Mission & Impact
The National Humanities Center advances scholarship, education, and public engagement in the humanities. Through fellowships, teaching initiatives, and public programs, the Center deepens understanding of the human experience and the ideas that shape our world.
Our Mission
Advancing Understanding of the Human Experience
The humanities illuminate the historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts in which we live. The insights they provide are essential to human flourishing and to success in all human endeavors.
The National Humanities Center is dedicated to advancing research and discovery about the human experience; cultivating community among scholars, educators, and other humanities practitioners; and empowering all those who share a passion for humanistic knowledge.
Strategic Vision
Strengthening Humanities Scholarship and Teaching
Thoughtful scholarship and excellence in teaching are crucial to growing, preserving, and transmitting humanities knowledge and the distinctive modes of thinking they encourage. And nurturing connections across disciplines⎯as well as between the academic world and the public sphere⎯spurs creativity, strengthens ties among practitioners, and helps extend the influence of the humanities more broadly.
For these reasons, the Center pursues its mission in three distinct but mutually reinforcing ways. Its programs are designed to
- Bolster rigorous, groundbreaking scholarly work;
- Empower and nurture educators; and
- Encourage appreciation for, and application of, humanities knowledge and methods in the world at-large.
Our Impact
Expanding Knowledge, Education, and Public Understanding
Since opening its doors in 1978, the National Humanities Center has supported scholars whose work has helped expand knowledge and shape our understanding of the world around us. NHC Fellows have produced groundbreaking scholarship that continues to influence research and teaching across more than 40 humanities fields. Insights gleaned from their work have informed practices and policies outside of the academic world, often in surprising ways—from forest fire management and genetic research in the US to international business law in central Africa.
Beyond residential fellowships, the Center connects scholars with teachers and classrooms nationwide through education programs, webinars, and online resources. Its public programs and partnerships also promote the humanities as essential to democratic culture, lifelong learning, and informed citizenship.
In recent years, NHC-led initiatives in curriculum development and pedagogy have helped shape the ways students are learning to navigate the digital world and contend with the ethical challenges presented by artificial intelligence. Other initiatives, like the Center’s COVID-19 Oral History project, have helped memorialize the experiences of frontline healthcare workers to help us prepare for potential future health crises.
1,600+
Fellows in Residence
More than 1,600 scholars have conducted research at the Center, advancing major projects that deepen understanding across humanities disciplines.
1,800+
Books Published
Fellows have produced nearly 1,800 books, along with numerous articles and scholarly works, many of which have received the most prestigious awards in their fields.
1 Million
Teachers Supported
The Center’s education programs provide trusted digital resources, webinars, and professional learning opportunities used by teachers across the United States each year.