When you walk into an art gallery, do you move clockwise or counterclockwise? Are your eyes drawn to the color, the medium, the framing, or the other people milling around? These are just a few questions Nevada Humanities asked themselves when they were adapting their latest exhibition, “Resiliency: A Blooming Diaspora,” online. A lot about the way we move in the world has changed this year because of the pandemic, and walking through a gallery is no exception, but Nevada Humanities knows that doesn’t mean the experience is any less powerful. Read on.

Winning council programs were selected in two categories and included California Humanities, Humanities Texas, Vermont Humanities, and Humanities Washington

The Federation of State Humanities Councils is pleased to announce the election of four new members to its board of directors, effective November 5, 2020. The board members include two humanities council executive directors and two public members. States of Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas represented by new members. Read more.

Ever hear a song on the radio and feel transported to a place in your mind? John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” or Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” tell the story of America like only music can. Humanities Kansas wanted to capture that feeling as a state-specific part of the “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” tour, a nationwide travelling exhibition focused on rural communities. So they came up with a program called “The Soundtrack of Rural America,” a curated playlist made for and by Kansans. Read more here.

This October brings a mix of historical gravity and the spooky supernatural. Whether you side with the 1597 admonishment of astrology as “thou damned mock-art and thou brainsick tale” or the earlier 1523 celebration of it as “many noble thyngis Of wandryng of the mone, the course of the sun” (as per the Oxford English Dictionary), you can count on Humanities Horoscopes to reveal some of America’s historic highlights. You never know what unlikely figure your planetary forecast might uncover. Discover your Humanities Horoscope and let us know whether your spooky connection ghosted you or is howl-ingly accurate!

“No matter where you get your news, the goal of this program is to help you recognize how to get the best information available as a responsible news consumer, so that you can contribute to our democracy as an informed citizen,” said Laura McCarty, president of Georgia Humanities. Read more about his “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” program.

“The story I’m going to tell you… is really the beginning of the women’s movement. The truth is, there was an incredible party going on well before we ever arrived,” began Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, the guest lecturer for “Women Voted Here: Before Columbus,” a Vermont Humanities virtual event on October 21, 2020, hosted by St. Michael’s College. Read more here.

On a Wednesday afternoon gathered together on Zoom, Dr. Faith Wambura Ngunjiri, director of the Lorentzen Center for Faith and Work and associate professor of Ethics and Leadership at the Offutt School of Business at Concordia College, opened a conversation with former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan C. Page by asking what she called a safe and gentle question: Why is it so difficult to talk about race?

“The state humanities councils have a long record of creating and conducting programs that respond to the unique issues and concerns facing their communities and exploring where community priorities diverge and overlap. This initiative will offer spaces to learn about the electoral process, the role and impact of civic participation, and why it matters,” said Phoebe Stein, president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Read more.

Our role in moving humanities forward has not changed. It is our mission… to build a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning, and reflection. It has been central to our work and all that we do. Like many councils, we are facing current challenges head on, listening to the needs of communities, and making sure that we help people see the world around them with new eyes. That is the beauty of learning. Sometimes what we see is painful, but the lessons we learn can help us grow. Read more from AZ Humanities Executive Director Brenda Thomson.

“Michigan Humanities is thrilled to be hosting the 2021 National Humanities Conference in Detroit, MI. Detroit is an amazing city, full of rich history and bursting with vigor and vitality due to its transformation. This will be a once in a lifetime experience, full of Motown, rich experiences with the Arab Chaldean community, automotive history, the grandeur of the Detroit Institute of Art, and the depth of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. We plan to make this an enriching and memorable experience for every conference attendee,” said Shelly Hendrick Kasprzycki, president and CEO of Michigan Humanities Council.

In September, the state and jurisdictional humanities councils are hosting nearly 200 programs that address histories of racism, social injustice, racial biases, women’s suffrage and the right to vote, civic engagement, democracy and journalism, history, and more. Each council created or adapted their programming into virtual experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs range from lectures to workshops and online exhibits to virtual book clubs.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils is now accepting nominations for the 38th annual Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize, made possible through an endowment established by former Federation board member Martin Schwartz and his wife Helen to recognize outstanding work in the public humanities.

We are pleased to announce the formation of the Federation’s Racial Equity Working Group. Federation Board Member Gloria White Gardner (Maryland) and Maine Humanities Council Executive Director Hayden Anderson will serve as co-chairs. The group’s goals are to examine the Federation’s practices, policies, and programming, with the intention of coordinating institutional resources to help enact and support a race equity culture among our organization’s staff, board, and member councils nationwide.

Throughout this month, the state and jurisdictional humanities councils are collectively running more than 140 programs across the country that touch on important themes affecting communities across the country, including programs on racial equity, suffrage, Indigenous and Native American women, civic engagement, democracy and journalism, and local histories. The programs range from lectures to workshops and from virtual happy hours to book clubs.