The Center for 21st Century Studies (C21) mission is to build a community of scholars addressing the most pressing questions of our time. We support and foster research by bringing emerging and established researchers across a range of disciplines together for collaborative idea generation and individual reflection.
Process
C21 created a model to bring intentionality to the design, planning, and execution of what the Center calls the “Collaborative Knowledge Creation (CKC)” process. Community and university stakeholders take part in every step of it, which informs the creation of accessible programming that provides multiple points of access and honors multiple ways of knowing.
Themes
C21 has a long tradition of selecting an annual theme to guide its programming and the collaborations of its Fellows. This single theme culminated in an annual spring conference, and often the publication of a monograph of the conference proceedings. See this archive of past conference themes.
Fellowships
Each year the Center selects a cohort of Research Fellows. These can be drawn from. Fellows are selected for the excellence of their proposals for projects addressing one of the C21 themes. Humanities-oriented projects from any field are given priority.
New calls for Fellows are commonly posted November 1st and selected for the following academic year. Fellows receive an office on the 9th Floor of Curtin Hall and are expected to meet bi-weekly to support the development of each other’s research.
Collaboratories
With additional funding provided by the College of Letters & Science, C21 supports research projects through an annual call for collaborations among faculty, graduate students, academic staff, and community members. Collaborative groups are required to include researchers from more than one unit (i.e., department, division, or college). Potential participants could also be drawn from other local universities, community organizations, or from members of the Milwaukee-area public. Projects can focus on the creation of sustainable research networks; curricular offerings; grant proposals; conferences and lectures.
Past Research
Learn more about past collaboratories, research fellows, C21-hosted conferences, and assorted research.