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.
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.
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.
The GlaxoSmithKline Foundation has awarded the National Humanities Center a grant in honor of the Center’s former president and director W. Robert Connor. The $50,000 grant will provide for the development of asynchronous, online, self-paced professional development modules for teachers of American history and literature.
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.
With sadness, the trustees and staff of the National Humanities Center note the passing of trustee emeritus Meyer H. (Mike) Abrams on April 21, 2015. He was 102. One of the Center's cofounders, Abrams was a towering figure whose contributions to the humanities were vast. We are grateful for his scholarly imagination, leadership, and dedication which have helped make the Center a vital institution for nearly 40 years.
The National Humanities Center announces the appointment of 37 Fellows for the academic year 2015–16. Chosen from 537 applicants, these leading scholars will come to the Center from 11 states, Australia, Germany, the People’s Republic of China, and the United Kingdom.
The first of the National Humanities Center’s summer institutes in digital humanities, devoted to digital textual studies, will convene for two one-week sessions, first in June 2015 and again in 2016. The objective of the Institute in Digital Textual Studies is to develop participants’ technological and scholarly imaginations and to combine them into a powerful investigative instrument. “Our summer institutes in digital humanities are designed for ambitious scholars who want to learn how computational methods or digital technologies might enhance or even completely reshape their scholarship,” says Elizabeth Mansfield, NHC vice president for scholarly programs.
The NHC Board of Trustees has elected philanthropist and financial services veteran Patricia Morton of Charlotte, NC, as its new chairman. She is the first woman to hold the position and the first North Carolinian since William C. Friday. Morton has served on the NHC board since 2004 and co-chaired the Center’s recently concluded capital campaign that raised over $19 million.
The National Humanities Center announces the appointment of Robert D. Newman as its next President and Director. On July 1, 2015, he succeeded Geoffrey G. Harpham, who led the Center since 2003. “Robert Newman intends to continue and enhance the role of the Center as a leading voice nationally in support of the humanities,” said Center trustee William Jordan.