The pianos have recently been silent in the temporary music building at 48 Professors Row, but the facility will be put to use again next semester when the new Humanities Center opens.
According to English Professor Jonathan Wilson, who will serve as the new center's director, its purpose is to integrate the various humanities departments in the School of Arts and Sciences.
Currently, there are 10 such departments: English, history, art history, comparative religion, dance and drama, classics, philosophy, anthropology, German/Russian/Asian languages and romance languages.
Wilson said the idea for the center originated around 15 years ago, and he attributed its implementation to the recent work of Dean of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg and Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences Vickie Sullivan.
Sternberg said in an e-mail that the ultimate goal is to create "a meeting place - both physical and conceptual - for people interested in bringing together and integrating the humanities."
The building on Professors Row will also house the four Mellon Scholars who come to Tufts each year. These postdoctoral fellows, who have recently completed their Ph.D.s, conduct research and teach.
The idea for a center to facilitate interdepartmental cooperation is not unique to Tufts. Wilson said a number of other schools - including Harvard, Brown, Stanford and Wesleyan - already have similar centers.
Brown opened its Cogut Center for the Humanities in 2003, and according to its manager Kit Salisbury, the facility has been wildly successful.
"It's going like gangbusters - we're growing exponentially every year," she said. According to Salisbury, the university adds new fellows every year and the center's events are always well-attended.
She credited much of the center's success to its director, Michael Steinberg, describing him as "a ball of fire" who brings in speakers from all disciplines and from all over the world.
"Our last colloquium was so interdisciplinary that we really redefined the word," she said.
Sternberg is equally confident in Wilson's leadership abilities.
"He is one of our most eminent scholars and is energetic, internationally famous and someone who can bring people together," Sternberg said.
Wilson said that the Tufts center's programs will be based on an annual central theme that will be broad enough to encompass all the different humanities departments.
These themes will be explored largely through lectures and symposia. While there will not be a theme this spring, there will be a number of events starting in March. The most prominent will bring six renowned translators to campus.
Wilson also hopes to start an alumni lecture series in March with a speech by the Washington Post's Jill Hudson Neal.
According to Vice President of Operations John Roberto, renovations to the Professors Row building should begin within a few weeks. The work will be relatively minor and it will likely take two months.
The renovated facility, which was former Provost Sol Gittleman's house before it was a temporary music center, will hold a number of offices and a conference room. It will also feature a new roof, an upgraded interior and fresh landscaping.
