Public Humanities Network
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The CHCI Public Humanities Network is intended to serve as a network node for member activity in this increasingly important area in the work of our centers and institutes. The first meeting of the network took place at our 2013 Annual Meeting, Humanities, Publics, and the State, at the University of Kansas, 25-27 April 2013. The network is interested in questions facing many of our members in a wide range of institutional and national contexts, such as:
- What is/are “public humanities”? How might it/they relate to “Academic and Civic” initiatives underway in European Universities or to other related projects in other national and regional settings?
- What do we mean by the public(s) of the public humanities? What are the key realms of our civic academic life?
- How are active collaborations with these civic domains/ publics/constituents best established? How might we best foster collaborations locally, regionally, and internationally between centers and institutes wishing to pursue these questions?
- How might a “Public Humanities/Academic and the Civic” initiative help us to address the growing emphasis on “impact,” usefulness, etc. by our various governing bodies/assessment agents?
- How might a “Public Humanities/Academic and the Civic” initiative further conversations on the nature of academic “publication”?
To sign up for the newsletter to receive notice of future opportunities and events, including virtual town halls and workshops, please sign up here (Mailchimp). Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about this Network.
Recent recordings and activities:
- Dec 7, 2023 Public Humanities Mentoring Workshop (CHCI—recording available with links shared)
- Sept 26, 2023 Town Hall (Youtube)
- 2023 Annual Meeting Session at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, Santiago, Chile
- April 27, 2023 Workshop with Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, "Public Humanities and Design Justice" (CHCI)
- February 13, 2023 Town Hall (Youtube)
- December 1, 2022 Workshop with Timothy Eatman and Jack Tchen, "Reckoning with Settler Colonialism and Imagining Just Futures" (CHCI)
- September 19, 2022 Town Hall (Youtube), featuring Stephen Kidd (National Humanities Alliance) and Corrie Claiborne (Morehouse College)
- 2022 Annual Meeting Digital Exhibit, "How Do You Do Public Humanities?" (CHCI)
- May 5, 2022 Town Hall (Youtube), featuring Aaron Fai (CHCI)
- February 14, 2022 Town Hall (Youtube)
Public Humanities Network Steering Committee:
- Leader: Nicholas Allen (UGA)
- Ulka Anjaria (Brandeis)
- John Arroyo (UC San Diego)
- Jessica Berman (UMBC)
- Joshua Calhoun (Wisconsin)
- Jim Ellis (Calgary)
- Teresa Mangum (Iowa)
If you are new to the public humanities, consider reading the special issue of the University of Toronto Quarterly, "Publics for the Humanities?" (Vol. 85, no. 4, Fall 2016). Featuring articles from current and former directors of CHCI member organizations who participated in the Public Humanities Network, this collection explores the concept of the public humanities and a provides a few case studies. https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/35536