The core of Pennsylvania Humanities Council’s (PHC) award-winning, nontraditional book club, the Teen Reading Lounge (TRL), has always been relationships—between young adults, librarians, and communities who ask questions, share ideas, and develop together. So when schools and libraries closed earlier this year after the pandemic hit, relationships were still going to be at the heart of whatever way the program adapted. Read more.

Poetry unveils unexpected truths about who we are and what we’re doing in the world, showing us parts of ourselves that we didn’t see before. U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo says that “Without poetry, we lose our way,” and this quiz is here to help you find that inner-poetic-creature part of your path in the world.

How long has the divide between urban and rural communities existed? Longer than you think. And how big is that divide? Not as vast as it might seem. Read more here.

“I think the reason people are motivated [to vote]…is less because they think their individual vote is going to be decisive and more because voting, casting a ballot, is sort of part of a set of things you do as part of a community,” Bouie told Davis. “This is civic participation, it is a collective endeavor that we all do to sort of signal to each other our investment in this idea of self-government and this idea of choosing our leaders.” Read more here.

“Many stories, one people,”—that’s the tagline for the North Carolina Humanities Council. In a webinar on October 22, a panel of scholars and leaders across disciplines talked about what that tagline looks like when it comes to creating an inclusive space to explore the state’s difficult histories and trace how those stories diverge and overlap.

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.