The UCHI is the central source of support for research in the humanities at the University of Connecticut.
Founded in 2001, the UCHI seeks to enhance research and creativity in the humanities, broadly defined; it is a laboratory in which new ideas are posited, tested, debated, and refined through the intellectual exchanges that constitute the daily life of the Institute. It seeks to promote research productivity through fellowships, seminars, and workshop programs; through its support for lecturers from outside the university; through co-sponsorship of conferences that advance specific fields of study and enhance the University of Connecticut's reputation; and through its advancement of graduate and undergraduate scholarship across disciplines. The Institute draws attention to the many avenues through which humanities scholarship enriches our understanding of the human condition and the ways in which such understanding helps to shape our global environment.