HISTORY

The  Faculty Forum was founded in autumn, 1989, by two two members of the University College history faculty, Janine Hartman and Mark Lause, in the belief that a regular gathering  to discuss research would enrich the intellectual life of the college in which they taught.  They were soon joined by a third member of the history faculty, Andrew Villalon, who assumed the duties of corresponding secretary.  

Originally called the History Seminar or "Cocktails and History," it was renamed to reflect the participation of people from other disciplines.  Work presented at the Forum came from a number of disciplines at UC including history, philosophy, art history, Judaic studies, sociology, English, German, and Romance Languages.  In addition, several visiting scholars and members of the Cincinnati community have presented talks to the Forum. (See the List of Papers Past)

Membership was eventually expanded to include not only faculty, but also selected students who expressed an interest in learning what their professors did outside of the classroom.

Despite an absence of support from the university, the Forum continued to meet at Professor Hartman's home on 2323 Highland Avenue where it provided an opportunity open to both full- and part-time faculty members to present recent research in an atmosphere of friendly inquiry; over the years, quite a few conference papers and articles were  given their "dry run"  during its meetings. 

In 2004, with the disestablishment of University College and realignment of its faculty, the Faculty Forum moved its operation into the College of Arts and Sciences.