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News From the Center

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Beth Berry, "The Transformation of Early Modern Japan"

Mary Elizabeth Berry is the Class of 1944 Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley and the first recipient of the Founders’ Fellowship at the National Humanities Center. An authority on the history of pre-modern Japan, she has been working on a project examining the remarkable changes in Japanese life that occurred in the midst of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868). She sat down with us this spring to share a bit about her research.

National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center Names New Trustees

At its recent meeting, the Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center elected two new members, J. Porter Durham, Jr. and Joan Hinde Stewart. Durham is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Global Endowment Management, LP, in Charlotte, NC. Prior to joining the company in 2007, he was director of the education division and staff counsel at The Duke Endowment. Joan Hinde Stewart is President of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. Before assuming that role in 2003, she was Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of French at the University of South Carolina.

Robert D. Newman, National Humanities Center

Robert D. Newman Installed as President and Director of the National Humanities Center

At a celebration October 22, 2015, Robert D. Newman was installed as the sixth president and director of the National Humanities Center. In his inaugural remarks, titled “Humanities Moments and the Heroic,” Newman shared his vision for the Center as the premier destination for humanities scholars, a national leader in the effort to strengthen teaching, and a vital resource for all who seek greater understanding of themselves and the world in which they live.

China delegates visit NHC

China Delegation Visits the Center

A delegation from the Counselors’ Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China visited the National Humanities Center the afternoon of October 20. After a tour of the Center’s award-winning building, the group joined Elizabeth Mansfield in the main conference room for a presentation on the mission and history of the Center. Delegates expressed appreciation of the architecture, with Director-General Zhang Yantong observing that the open, light-filled, and friendly character of the building mirrored the Center’s mission in support of free and open inquiry.

Scholarly Communication Institute

Scholarly Communication Institute Meets at the Center

Participants in the 2015 Scholarly Communication Institute gathered at the Center recently for an evening reception and short program. They were joined by Fellows, local scholars and librarians, and others interested in enhancing digital access to scholarship in the humanities. Center director Robert Newman delivered opening remarks on the importance of openness and innovation in humanities research. Don Waters, senior program officer at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, delivered an address that highlighted the need for diverse models for assessment, access, and preservation of digital scholarship.

Richard Schramm

National Humanities Center VP for Education Retiring

Richard Schramm, longtime vice president for education programs at the Center, has announced his retirement effective July 2016. Schramm joined the NHC in 1984 and has been instrumental in developing the Center’s innovative approach to professional development programs for teachers, which links scholarship to improved teaching and provides teachers with new materials and strategies to make them more effective in the classroom.

Matthew Jockers, Digital Textual Studies

NHC Summer Institute in Digital Humanities Convenes First Session

Led by renowned digital humanities pioneers Willard McCarty and Matthew Jockers, this innovative program in Digital Textual Studies combines hands-on technical explorations with wide-ranging philosophical and theoretical discussions. Fifteen scholars from around the globe are participating in the institute, representing a range of humanities disciplines, including classics, history, law, literary studies, philosophy, and sociology.

NHC entrance

Center Receives NEH Grant in Support of Fellowship Program

The National Humanities Center (NHC) has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of the Center’s residential fellowship program. The $272,700 NEH grant, along with $126,000 in matching funds from NHC donors, will be used to support the work of scholars conducting advanced humanities research at the Center over the course of the next three years. “The NEH has been a tremendous partner, not only in supporting our fellowship program but in education and public outreach,” said NHC president and director Robert D. Newman.

Richard Brodhead and Geoffrey Harpham

Trustees and Friends Gather to Honor Outgoing Director Geoffrey Harpham

On April 16, 2015 over 150 trustees, Fellows, and friends gathered to honor Geoffrey Harpham on his approaching retirement as president and director of the National Humanities Center, where he has served since 2003. Evening celebration were highlighted by remarks from Duke University President Richard Brodhead and reflections from Geoffrey Harpham on his tenure.