The Hammer Dulcimer Revealed — Listen to this unique instrument being played and described by musician Bryson Gerard at the Sept. 28 Monday Noon Series presentation in this stltoday.com audio slideshow.

The Center for the Humanities at the University of Missouri-St. Louis was the first center of its kind in the bi-state region and in the state of Missouri.

The Center for the Humanities has two central objectives:

1. to provide visibility and focus for humanities activities at UM-St. Louis, and
2. to attract and channel resources for the support of interdisciplinary humanistic inquiry.

To this end the Center has sponsored a variety of conferences, symposiums, and lectures. Over the last several years, the Center has sponsored a conference entitled "What is a City?", which examines the structure and social environment of cities and their effects on social and cultural diversity.

The Center for the Humanities also coordinates:

• Monday Noon Cultural Series, featuring a variety of performances and lectures in the arts and humanities on Mondays at 12:15 p.m. during the academic year
• Poetry & Reading Series, presenting fiction writers and poets reading and discussing their works

The University of Missouri-St. Louis, along with Webster University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, support Theory and Society, a refereed, interdisciplinary journal of social theory and practices, housed in The Center for the Humanities.

Administration:

• Diane Touliatos, Director
• Karen Lucas, Associate Director
• Kenny Squires, Graduate Writing Assistant
• Lisa Matlock, Honors College Intern