Among the Center’s several directors Kathy Woodward held the longest tenure, serving for nearly 20 years.
The Center's efforts are geared towards three main activities: supporting faculty research, hosting public events in the humanities, and publishing a book series.
Faculty research Every year, the Center designates an interdisciplinary theme as the basis of faculty research; recent themes include "The Non-Human Turn," "Anthropocene Feminism," "After Extinction," and "Landbody: Indigeneity's Radical Commitments."
"[1] A group of roughly six to eight fellows from various departments and disciplines at UWM are chosen from a competitive selection process to be in residence at the Center for one full academic year.
Public programming C21 invites nationally and internationally known scholars to address the topic of the year's research in seminars, lectures, and conferences.