On April 2, 2025, all humanities councils received emails and letters notifying them that all awarded federal government grants, including their 5-year General Operating Grants and other program-specific awards were canceled in their entirety, effective retroactively to April 1, 2025. These grants represent up to 95% of humanities council budgets, preventing the majority of humanities councils from attending the 2025 National Humanities Conference.
As a result, the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance announced this week that it will be impossible to hold the conference as originally envisioned. That being said, plans are in the works to move ahead with a modified version of the event, adjusting for lower attendance numbers. Over the next few weeks, we will be working to retool the conference to ensure that it is financially viable and better address the current moment.
We are deeply disappointed that the administration’s decisions have impacted this year’s National Humanities Conference. We will provide more details on a reimagined event in the near future.
Any questions may be asked via email to events@statehumanities.org.
