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October 2015

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Yankee pie, internet immigrants, gay Nazis, and a Poe party—cryptic and provocative topics up for discussion at humanities events this month, all of which can be found on our calendar this October.

annual forum

Reconciling Race

Our Fall Forum takes on one of America’s most pressing topics.

From police precincts to presidential platforms, this year it is ever more explicit that racial prejudice is pervasive and demands a response. We’ve gathered an outstanding group of scholars to consider what racial conciliation should look like. Join us November 1st at Boston’s Edward M. Kennedy Institute to shape constructive ideas about how to understand and improve race relations in the United States. The forum precedes the Mass Humanities Annual Benefit Dinner where the 2015 Governor's Awards in the Humanities will be conferred on The Lowell Institute, Margaret H. Marshall, and Margot Stern Strom. Please join us for dinner!

RESERVE YOUR SEAT AT THE FORUM »

Growing our Grants

The Mass Humanities grants budget gets a boost.

Our grant budget will grow by nearly 15% next year thanks to the recently increased allocation to the Mass Cultural Council. This means more humanities organizations will receive funding and our state can enjoy more public humanities programming.

GET THE FULL DETAILS »

Ready, Set, Write!

Deadlines approach for our newly-increased grant program.

Once a year we make an award of up to $25,000 for our Public Squared Challenge Grant. Interested in putting on some expansive programming? Getting a bunch of people to talk about ideas? LOI forms for Project, Scholar in Residence, and Public Squared grants all need to be submitted by December 15th.

FIND FUNDING »

Clemente at the White House

Obama pins a medal on the Clemente Course as our new site launches.

No state reaches more of its residents with the transformative Clemente Course program than Massachusetts. Mass Humanities launched a fifth site this fall in Springfield, which is now underway. In September, the White House recognized the Clemente Course with a 2014 National Humanities Medal for reaching thousands of students and “enriching their lives and broadening their horizons” through the humanities.

SEE THE CLEMENTE COURSE IN ACTION »

Adventure in the Library

Bring great storytelling to the 6- to 10-year-old in your life.

Five libraries across Massachusetts are hosting our Family Adventures in Reading series this fall. The program encourages literacy and library use in children and adults alike through readings of world-class children's literature.

FIND FAIR EVENTS NEAR YOU »

We ♥ the Humanities

Celebrating the National Endowment for the Humanities 50th anniversary.

The NEH kicked off a yearlong celebration of their 50th anniversary with a virtual birthday party. Mass Humanities joined the #NEHturns50 festivities by sharing photos stating why we're passionate about our work. We’re also happy to note that A Midwife’s Tale, a film funded by Mass Humanities, was chosen among NEH's top 50 projects!

SEE THE GALLERY »

Coming Soon: DAWNLAND

What happened to the Wabanaki families involved with Maine's child welfare system? A new Upstander Project documentary explores the work of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Maine that explored this question. The trailer is now available thanks in part to a Mass Humanities social media outreach grant.

WATCH THE TRAILER »

Have a Seat

Artisans and historians are busy documenting the post-industrial turn in Gardner, MA. Attendees at the Chair Mass Humanities funded City Oral History Bookmaking project can learn about the town’s industrial history and learn the craft of bookmaking in one fell swoop. Mass Humanities Board Member Glynda Benham (pictured at left) attended and gave rave reviews.

MAKE BOOKS & LEARN HISTORY »

Who are we?

The Herencia Latina series endeavors to find and present the Latino history and culture of western Massachusetts through film, discussion, art, and more. Dozens of events are scheduled this fall and spring throughout the Pioneer Valley. Mass Humanities is a sponsoring partner of Herencia Latina.

CELEBRATE LATINO CULTURE »

AASLH Awards

History, Memoir, and Literature

This month we welcome a number of notable authors to the Cambridge location of our co-sponsor, Harvard Book Store. Explore the romance of childhood with Joyce Carol Oates, swashbuckle through history with Sarah Vowell, and attend a Halloween weekend Poe party with William Giraldi.

JOIN US FOR THESE EVENTS »

Life of a Latino Leader

Thanks to a Scholar in Residence grant from Mass Humanities, the documentary history of Carlos Vega, one of Holyoke’s most vocal and prolific Latino activists, has a home at the Wistariahurst Museum.

READ MORE »

Ideas Matter

Here Come the Rockefellers

The community history project 98 Acres in Albany is dedicated to documenting the people displaced and the structures demolished to make way for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza.

LISTEN TO THE IDEAS MATTER SEGMENT »

The Public Humanist

Latina/os in Turners Falls

The Herencia Latina series gets off to a successful start with a screening in Turners Falls where facilitator Mari Castañeda, Ph.D., has a chance encounter that encapsulates the importance of full cultural citizenship.

READ THE PUBLIC HUMANIST »

Mass Moments

First Aerial Photograph Taken

On this day in 1860, Boston newspapers carried an advertisement for an extraordinary event: photographer James Wallace Black would photograph Boston from a hot-air balloon hovering over the city.

MORE ON THIS MOMENT»

Mass Humanities on Facebook

Frederick Douglass Escapes Slavery, 175 Years Ago

Abolitionist, orator, and advocate Frederick Douglass had strong ties to Massachusetts, where he spent much of his life as a free man.

READ THE HISTORY »

Mass Humanities on Twitter

What Should First Year College Students Read?

What should “great books” courses at American colleges and universities include in the cannon? Seven discussants take to the pages of the New York Times to debate.

SEE THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS »

Humanities Calendar

We list the best humanities programming in the Commonwealth on our event calendar. See what is happening this month at Mass Humanities.

FIND EVENTS»

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Mass Humanities is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the use of history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to deepen our understanding of the issues of the day, strengthen our sense of common purpose, and enrich individual and community life.

The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Massachusetts Cultural Council fund Mass Humanities grants. Encourage your state and federal legislators to support these agencies.

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