Innovation at the University isn’t confined to labs or startups. It flourishes in the humanities, the arts and public dialogue.

In recent years, the College of Liberal Arts hosted a public engagement series, with each event exploring a theme from the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. One evening, a deputy general counsel to the governor, an English professor and a Ph.D. candidate came together to discuss the phrase “insure domestic tranquility.” Alongside faculty, students and neighbors, they reflected on what that ideal means today, in our homes, our politics and our debates about gender, race and identity. These conversations illustrate the University’s role as a civic institution, one that fosters thoughtful discussion and community connection.

That spirit continues through the Center for Constitutional Law, which was launched in May. “One thing many of us can agree upon is there is a profound misunderstanding of how our government was designed to function under the Constitution,” Rick Trachok ’74 (plant science), the Center’s executive director said.

The Center was created to explore fundamental questions about the constitution, bringing top scholars from around the country to discuss, debate and share with University students and the larger community. The Center also sponsors summer workshops for Nevada’s high school government and civics teachers at the Lake Tahoe campus, bringing national experts to help shape curricula and deepen civic understanding statewide.

Not far from the Quad, the John and Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art opens its doors at no cost to the public, inviting conversations sparked by contemporary work and the University’s own collection.

“The Lilley is like a laboratory,” Stephanie Gibson, director of the Lilley Museum of Art said. “Professors test out new pedagogy in the museum, teaching students how to learn complex topics using our paintings, sculptures and archives. Schools and colleges across campus experiment with new ideas and techniques to expand the way we look at the world.”

The Church Fine Arts Building melds into the glass and steel of the University Foundation Arts Building, housing a combined 300 events each year, and offering rehearsal halls and studios on par with any conservatory, spaces where the next generation of musicians, actors and artists can hone their craft.

This creative energy radiates outward — into the Performing Arts Series, where student performers share the stage with national and international artists, and into the Reynolds School of Journalism, where students have gone on to produce award-winning documentaries and Pulitzer-recognized reporting.

Here, innovation is not limited to technology or science. It is expressed on canvas, on stage and in the pages of our favorite publications — some of which are printed on campus at the Black Rock Press and University of Nevada Press. Innovation lives in dialogue, in storytelling and in the University’s commitment to helping Nevada understand itself — and imagine what comes next.