The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) is an interdisciplinary research centre within the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Founded in 2001, CRASSH came into being as a way to create interdisciplinary dialogue across the University’s many faculties and departments in the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

, and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

, as well as to build bridges with scientific subjects. It has now grown into one of the largest humanities institutes in the world and is a major presence in academic life in the UK. It serves at once to draw together disciplinary perspectives in Cambridge and to disseminate new ideas to audiences across Europe and beyond. CRASSH’s mission is to create new resources for thought, stimulate interdisciplinary research and disciplinary innovation, establish new intellectual networks and affiliations, respond to emerging social and political challenges, engage new publics in humanities research and help to shape public policy. Its programmes include visiting fellowships, early career fellowships for Cambridge academics, and a variety of interdisciplinary research networks, alongside a conference programme designed to forge new connections and open up fresh intellectual pathways. CRASSH’s research community includes many postdoctoral researchers working on its diverse range of interdisciplinary projects, which often involve international collaborations, and are funded by research councils, charities, trusts, and philanthropic donations.

Directors

* Ian Donaldson, 2001–3 *

Ludmilla Jordanova Ludmilla Jane Jordanova (born 10 October 1949) is a British historian and academic. She is Professor of Visual Culture in the Department of History at Durham University. Jordanova was born to a Bulgarian father and English mother. Educated at ...

, 2003–5 *

Mary Jacobus Mary Jacobus (February 11, 1957 – February 20, 2009) was an American journalist. She was an executive with The New York Times Company, serving as president and general manager of ''The Boston Globe'' from January through September 2006, an ...

, 2005–11 * Andrew Webber (Sabbatical Director), 2009–10 *

Simon Goldhill Simon David Goldhill, FBA (born 17 March 1957) is Professor in Greek literature and culture and fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at King's College, Cambridge. He was previously Director of Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sc ...

, 2011–18 *

Steven Connor Steven Kevin Connor, FBA (born 11 February 1955) is a British literary scholar. Since 2012, he has been the Grace 2 Professor of English in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was formerly the academic director ...

, 2018–

Management committee 2022

*Chair: Tim Lewens (Professor of Philosophy of Science and Head of Department, Department of History and Philosophy of Science) *Tim Harper (Chair, School of Humanities and Social Sciences) *Chris Young (Chair, School of Arts and Humanities) *

FBA (Grace 2 Professor of English; Director, CRASSH) *Caroline Bassett (Professor, Director, Cambridge Digital Humanities) *Sriya Iyer (Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics) *Louise Haywood (Professor in Medieval Iberian Literary and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics) *David Howarth (Professor of Law and Public Policy, Land Economy) *William Janeway (Faculty of Economics) *

Bridget Kendall Bridget Kendall (born 27 April 1956) is an English journalist who was the BBC's Diplomatic correspondent working for the corporation's radio and television networks. Since July 2016, she has been Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge: the first woman ...

(Master of Peterhouse) *Carrie Vout (Professor of Classics & Director of the Museum of Classical Archaeology)

Research projects

CRASSH is and was home to numerous major, long-term research projects and centres. * Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy ** Minderoo Centre is primarily funded by Minderoo Foundation which is primarily funded by

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining i ...

, Chairman of

Fortescue Metals Group Fortescue Metals Group Limited (often referred to as Fortescue Metals Group, FMG, or simply Fortescue) is an Australian iron ore company. As of 2017, Fortescue is the fourth-largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has holdings of ...

* Cambridge Digital Humanities * Centre for Global Knowledge Studies * Centre for the Humanities and Social Change, Cambridge *

Centre for the Study of Existential Risk The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) is a research centre at the University of Cambridge, intended to study possible extinction-level threats posed by present or future technology. The co-founders of the centre are Huw Price (Be ...

(now a spin-off centre) * Beyond the Cold War: Toward a Community of Asia * Crossroads of Knowledge in Early Modern England: The Place of Literature * Expertise Under Pressure * Genius Before Romanticism: Ingenuity in Early Modern Art and Science * Giving Voice to Digital Democracies: The Social Impact of Artificially Intelligent Communications Technology * The Global as ARTEFACT: Understanding the Patterns of Global Political History Through an Anthropology of Knowledge – The Case of Agriculture in Four Global Systems from the Neolithic to the Present * Making Visible: The Visual and Graphic Practices of the Early Royal Society * Qualitative and Quantitative Social Science: Unifying the Logic of Causal Inference? * Religious Diversity and the Secular University * Bible and Antiquity in 19th Century Culture * China in a Global World War II * The Concept Lab * Conspiracy and Democracy * Conversions * The History of Cross-Cultural Comparatism * Limits of the Numerical * Seeing Things: Early Modern Visual and Material Culture * Technology and Democracy * Visual Representations of the Third Plague Pandemic

Research networks

The CRASSH Research Networks Programme supports groups of Cambridge graduate students and faculty members working together with a common interdisciplinary research interest, bringing together early-career researchers, established academics and guest speakers on particular research topics for a year of collaborative work.

Conferences

The CRASSH Conference Programme] showcases arts, social sciences and humanities research in action. It enables Cambridge scholars to convene events designed to look beyond disciplinary boundaries and broker exciting collaborations with academics and practitioners from across the world.

Fellowships

CRASSH offers a number of Fellowship Programmes to bring scholars from all over the world to Cambridge. These schemes allow a community of scholars–from postdoctoral and early career researchers to more established visiting fellows–to interact in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Alison Richard Building

At the beginning of 2012, CRASSH moved into the new

Alison Richard Dame Alison Fettes Richard, (born 1 March 1948) is an English anthropologist, conservationist and university administrator. She was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the third Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the po ...

Building at the West Road gateway to the University’s

Sidgwick Site The Sidgwick Site is one of the largest sites within the University of Cambridge, England. Overview and history The Sidgwick Site is located on the western side of Cambridge city centre, near the Backs. The site is north of Sidgwick Avenue an ...

, the main base for humanities and social science teaching and research at Cambridge. The building was designed by

Nicholas Hare Architects Nicholas Hare Architects is a UK architectural practice, with a portfolio of award-winning projects. These include schools, higher education, refurbishment, commercial projects, and buildings for the arts. Founded by Nicholas Hare in 1977, the pr ...

and received a commendation at the 2013

Civic Trust Awards The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...

. The Centre’s relocation put CRASSH alongside the major regional studies centres as well as the Department of Politics and International Studies. The building is also home to

Edmund de Waal Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal, (born 10 September 1964) is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or th ...

's first piece of public sculpture, ''A Local History'', a commission of three vitrines filled with porcelain and sunk into the pavement outside the building.

References

External links

* {{authority control Culture of the University of Cambridge History of literature Educational projects Research projects Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Centre for Research institutes in Cambridge Social science institutes Research institutes established in 2001 2001 establishments in England