Our vision and mission statement
About us
The Faculty of Humanities asks complex questions about what it means to be human, what our relationships with each other and our environments require of us, what what responsibilities we hold to the world and its future. We study products of human thought and creativity: languages, literatures, media, material cultures, histories and beliefs across peoples, places and times. We uphold justice and diversity. We promote global knowledges and cultivate intercultural acumen. We confront how humanity engages with natural and constructed environments, both real and imagined.
Our goals
Our research and teaching aim to:
- Enrich Human Dignity by addressing what it means—and has meant—to be human, as well as humanity's relationship with the more-than-human;
- Provoke Critical Inquiry by exploring the meanings and methods of reason and critique, including how they vary across time and culture and how they impact our understandings of the world and its survival;
- Engage Myriad Voices by valuing multilingualism as well as differences of language, culture and ways of being in a global world; and
- Inspire Innovative Expression by addressing the breadth of human expression, including the full plurality of media.
How we stand out
We are proud of our 16 Royal Society of Canada Fellows, College members and medallists who have been acclaimed since the millennium. Our researchers wield nearly 2 million dollars in federal research funding every year, creating transformative training opportunities for our graduate and undergraduate students. Our members consistently win university, national, and international awards for their outstanding research and teaching. We are innovators in Digital Humanities, with the Humanities Computing and Media Centre and the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab forging cutting edge work on the national and international stages. Our Departments of English and Philosophy are internationally recognized in the QS World University Rankings. Through the Critical Humanities Commons, we foster interdisciplinary scholarship and public dialogue on some of the most pressing issues facing our world.
Through UVic’s world-class Co-op program, our students benefit from paid work experience while earning their degrees. Our field schools, study abroad programs and exchanges take students around the world to encounter languages, cultures and histories. We are home to a vibrant Indigenous Studies program. Our language-testing centres provide internationally recognized accreditations. We are leaders in integrating students in our research from their first years on campus.
Our values
We dedicate ourselves to:
- collaborating in the spirit of innovation, collegiality, respect and trust;
- working towards decolonization and Indigenous, environmental, social, racial, gender and disability justice;
- fostering an ethic of social engagement, intellectual curiosity, incisive critique and moral courage; and
- differentiating between what is right and what is easy, and challenging things we take for granted.