled.

For additional information on the director and chair position with UK's Gaines Center for the Humanities, contact Professor David Hamilton, UK Gaines Center Search Committee Chair, atdehami01@email.uky.edu.