‘A Collective Commitment to Advancing the Humanities’

Some of the best discussions and breakthroughs are over a meal, and lunchtime at the National Humanities Center’s (NHC) Select Summer Residency Program was no exception. 

“We were all expected to have lunch together, and shared meals became a cornerstone of the program,” says Richa Nagar, Smith College’s inaugural Gloria Steinem ’56 Endowed Chair in Women & Gender Studies. “It allowed for organic connection, serendipity, and dynamism. We were all in conversation, everybody learning from one another about one another’s work, absorbing and advancing the creative energies that can only come from being in community.”

As one of 40 scholars selected from a pool of over 200 to participate in the first year of NHC’s Select Summer Residency Program, Nagar spent four weeks in June conducting concentrated research and writing on her book while surrounded by likeminded peers within Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

Nagar is no stranger to prestigious residencies—she’s attended several across the world in the past—but the chance to work alongside a mix of scholars at different junctures of their careers through the NHC’s select summer residency held a particular appeal.

From June 1–26, the scholars immersed themselves in humanities topics ranging from literature and history to writing, music, and translation. “There were assistant professors, associate professors, and very senior scholars. It was truly multigenerational and transdisciplinary, with scholars coming from a range of different kinds of institutions,” Nagar recalls. “What was also unique about this fellowship was that there were no required presentations or lectures from the participants. Our only requirement was to interact with one another and build a community.”

Before their arrival, scholars were asked to share titles of any specific books, papers, or other resources they were planning to use in their work. Staff at the NHC’s library, whom Nagar describes as “an amazing support, luxury, and privilege to work with,” then procured and dispensed each item, and they were also available to fulfill other requests for additional media and resources such as podcast training over the course of the residency. “We also had some specialized workshops on writing and publishing; some wonderful yoga, hike, and meditation sessions; and a chance to bring in visitors from the Research Triangle Park.”

Nagar has published ten acclaimed books and hundreds of other works over the course of her career. She spent her four weeks in North Carolina working on her new book-in-progress, Salty River: Stories Flowing in Neighborliness. Building on her previous work where she pioneered three other concepts—situated solidarities, radical vulnerability, and hungry translations—Salty River examines what it means to be neighbors in our current times, when violence and hatred have become commonplace and normalized. “I want to explore neighborliness through the ways we share and tell stories, especially stories that we earn through profound pain and suffering,” she explains.

Nagar’s descriptions of day-to-day life during the residency evoke memories reminiscent of the college experience, where connection happens through shared spaces of learning. “The whole focus was on creating an environment where magic can happen,” says Nagar. “People being with each other, tuning into each other’s work, and developing deep intellectual relationships and connections that enable beautiful synergies. It felt like we were living a shared commitment to advancing the humanities. And that made it extraordinary.”