The National Humanities Center awarded Florence Dore, associate English professor, the opportunity to write a book with uninterrupted peace and quiet.

Dore was named a National Humanities Center Fellow for the 2008-2009 academic year. The National Endowment for the Humanities is funding her fellowship.

The center, located outside of Durham, N.C., annually admits 40 fellows out of more than 400 applicants who are pursuing their own research and writing.

Instead of being overburdened with academics and teaching, Dore said her duties are to avail the avenues of resources offered at the center and write an excellent book.

“It (the center) is free of dysfunction,” she said. “The point of it is to have a place of uninterrupted concentration.”

When Dore arrived at the center in August, she planned on writing a book that explored the influence of racial desegregation on American privacy law and southern novels written between 1890 and 1952. But after spending time in the center’s serene environment, Dore said she plans to write a book exploring the culture of the 1950s and 1960s instead.

“The essence of academic freedom is not knowing where you’re going,” she said.

Dore said she is excited to return to Kent so she can share what she has learned with everyone.

“I feel incredibly excited to come back and share these research tools with my colleagues,” Dore said. “This is not just great for the faculty, it is great for Kent students so I can share all of it when I get home.”

Dore’s achievement gives virtue to Kent State, said Ron Corthell, chair of the English department.

“These fellowships to the National Humanities Center are highly coveted grants that give candidates their own opportunity to pursue their own book projects,” he said. “But it gives them (the fellow) a chance to interact with other scholars who are rising and (are) at the top of their fields.”

Contact College of the Arts and Sciences reporter Kyle Roerink at [email protected].