DePaul University has named Jacqueline Taylor as director of its new Humanities Center, effective July 1. Taylor is the former associate dean for graduate studies at DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Taylor, who has held a faculty position and a series of administrative posts at DePaul for the past 19 years, stresses that the center will be much more than a source of support for the university’s liberal arts and sciences faculty. “We’ll be working throughout the university to see where the center can be a source of nourishment and support in celebration of the humanities,” said Taylor. “I cannot think of a college or school that does not in some way involve the humanities.”

DePaul’s Humanities Center, which opened its doors in February, is also aiming for humanities programs with a community thrust. “We’re very intentional about broadening links so that you just don’t have scholars talking with scholars, but also scholars talking with artists community activists, writers and K through12 educators,” said Taylor.

A national trend in the humanities is to move beyond the academy. However, Taylor said that because DePaul’s mission of service has long fostered strong ties to the community, the humanities center is already well positioned to make this kind of move. “DePaul has established itself as a leader in building connections to the community,” she said. “We want the DePaul Humanities Center to provide that same kind of leadership in fostering public conversations about the importance of the humanities in contemporary life.”

Taylor and the center’s assistant director, Anna Vaughn Clissold have begun to develop a dialogue with museum and humanities center directors, and other professionals whose work connect to the humanities. A series of five-week, no-credit courses, “For the Love of Learning,” will soon be offered by the Humanities Center. The two are also structuring a series of conferences that will examine the role of the humanities in the urban environment. These programs and others to come, according to Taylor, will shine a light on the humanities through offering DePaul’s unique approach.

In October, the center will hold a weekend celebration and conference to welcome the university’s first Ida B. Wells-Barnett Distinguished Professor, Michael Eric Dyson. The conference will examine racism, violence and resistance. “As our country and city continue to experience outbreaks of race-based violence, we want to look at the record of Ida B. Wells’ activism and courageous leadership in resisting lynching and other forms of racial violence,” said Taylor. “We also want to use this conference to honor those people who are carrying on her work.”

In heading DePaul’s Humanities Center, Taylor brings a record of long-term institutional service both on the administrative and academic sides. She served as chair of DePaul’s Department of Communication for five years, and prior to that directed the Women’s Studies Program at DePaul. Currently a professor of communication, Taylor began her teaching career at DePaul as an assistant professor of English and communication.

Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Communication from Georgetown College, Georgetown, K.Y., and a master’s and doctorate in communication from the University of Texas at Austin.

Taylor considers her administrative expertise and knowledge of DePaul two of the greatest strengths that she brings to her new post. She also has an appreciation for the humanities that makes her new role seem tailor-made. “What brought me into this profession was a love of humanities,” said Taylor. “I really believe that the humanities not only help us to understand where we have been, but also have something to say about contemporary problems and our current place in are in history.”

The DePaul Humanities Center is located on the Lincoln Park Campus in McGaw Hall, 802 W. Belden Ave. For more information on upcoming public events, contact Anna V. Clissold at 773/325-4581.