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Being Human Festival (US)

The American edition of Being Human, introduced in 2024, is the latest international expansion of the Being Human effort, which launched in the United Kingdom in 2014. The festival’s array of community-focused events are organized and presented by local artists, scholars, and educators. Together, they demonstrate how the humanities add depth and meaning to our lives, help us understand ourselves and one another, and provide context for the complex world around us.

map of the United States with location markers — Event locations from the 2024 and 2025 Being Human Festivals.

Our festival theme in 2026 is “Between the Lines”—a space of hidden histories, shifting borders, and unspoken meanings. From migration routes that redraw the map to the traces of erased histories, from the margins of a poem to the frontlines of protest, we invite researchers and practitioners to explore boundaries, crossings, and intersections—and the spaces in between, where meaning is made and remade, and we encourage all applicants to use this theme as an open-ended tool for brainstorming and planning.

Please apply here.

Featured Events

Impact

Being Human (US) at a Glance

Art; History; Literature; Public Humanities; Humanities; Culture; Local History; Storytelling

Message from the Director

“I am so looking forward to the next [event] you all cook up. I believe learning is best accomplished outside of the classroom… Memories are made stronger in this way, and learning in community strengthens the bonds between thinking and action. We become more accountable with knowledge developed in community.”

–from Obscured Landmarks: Re-Activating Buried Histories, Stewarding Sites for Learning in Lawrence, Kansas (2025)

For the past two years, the National Humanities Center’s Being Human Festival (US) has allowed a wide range of communities to come together to experience and celebrate the humanities. A global initiative unified by a common ethos, Being Human encourages humanities practitioners to share their research with non-specialist audiences in creative, accessible, and dynamic ways.

In the process, festival participants—from curious children to seasoned museum professionals—have the opportunity to pose and answer meaningful questions about our shared human experience through literature, history, philosophy, art, and cultural heritage. Being Human and other public humanities initiatives help us to make sense of the world around us, to understand legacies of the past, and to imagine a more just future.

“I am drawn to history, to stories of historical events, and to the human experience of historical events. This event spoke to all of these interests— deepening my understanding of the refugee experience of American citizens, their journey to a new country, and their resilience in establishing themselves, their families and their culture here.”

–from Denver’s Little Saigon: A Landmark History (2025)

In 2025, supporting and participating in public humanities initiatives is more important than ever. The Being Human Festival team is proud to have facilitated a diverse set of humanistic programs across the United States this year. These included a program introducing Coloradans to histories and culinary traditions of Vietnam, and a trivia-style game investigating the impact of folklore on environmental beliefs in Florida. The festival also highlighted essential narratives of immigration through a storytelling and mural project based in New York that crossed cultural and national borders. North Carolinians had the chance to bring the environmental humanities to life through nature treks organized at the intersection of wildlife preserves and urban development.

“Our participation in [the Being Human Festival] really made it possible for us to design a model of public humanities engagement that we plan to use in the future.”

–from The Power of Buttons: A Craft Workshop and Public History (2024)

Events and programs like these encourage us to cultivate curiosity, embark on shared missions of discovery, and celebrate the wonder and complexity of our shared human journeys. We hope that you will join us along our own Being Human Festival journey in the future, and that in the meantime you will continue to champion the public humanities in your local communities.

–Jacqueline Kellish, US Festival Director
Vice President for Public Engagement, National Humanities Center