For nearly fifty years, the Center has led the way in imagining, defining, and creating the fields of 20th and 21st century studies, focusing on the intersection of the humanities, arts, and sciences (social and natural) with issues of compelling concern.

The Center organizes its research and public programs around three broad areas of interdisciplinary humanities research: critical, public, and digital humanities.
 

• Critical humanities describes the continuation of the Center’s ongoing focus on critical and theoretical interdisciplinary scholarship and research.
• Public humanities entails both the communication of humanities research outside the walls of the university and the humanistic engagement with local, state, and regional communities.
• Digital humanities research focuses on the remediation of print texts and artifacts in digital formats, as well as on the creation of new critical methodologies for analyzing digital media.

Each year the Center constitutes a group of faculty fellows whose research interests relate to one or more of these three broad areas of humanities research. Through the C21 Collaboratory, the Center supports interdisciplinary collaboration by faculty, graduate students, and academic staff both within and outside of UWM. Nationally and internationally known scholars are brought to campus to address the C21 community in seminars, lectures, and conferences.

For many years, C21 had designated an annual theme that lent itself to multidisciplinary study as the subject for its research. Some recent themes included:

2017-18 Theme: In the Eschaton
2016-17 Theme: Naysaying
2015-16 Theme: Indigeneities

C21 is located on the top floor of Curtin Hall, a nine-story building that houses most of the humanities departments at UWM and overlooks Lake Michigan and downtown Milwaukee. In addition to a suite of offices for C21 fellows (each fellow has his or her own office), a conference room hosts meetings of fellows and smaller research seminars. Public lectures and screenings take place on the ground floor of Curtin Hall and elsewhere around campus.