Cornell University and the University of Rochester have joined an initiative led by Syracuse University (SU) to create a central New York "humanities corridor" that will include collaborative research, interdisciplinary workshops and conferences, and faculty exchanges among the institutions. It is funded by a three-year, $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

"The humanities corridor promises to enhance the study of significant areas of humanistic inquiry in the central New York region by connecting the teaching and research strengths of scholars at these three universities through inter-institutional partnerships," said Harry Shaw, senior associate dean of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences and professor of English. "The new initiative hopes to build on partnerships that have been created and fostered in the past and to facilitate new ones."

Collaborations will center around thematic clusters, including philosophy and linguistics, which have long-standing partnerships among the three universities, and emerging areas such as music history/musicology and visual arts and cultures. More information about the thematic clusters is available at http://www-hl.syr.edu/cas-pages/Humanities_Mellon2006.htm. The initiative will include collaborative research, funded interdisciplinary workshops and conferences and faculty exchanges among the institutions.

The humanities corridor will link the three central New York campuses and facilitate the sharing of resources, among them Cornell University Library, with its Native American collection of 40,000 books and archival materials, among other important holdings. The University of Rochester recently acquired the library of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, making it one of the largest theological libraries in North America. The Belfer Audio Laboratory at SU and the Sibley Library of Rochester's renowned Eastman School of Music are, combined, one of the country's largest holdings of recorded sound. SU is planning to open an interdisciplinary humanities center next year.