Former Director of the Unit for Criticism, Susan Koshy, is leading a faculty team that has been awarded a Mellon Sawyer Seminar grant to study the challenges to academic freedom and democracy in US universities today. The co-organizers of the Sawyer Seminar are Rosalyn LaPier (History/American Indian Studies), Jason Mazzone (Law), and Unit Affiliate David Sepkoski (History).This is the first time in the 30-year history of the Sawyer Seminar Program that faculty from our campus have won this prestigious humanities award. The Illinois Sawyer Seminar initiative, “At Risk U: The Past, Present, and Future of Academic Freedom” examines the emergence of risk management as a deeply ingrained organizing feature and priority of modern universities and considers its implications for academic freedom and democratic governance. For more information, visit sawyer.illinois.edu.