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News From the Center

Steven Marcus

Steven Marcus (1928–2018)

The trustees and staff of the NHC mourn the passing of Steven Marcus, one of the Center’s founders, on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. He was 89. Steven was instrumental in the conception and realization of the Center,​ ​and his​ ​intellectual leadership and continuous devotion helped nurture and guide the Center for most of the past 40+ years. Beyond his importance to the Center, Steven Marcus was an influential literary critic and professor at Columbia University where he taught from 1956 until 1994. His work on nineteenth-century literature and culture, including over 200 publications, continues to shape thinking in the field.

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National Humanities Center Names Fellows for 2018–19

The National Humanities Center is pleased to announce the appointment of 38 Fellows for the academic year 2018–19. These leading scholars will come to the Center from 15 US states, as well as from Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. These newly appointed Fellows will constitute the forty-first class of resident scholars to be admitted since the Center opened in 1978.

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National Humanities Center Receives Grant to Support Research Fellowships for HBCU Faculty

The NHC is pleased to announce a $1,147,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a new initiative to provide residential fellowships for a dozen scholars from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) over the next three years. These fellowships will allow four HBCU scholars per year to pursue individual research projects and take part in the Center’s intellectual community.

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Andrew Delbanco Selected to Lead Teagle Foundation

The Teagle Foundation recently named Andrew Delbanco from Columbia University as​ its president beginning July 2018.​ ​A noted literary scholar and social critic, Delbanco has twice held fellowships at the National Humanities Center (1990–91; 2002–03) and served as a trustee of the Center from 1996 until 2006 when he was made an emeritus trustee. Delbanco has been a member of the Teagle Foundation board of directors since 2009 and has served as chair of its program committee since 2014.​ In 2012 he received a National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama.​

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Corbette Capps (1946–2018)

The staff and trustees of the National Humanities Center mourn the passing of Corbette Capps, the Center’s longtime building engineer, on February 28 after a brief illness. Capps was hired in 1978 to help care for the distinctive Archie K. Davis building he had helped construct and in the course of the next thirty-one years became, himself, a memorable fixture in Center life. Affable by nature, he took particular care to assure that the Center remained a welcoming and friendly environment for scholars, colleagues, trustees, and visitors. Beloved by Fellows and staff, one of the Center’s studies was dedicated to him upon his retirement in 2008.

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Humanities Advocates to Gather in Washington March 11-13

Earlier this month the Trump administration released its budget for the 2019 fiscal year and again proposed the elimination of funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This proposal comes despite the fact that funding for the NEH and NEA only represents .02% of the federal budget and that grants from the two agencies provide vital support for the work of scholars, teachers, and public institutions in all fifty states. To help ensure that members of Congress know about the important work being done in their own communities with the support of the NEH, the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) is again organizing a gathering of advocates in Washington March 11-13, 2018.

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Assessment of Humanities Research

In September 2017, the National Humanities Center convened a group of leaders from some of the nation’s leading external fellowship programs and funders to discuss issues surrounding the evaluation of fellowships and fellowship programs. In addition to a robust discussion about best practices, challenges, and future collaborations, it was felt the next phase of a national conversation might focus on how universities themselves are evaluating humanities research. This panel, with academic leaders from Texas universities, was the first gathering in this effort.

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The Creative Coalition and the National Humanities Center Join Ovation’s Stand For The Arts Coalition

Ovation has announced that The Creative Coalition and the National Humanities Center are joining its Stand For The Arts coalition to raise awareness, protect access and encourage action on behalf of the arts and culture. “The arts and humanities are integral to a healthy society and contribute in innumerable ways to helping us all lead more fulfilled and productive lives,” said Robert D. Newman, president and director of the NHC. “We are pleased to join the other outstanding organizations and leaders working to advocate for the arts and humanities across the country.”

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North Carolina: The New American Heartland

North Carolina: The New American Heartland is a multi-dimensional initiative—highlighted by a three-day gathering which took place on September 27–29, 2017—enlisting scholars, artists, journalists, educators, policy experts, activists, community leaders, and others to critically consider North Carolina’s role as a bellwether for the nation. Through the lenses of food, music, and storytelling, the conference provided a forum for examining the state’s complex and myriad cultural identities and for exploring how the arts and humanities can help us better understand and face our shared challenges.

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AN OUTRAGE: Film Screening and Panel Discussion

AN OUTRAGE is a documentary film about lynching in the American South. Filmed on location at lynching sites in six states and bolstered by the memories and perspectives of descendants, community activists, and scholars, this unusual historical documentary seeks to educate even as it serves as a hub for action to remember and reflect upon a long-hidden past. On September 19, 2017 the National Humanities Center hosted a public showing of AN OUTRAGE. After an introduction by documentarians Lance Warren and Hannah Ayers and a screening of the film, panelists led an in-depth discussion about the key issues facing educators as they engage with this content in their classrooms.