The Tanner Humanities Center will feature several new faces this year.
A group of three outside scholars working at the forefront of their respective disciplines will spend the year at the U as Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner visiting fellows.
Farid Abdel-Nour, professor of political science at San Diego State University, will spend a year at the U researching the responsibility of individual citizens for large-scale horrors committed by their governments.
Jenefer Robinson will be visiting the U from the University of Cincinnati. Trained as a professor of philosophy, Robinson’s research will cross disciplinary boundaries to synthesize a new theory of emotion based on the best evidence in experimental psychology and neuroscience.
Ronald Doel, professor of history from Oregon State University, will study how Cold War military planners shaped research in the environmental sciences.
The Tanner Center is one of only a few institutions in the country that offers academic-year visiting fellowships and is consequently sought after by researchers in the humanities.
“It’s a great advantage,” Doel said. “Teaching takes up so much time at my home campus. Here, I can work primarily on research.”
In addition to the visiting fellows, six U professors have been granted Tanner fellowships to support their research.
Ron Goldberg, director of the Tanner Center, said that together, these fellows create a “web of interaction across interdisciplinary lines” that enhances the U community.