The Dean of the Faculty invites nominations of full professors in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to be considered for the position of Director of the Cogut Institute for the Humanities. All faculty members are invited to send nominations to dean_of_faculty@brown.edu by October 10, 2025. Please include a brief statement (up to 250 words) about why you think the nominee is well-qualified to serve as Director. 

At the end of June 2026, Amanda Anderson, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities and English, will be stepping down after more than a decade as Director. Under her capable leadership, the Cogut Institute has established itself as a pre-eminent venue at Brown for forward-looking, collaborative work serving a broad range of humanistic scholars, teachers, and students across the campus.The move to the newly renovated Andrews House in 2024 was a significant milestone, ushering in a new phase of innovation and aspiration for the Institute and the humanities at Brown. The incoming Director will steward the success of existing programs and initiatives, but also craft a vision for the future, in the light of the challenges and opportunities facing the humanities today. 

We are looking for candidates who can think strategically and broadly about the role of the  humanities at Brown and beyond. They should be attentive to the Institute’s unique strengths and history, but also be eager to think critically and globally about its future. The Director must be an active and well-respected scholar with a broad, transdisciplinary perspective, and attuned to emerging, urgent questions facing the humanities today. Candidates should demonstrate a record of effective leadership and the ability to cultivate creativity, implement change, and forge collaboration. They must be able to articulate the value of humanistic scholarship and learning to a broad audience, and have strong managerial skills.

A more detailed description of the position can be found here.

The committee for the search process, chaired by Zachary Sng (Senior Associate Dean of the Faculty), consists of the following faculty members:

• Leela Gandhi, John Hawkes Professor of the Humanities and English, Director of the Pembroke Center
• Andrew Laird, John Rowe Workman Distinguished Professor of Classics and Humanities, Professor of Hispanic Studies, Director of Center for Early Modern World
• Peter Szendy, David Herlihy University Professor of Comparative Literature and the Humanities
• Paul Nahme, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Director of Judaic Studies
• Tara Nummedal, John Nickoll Provost's Professor of History, Chair of History
• Bernard Reginster, Romeo Elton Professor of Natural Theology
• Amy Russell, Associate Professor of Classics, Associate Professor of History, Director of Center for Global Antiquity
• Esther Whitfield, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Professor of Comparative Literature, Professor of Hispanic Studies

Eligible nominees will be contacted and invited to submit a letter of interest along with a current CV if they would like to be considered for the position. All nominations and inquiries will be held in strict confidence.