Professor Martha Umphrey has been appointed the inaugural director of the college’s new Humanities Center. The center is currently under construction on the second floor of Frost Library.

Umphrey, a professor of law, jurisprudence and social thought, has taught at Amherst since 1994. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English, her doctorate in American culture and her law degree from the University of Michigan. Her scholarly work focuses on the intersection of cultural representation, law and politics. She is the Bertrand H. Snell 1894 professor in American Government, LJST department chair and dean of the class of 2016. At the end of this academic year, Umphrey will leave her role as dean of the Class of 2016 in order to focus on the humanities center project.

As director, Umphrey will organize activities in the center, create opportunities for faculty from both Amherst and other schools to come together and ensure that the space fosters student collaborations and discussions. A faculty advisory board, which will include both faculty and staff, will work with her on coordinating events and bringing speakers to the center. Associate Professor of English and Director of the Five College Digital Humanities Project Marisa Parham will chair the board.

Umphrey said she hopes to apply her experience in the humanities to creating a space that “energizes campus.”

“I’m interested in generating programming that will enhance public culture at Amherst among faculty, students and staff by framing them through a humanities-oriented lens,” she said. “And I’m particularly keen to provide a forum for productive conversation about important issues that affect us at Amherst, but that transcend campus boundaries.”

Umphrey described the role that the Humanities Center will play in faculty research.

“The center has been an idea percolating for a few years among the faculty and the administration,” Umphrey said. “I think it’s envisioned as a kind of an intellectual hub for the campus, with a primary focus on faculty and faculty research. It will draw in scholars from outside Amherst as well as faculty from inside to the redesigned second-floor space in Frost.”

Beyond faculty research, the Humanities Center will also facilitate talk events, including those involving outside speakers, as well as serve as a group study space for students.

Umphrey hopes to “work with the faculty and staff in the center to set the center’s theme,” by giving faculty and students the opportunity to display their artwork in the center.

The bulk of the architectural work on Frost Library’s second floor space will be completed in spring 2015. Umphrey said she plans to work on “finishing touches and design changes” before the Humanities Center opens next fall.