Paul Quigley named Center for Humanities director
When Paul Quigley first entered graduate school at the University of North Carolina, a conversation with an older student shaped the course of his future.
The student told him that a university is a place where “ideas matter,” a phrase that stuck with him through the years and, at the time, affirmed he was on the right academic track.
“As a first-generation student it was a revelation,” Quigley said. “And I realized that if there was a place in the world where people valued ideas so much – thinking, talking, and writing about them – then that's where I wanted to spend my life.”
His eagerness to share ideas led him to Virginia Tech in 2013, where he has since served as the James I. Robertson, Jr. Associate Professor of Civil War Studies and director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.
On July 1, Quigley will take on another role as director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Humanities. Established in 2017, the center’s purpose is to advance research based on human methods of scholarship among faculty and students and to work across the university.
Sylvester Johnson, the center’s current director and associate vice provost for public interest technology, will return to Northwestern University. Johnson will be a professor in the Department of Black Studies, where he plans to develop new institutional collaborations that are “translational and focused on the ethical governance of technology,” he said. He previously worked at the university from 2014-17.
As the center’s founding director, Johnson played a pivotal role in elevating the importance of the humanities across Virginia Tech. Johnson is also the executive director of the university’s Tech for Humanity, which is an initiative that encourages human-centered approaches to the study and development of technology. He also is a faculty member in the Department of Religion and Culture.
In 2022, he, along with other humanities faculty members, created Humanities Week. Now an annual event, the week highlights the value of the humanities and the ways it intertwines with technology and other disciplines.
“The questions and concerns rooted in the human condition are an inevitable part of life for everyone,” Johnson said. “Scholarship and learning grounded in the humanities impart skills and knowledge that are vital for every aspect of society. The Center for Humanities can provide necessary support to advance this work.”
Johnson said one of his favorite Virginia Tech projects includes working with a team of undergraduate students to design a prison education program for the River North Correctional Center in Virginia, which he said “directly impacted the lives of incarcerated students with very positive results.” For two years, Johnson taught a series of courses in the humanities for inmates there.
Also, he called participating in the university’s new Institute for Leadership in Technology, the first humanities-based executive program, “equally exciting.”
“Virginia Tech has been so fortunate to have Sylvester Johnson,” said Laura Belmonte, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. “He has worked tirelessly to increase awareness of human impacts of technology and to build the Center for Humanities into a vibrant hub of intellectual activity. We will miss him greatly and wish him well in his next professional chapter.”
During his time at Virginia Tech, Quigley has implemented augmented reality to teach the history of slavery during the Civil War era. Other principal areas of his research include nationalism, political violence, and the U.S. South.
Quigley said he is excited to broaden his horizons and grow the center into an organization that “reflects the ethos” of Virginia Tech. One of his main goals is to provide new opportunities for humanities faculty. He said that could include new opportunities for collaboration, visibility, and public engagement.
While he sees opportunities to promote history-related projects through the center, he said he is excited to work with other disciplines and seek answers to questions such as “what makes human beings human?”
“Even more than other parts of the university, the Center for Humanities is where the conviction that ideas matter is most powerful,” Quigley said. “It's the perfect place for me to continue my lifelong exploration of ideas, but also to share that journey with my colleagues and to open up the world of ideas to students and to public audiences as well.”
Quigley holds a bachelor’s degree from Lancaster University in Great Britain and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his new role, he will remain an associate professor and director of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.
“I am incredibly pleased that Dr. Quigley will be leading the Center for Humanities,” Belmonte said. “He has a bold vision for the center’s future and a proven track record of engaging multiple audiences with a variety of exciting programs. I am confident he will elevate the visibility and impact of the humanities at Virginia Tech.”
