Although academia often brings to mind ivory towers, silos, and depth without breadth, most of us actually flourish when we have a chance to exchange ideas. A research community takes shape when colleagues have a chance to gather in conversation-conducive, trust-affirming spaces over the course of several meetings. A research community allows ideas to float and reflections to resound, resulting in serious and sustained study and deliberation. The members of research communities experiment in co-creation, whether through collaborative writing, editorial projects, commentary on works-in-progress, shared mentoring of and engagement with graduate students, or co-hosting visitors and events.The Humanities Center facilitates research communities by providing funding and administrative support to faculty and graduate student initiated research clusters, as well as through grants for collaborative conferences.