Demonstrating a loud and clear commitment to advancing its world-class research enterprise, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) announces that Susan Laxton, Associate Professor of Modernism and the History of Photography and Chair of the Department of the History of Art, has been selected for the esteemed National Humanities Center (NHC) Summer Residency program. Laxton will be one of 40 participants. Costs will be covered by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, which has been a NHC Institutional Member since 2022.

The NHC Summer Residency Program is an exclusive, four-week fellowship designed to provide exceptional humanities scholars with a highly concentrated period of supported research and intellectual exchange. Held in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, the program is uniquely tailored to help scholars jump-start or make substantial progress on significant academic projects while fostering synergistic discussions with peers from across the country. Laxton’s project title is “Cut Together: Surrealist Photomontage and the Structure of Dissent.”

"For a historian of surrealism, the chance to think and write alongside colleagues equally absorbed in their work has its own dream logic,” Laxton said. “I am deeply grateful to the Dean, the Center for Ideas and Society, and the National Humanities Center for making it real."

“Our deliberate investments in National Humanities Center programs lead our research university enterprise,” said Daryle Williams, Professor of History and Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “When we commit resources to placing exceptional scholars like Professor Laxton in these competitive residencies, we see direct returns in the form of accelerated, field-defining publications and a magnified UCR presence on the national stage. It is an investment in the intellectual capital that drives the humanities forward.”

Championing Field-Defining Scholarship

Laxton brings a wealth of expertise and a distinguished record of scholarship to the NHC. A Ph.D. graduate of Columbia University, her research explores the alternative art practices of the 20th-century European avant-gardes, with a profound focus on photography, photomontage, and chance-based processes. She is the author of Surrealism at Play (Duke University Press, 2019) and is currently developing a new manuscript titled “Cut Together: Surrealist Photomontage and the Structure of Dissent.” Her field-defining scholarship has already been supported by prestigious fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Hellman Foundation, and the Borchard Foundation. Her work frequently appears in leading academic journals such as October and Critical Inquiry.

Elevating UCR’s Humanities Research

Laxton’s upcoming residency highlights UCR’s aggressive, strategic investment in faculty research and the university’s ongoing commitment to shaping the national conversation in the humanities. By supporting faculty through high-impact initiatives like the NHC Summer Residency, UCR ensures its scholars have the dedicated time, resources, and intellectual community required to produce groundbreaking, field-defining publications.

The Center for Ideas and Society (CIS) at UCR plays a vital role in championing these research endeavors, fostering an environment where humanistic inquiry thrives. Katharine Henshaw, Executive Director of CIS, is an alumna of the NHC humanities center director workshop and understands its importance.

“Professor Laxton’s selection for the NHC Summer Residency is a testament to the high caliber of research emerging from our College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences,” said Jeanette Kohl, Co-Director of the Center for Ideas and Society and Professor of Art History. “An internationally acclaimed art historian of photography and the current chair of her department, Professor Laxton will benefit greatly from the dedicated time the residency provides to focus on her research and writing. This opportunity will accelerate her next publication and bring an important scholarly intervention to the field all the more quickly.”

"Prof. Laxton’s Residency in the National Humanities Center’s summer program reflects a valued colleague’s advancement of the Center for Ideas and Society mission,” added Dylan Rodríguez, Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Ideas and Society. “As a signature University of California research center supporting the interdisciplinary humanities at the UCR campus, the work of CIS is strengthened and advanced through Prof. Laxton’s national recognition by the NHC.” 

For more information about UCR’s Center for Ideas and Society and its ongoing research initiatives, please visit ideasandsociety.ucr.edu.

A Sustained Partnership with NHC

CHASS has consistently invested in placing both emerging and established scholars in premier NHC programs, ensuring the university remains at the forefront of humanities research, pedagogy, and public engagement. The college’s rich historical footprint at the NHC includes recent and ongoing milestones such as the 2025 Summer Residency, sustained NHC Graduate Student Residencies, participation in the 2024 Being Human Festival, the 2025 Humanities in Practice institute for emerging professionals, and the 2022 Podcasting the Humanities program.

"Institutional sponsors play a crucial role in our mission to support high-caliber humanities research, and our relationship with UC-Riverside has allowed us to support the work of some amazing faculty and emerging scholars," says NHC Vice President for Scholarly Programs Martha Kelly. "We look forward to having Professor Laxton with us and helping her make progress on her project. We also expect that, like most scholars who come to the Center, she will forge connections that enrich her work and benefit the greater UC-Riverside community well into the future."

About the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS)

CHASS is the largest college at the University of California, Riverside. CHASS is home to three Pulitzer Prize winners, two U.S. Poet Laureates, over 11,000 students, 600 faculty members, and more than 20 departments and programs, fostering a diverse interdisciplinary environment where critical thinking, innovation, and social responsibility thrive. Through initiatives like the Dean’s Research Impact Initiative, the College continues to redefine the role of the humanities, arts, and social sciences in the 21st century at one of the world’s premier R1 research universities. Learn more at chass.ucr.edu

FEATURED PHOTO. By Melanie Ramiro

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