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Humanities for All: A National Survey of Public Engagement in the Humanities in Higher Ed

Humanities for All:
A National Survey of Public Engagement in the Humanities in Higher Education

CALL FOR ASSISTANCE

The National Humanities Alliance Foundation is currently conducting a national study of public engagement in the humanities at institutions of higher education.

This national study surveys the range of ways that higher ed faculty, students, and administrators have connected with diverse communities through the humanities over the past decade (short abstract available here). We are especially interested in initiatives that have involved collaboration with the wide range of organizations that are also committed to the public humanities.

We are reaching out to ask for examples of projects that connect the humanities with the broader community.

If you have been involved with or know of any projects that fit this description, we would be grateful if you could please contact Daniel Fisher, Project Director (dfisher@nhalliance.org).

This project has received generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The National Humanities Alliance Foundation advances the humanities by conducting and supporting research on the humanities and communicating the value of the humanities to a range of audiences including elected officials and the general public.

www.nhalliance.org

Maryland Humanities: Chautauqua 2017: Voices from the Great War

Join the Maryland Humanities to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the Great War. Postcard2017-1

 

CHAUTAUQUA 2017

Voices from the Great War
W.E.B. Du Bois, General John Pershing, Woodrow Wilson

 

GARRETT COLLEGE, 687 Mosser Road, McHenry

7:00 PM, in Garrett College Auditorium

Wednesday, July 5                   General John Pershing

Thursday, July 6                      W.E.B. Du Bois

Friday, July 7                           Woodrow Wilson

 

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, 800 South Rolling Road, Catonsville

7:00 PM, Center for the Arts Theatre at CCBC Catonsville

Friday, July 7                           General John Pershing

Saturday, July 8                       W.E.B. Du Bois

Sunday, July 9                         Woodrow Wilson

 

CECIL COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, 301 Newark Avenue, Elkton
6:00 PM, Elkton Central Library
Saturday, July 8                                   General John Pershing

 

HARFORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE, 401 Thomas Run Road, Bel Air
Sponsored by HARFORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND THE HARFORD COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
7 PM, Chesapeake Theater, Harford Community College               

Monday, July 10                      W.E.B. Du Bois

 

CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM, 213 N. Talbot Street, St. Michaels

7:00 PM, outside by the Steamboat Building – in case of severe weather, program will be held in the Steamboat building auditorium. Bring folding chair.

Monday, July 10                      General John Pershing

Tuesday, July 11                      W.E.B. Du Bois

Wednesday, July 12                 Woodrow Wilson

 

CECIL COLLEGE ELKTON STATION, 107 Railroad Avenue, Elkton

7:00 PM, Elkton Station Performing Arts Hall

Tuesday, July 11                      Woodrow Wilson

 

THE COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata

6:45 PM, outdoors– in case of severe weather, program will be held indoors in FA Building Theatre. Bring folding chair.

Tuesday, July 11                      General John Pershing

Wednesday, July 12                 W.E.B. Du Bois

Thursday, July 13                    Woodrow Wilson

 

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE-GERMANTOWN, 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown

7:00 PM, Globe Hall, High Technology Building

Wednesday, July 12                 General John Pershing

Thursday, July 13                    W.E.B. Du Bois

Friday, July 14                         Woodrow Wilson

 

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NHA Quarterly Column: Next Steps in the Fight to #SavetheNEH

Next Steps in the Fight to #SavetheNEH

By: Beatrice Gurwitz

Two days before President Trump’s inauguration, we awoke to reports that the transition team was contemplating a proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). On March 16, after almost two months of near silence on the subject, the administration released a budget blueprint even more threatening to humanities programs than had been initially reported. The administration’s proposal not only recommends the elimination of the NEH and the NEA, but also the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Additionally, it calls for the “reduction or elimination” of the Department of Education’s Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs.

Over the past four months, the National Humanities Alliance has been working in close partnership with [association] and our other members to demonstrate support for the NEH. This campaign has resulted in nearly 150,000 messages and phone calls to Members of Congress and President Trump. A record-breaking number of humanities advocates joined us in Washington D.C. for Humanities Advocacy Day in March, visiting their congressional offices and making the case for robust funding for the NEH and other humanities programs. Advocates have published op-eds highlighting the local and national import of the NEH. Subsequent to the release of the budget blueprint, we have also launched grass-roots campaigns in support of the other agencies.

Since the Trump Administration released its plan in March, our attention has turned primarily to Congress, which will ultimately decide whether and at what level to fund the NEH and the other cultural agencies for FY 2018. As Congress begins its work, the budget committees will release their Congressional Budget Resolutions, which set an overall spending limit, but whose recommendations for specific discretionary programs are just advisory. The appropriations committees in each house will then draft twelve appropriations bills proposing funding levels for all discretionary spending, including for the NEH and other humanities programs. If those bills clear their committees, the full House and Senate will have to pass them. Finally, bills from each house will need to be reconciled in a conference committee. This is a long process that will likely stretch into the fall. Proposals to eliminate funding for the NEH and other humanities programs could gain traction at any point.

Reasons for Optimism

Trump’s budget proposal is just a proposal. Members of the appropriations committees have their own agendas and priorities, and have been largely supportive of the NEH and other humanities funding, particularly in the last two years. After passing a $2 million increase for NEH in FY 2016, Congress passed another $2 million increase for FY 2017 in early May. Further, Republican members of the House and Senate subcommittees that allocate funds to the NEH and the NEA have gone on record supporting the programs even in the face of the President’s proposal for FY 2018. Finally, letters to the President and to the appropriations committees requesting a $5 million increase for the NEH in FY 2018 have received bipartisan support.

Causes for Concern

While we anticipate that the appropriations committees will be supportive of the NEH, the upcoming FY 2018 appropriations process is likely to be prolonged and contentious as Congress struggles to abide by budget caps that were put in place as part of the 2011 budget deal. While the current cap may be renegotiated, if the resulting cap is still low, the Trump Administration’s efforts to increase defense and military construction spending would necessitate severe cuts to non-defense discretionary spending. This would leave the NEH, along with a wide range of other domestic programs, vulnerable to deep cuts or even elimination as appropriators are forced to make difficult choices. If the new budget cap is higher, appropriators will have more room for domestic spending.

We are also concerned that the call from the Trump Administration to eliminate funding for the NEH, the NEA, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will embolden those within Congress who have long sought to defund these agencies in particular. While this is unlikely to happen within the appropriations committees, opponents of the NEH could introduce an amendment to eliminate funding when either chamber considers the appropriations bill or during negotiations over the differences between House and Senate appropriations bills.

Advocacy Strategy

Given these concerns, we are working to raise awareness of the work that the NEH supports around the country and the diverse communities it serves. We are encouraging leaders of higher education institutions and other humanities organizations—as well as individual NEH grantees—to write letters to the editor about the transformative impact of the NEH. We are also working to expand our list of grassroots advocates so that Members of Congress receive as many calls and messages as possible at critical points in the appropriations process.

The [association] has been an indispensable ally in these efforts. Individual members can also play a key role as well. By starting with our Take Action page (http://www.nhalliance.org/take_action), you can sign up for our action alerts, write your Member of Congress, and share these links to our resources with family, friends, and colleagues. Sharing this advocacy campaign and other social media assets will help expand our network and demonstrate to Congress the deep support for NEH across the country.

While it is important to build support among all Members of Congress, the support of particular Members will be key at certain stages of the appropriations process. By signing up for our action alerts, encouraging others to do the same, and sharing our alerts on social media, you will also increase the likelihood that we can reach advocates in key districts.

This challenge to the NEH and other humanities programs has inspired an outpouring of support for federal humanities funding. Over the coming months, it is critical that we continue to mobilize even more advocates to increase public awareness of the impact of these programs and to ensure that Members of Congress continue to hear from their constituents.

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The 2017 Literary Magazine Competition is Underway!

One of the highlights of the Community College Humanities Association is its annual literary magazine competition, which highlights student work from all over the nation. The competition reinforces the mission of CCHA to help shape and strengthen students with their personal and professional growth in the Humanities.

Continue reading The 2017 Literary Magazine Competition is Underway!

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Opportunity: Summer Poetry Teachers Institute from The Poetry Foundation

Summer Poetry Teachers Institute

July 10-14, 2017

The Poetry Foundation will be hosting its third annual Summer Poetry Teachers Institute in Chicago, July 10-14, 2017. The week will include seminars and workshops with some of today’s most compelling poets. Also, participants will study and discuss poetry with renowned poetry practitioners and expert teachers to develop lesson plans to bring back to their classrooms. Teachers will receive 30 Continuing Professional Development Units (CPDUs) for completing the Institute, and tuition will be paid by the Poetry Foundation.

The Institute encourages conversations among teachers about past successes, challenges, and insights in bringing poetry to students in their various communities. The Institute offers participants a fresh, energizing approach to reading poems, invaluable materials for teaching, and new ways to invigorate their instructional habits and practices. The central idea is that the experience of the poem should precede analysis.

The Poetry Foundation invites teachers across K-12 grade levels and community college instructors to apply. The Institute seeks a range of participants: new and experienced teachers, those who enjoy teaching poetry, and those who have shied away from it. To apply, please fill out and submit this Google Form. Spots are limited and the deadline for applying online is March 31st. We strongly encourage applying early.

The Poetry Foundation believes that poetry is broad and inclusive; there is a place for everyone in poetry. And yet poetry is mysterious and open, so teaching poetry is uncertain and no one has the answers. A poem can be something you can carry with you and experience again and again in different ways. We believe teachers can instill a passion for poetry as they find multiple entry points for different students.

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.

For more information, to apply, and to read the frequently asked questions, please click HERE.

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NEH Summer Institute: Transcendentalism & Reform in the Age of Emerson, Thoreau, & Fuller

Spend two weeks in historic Concord, Massachusetts, immersed in this topic with a small group of two- and four-year college instructors. Working with a line-up of senior scholars, Including two Pulitzer Prize recipients, professors of literature and history, curators of museums and special collections  librarians, you will conduct research in prestigious archives, such as those to be found at the Concord Free Public Library, Concord Museum, and Massachusetts Historical Society.  Additionally, there will be opportunities for field studies at historic sites and homes. More info can be found here.

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NEH Summer Institute: On Native Grounds: Studies of Native American Histories & the Land

On Native Grounds:

Studies of Native American Histories and the Land

A National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute

In residence at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. June 12-June 30, 2017

“On Native Grounds: Studies of Native American Histories and the Land” is a National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute sponsored by the Community College Humanities Association. It is an opportunity for twenty-two select faculty participants from two-year community and four-year colleges, tribal colleges, and universities, in a humanities discipline, to enhance their teaching and research through a three-week residency at the Library of Congress, and by engaging with prominent scholars in the field of Native American ethnohistory through a rich schedule of interdisciplinary seminars led by the following ten distinguished Visiting Faculty Scholars: Continue reading NEH Summer Institute: On Native Grounds: Studies of Native American Histories & the Land

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Fall 2016 Community College Humanities Review (CCHR) Journal Now Available!

CCHA’s flagship bi-annual publication, the Community College Humanities Review (CCHR), is back after being revamped by the new CCHR Editor, Sydney Elliott. You Copies of Volume 1 Issue 1 of the CCHR are now available for purchase through Amazon, and it is also available as a free digital download on the website for our CCHA members. CCHR 1.1 can be accessed HERE.

Continue reading Fall 2016 Community College Humanities Review (CCHR) Journal Now Available!

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CCHA Response to “The Executive Order on Immigration”

The Community College Humanities Association’s Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration

The Community College Humanities Association (CCHA), representing community college humanities faculty across the United States, is deeply concerned about the implicit and explicit consequences of President Trump’s Executive Order that restricts the free movement of immigrants and predominantly Muslim refugees from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen into the United States.

The CCHA Board of Directors and staff fully support Article 13(2) of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country,” and in the U.N.’s “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” and that this “is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” the ideals on which American democracy is founded and operates.

The President’s E.O. disrupts students and faculty who attend and teach college in the U.S. It also runs counter to the core principles of humanism, upsets the value and promise of human relationships, and disfavors the integrity of what we, as humanities faculty through the critical engagement of literature, history, philosophy, religious studies, foreign languages and cultures, seek to instill in all our students, a significant and increasing number of which come from countries other than the United States.

The CCHA stands for the fair treatment of any group regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. The CCHA also believes, as the U.N. declaration claims, that “disregard and contempt for human rights [is more likely to result] in barbarous acts which [will outrage] the conscience of mankind,” and that we call on the president to rescind this E.O., continue within the former framework to guard against terrorism, and welcome those who have already been vetted as well as honor the requests of those who are seeking freedom from persecution.

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2017 CCHA-AAR Affiliated Fellowship Winner Announced

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Congratulations!

The winner of the CCHA Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome has been announced!  Please join us in congratulating Prof. Laura E. Migliorino as she will be off to Rome for a one-month fellowship to continue her work on “The Book as the Foundation of Humanities Education” this June!

Prof. Migliorino teaches in the Art Department at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and she has a subject-matter expertise in  Studio Art Design, Photography, Drawing, and Art History. Her work on the project “The Book as the Foundation of Humanities Education” will focus on “integrating important texts from the Rare Book Collection at the Academy into [her] curriculum, serving as markers on a timeline” in order to “deepen and enhance the material.”  The following is an excerpt from her application:

The book is a simple yet complex idea that has profound influence on culture, society, and religion that transcends time and civilization. The book is a platform or foundation for the studies of Humanities because it has so much power on the course of the human life. The impact of books, and the knowledge contained, dictates human history, influences religious and political policy, supports the powerful, and inspires the repressed. In early book creation, the relationship between word and image was essential. The word spoke to the privileged, the educated, and the images informed the poor and illiterate, yet both groups needed books to guide their lives.

Prof. Migliorino’s project is certainly quite comprehensive and exciting!

We would also like to state that this was a very difficult decision as we had so many wonderful proposals to review this year, with more than 15 applicants.  Therefore, we would like to say thanks, again, to all of our competitive applicants.

Are you interested in an opportunity like this? Attend our National CCHA Conference in Baltimore, MD, from November 9-11, or check back in on the blog and the website to see if there is an opportunity for you! You can always follow us on social media, too.

Continue reading 2017 CCHA-AAR Affiliated Fellowship Winner Announced