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The Research Unit (RU) is founded on the premise that research in literature and language will figure differently in the university and society of the twenty-first century—that besides making educated persons, these disciplines address some of the most pressing collective questions of the time.

The RU currently embodies the collective work of over a hundred scholars—faculty and graduate students in our five departments and beyond.  Our eight Focal Groups – Collaborative Teaching Project, materia, Medieval Studies Workshop, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew+ (PATH+), Philosophy & Literature, Renaissances, The Contemporary, and Workshop in Poetics – are conceived as portals that open from the Division outward to wider communities of literary and humanities scholars.  The RU also funds research groups in three categories - curriculum development, collaborative projects, and digital humanities - and sponsors nearly one hundred events every year.  Colleagues and graduate students from Bay Area institutions are welcome to join.

In addition to funding research, the RU houses .