Promoting the Humanities throughout Campus and the Commonwealth

Our Year on Origins

Coinciding with the United States’ quarter millennial, the Gaines theme for 2025-2026 explores the meaning of origins through the prism of disciplinary viewpoints offered by the humanities, the arts, and the sciences. The Gaines Fellows seminar highlights the multiplicity of beginnings not only for Lexington and the United States but also for current technologies, social institutions, political movements, the planet, humans, and other species as the city and nation commemorate—and reckon with—our 250th anniversaries

Gaines Newsletter: Fall 2025

News and Upcoming Events

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN The 2026 Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship

Mar 2, 2026

Applications for the prestigious 2026 Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities, presented by the Gaines Center for the Humanities, are now open. Established to honor Edward T. Breathitt, an eminent Kentuckian who served as governor of Kentucky from 1963–67 and was a University of Kentucky alumnus, the lectureship recognizes an undergraduate whose qualities of mind and spirit are expressed eloquently through the humanities. Breathitt was known for his exceptional passion for higher education and the humanities, values reflected in this annual lecture.

a gaines center for the humanities mini grant event Eros Across Time and Tradition

Feb 21, 2026

The 2026 Annual Philosophy Graduate Student Conference, "Eros Across Time and Tradition," will take place on Friday February 20 and Saturday February 21, 2026. Inspired by Plato's Symposium, this year's conference offers a spirited yet reflective gathering of speech, song, and verse devoted to love in all its forms. Keynotes and graduate speakers engage Persian poetry, Greek philosophy, Judeo-Christian thought, and beyond in a bold reawakening of love's enduring mysteries in this age of alienation.

THE 2026 GAINES LECTURE FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH IN THE HUMANITIES Digitizing Prison Dreams: Incarcerated Podcasters and Their Views on Freedom

Feb 18, 2026

Join us for the 2nd annual Gaines Lecture for Outstanding Research in the Humanities featuring Assistant Professor Dr. Brandon Erby (Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies). Dr.

a gaines center for the humanities cooperative event Slavery in the New History of Capitalism with David McNally

Feb 12, 2026

David McNally is Distinguished Professor of History and holds the NEH-Cullen Chair in History and Business at the University of Houston. His eight books include, most recently, Slavery and Capitalism published by University of California Press (2025). McNally's lecture is presented by the Global Crisis Cooperative, 2025-2026 recipients of Gaines Center for the Humanities Cooperative funding. The lecture will take place on Thursday February 12 at 3.30pm in room 191 of the Gatton Business & Economics Building.

SAVE THE DATE A Conversation with Frank X Walker and Amy Murrell Taylor

Feb 9, 2026

Please join us for a reading from and conversation about Professor Frank X. Walker’s (Creative Writing) and Professor Amy Taylor’s (History) award-winning books, Load in Nine Times and Embattled Freedom. The conversation will be moderated by Professor of History and Senior Adviser to the President, George C. Wright. Their conversation will take place in the John Jacob Niles Gallery, 3.30pm-4.30pm, on Monday February 9.

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