Public Events Archives | National Humanities Center

Public Events

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Being Human Festival (US)

April 12–28, 2025
In partnership with humanists and humanities organizations across the country, the National Humanities Center is supporting 16 public events across the US. These community-focused events, organized and presented by local artists, scholars, and educators, highlight the incredible breadth of the humanities and demonstrate how they add depth and meaning to our lives, help us understand ourselves and one another, and provide context for the complex world around us.

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Scholar-to-Scholar Talk: “Positionality and Inequality in the Humanities”

How do scholars’ backgrounds and communities inform the research questions they pursue in the humanities? Historian Devin Fergus (NHC Fellow, 2023–24), feminist cultural critic Lynn Mie Itagaki (Resident Associate, 2023–24), and anthropologist Matt Sakakeeny (NHC Fellow, 2023–24) discuss efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academy.

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Panel: Creativity in the Age of ChatGPT

A diverse set of voices from the tech industry, journalism, the arts, and higher education will discuss how ChatGPT, and generative AI more broadly, will alter how we define, understand, and practice creativity in the future.

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An Evening with Jane Ferguson

The National Humanities Center recently hosted an evening of conversation with award-winning journalist Jane Ferguson, reflecting on her career and sharing insights from her memoir, No Ordinary Assignment.

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Panel Discussion: Planning Inclusive Futures: The Next Decade of the Humanities

The future seems increasingly dire—authoritarianism surging around the globe; accelerating ravages from climate change; deepening political, economic, and cultural divides. Can the humanities help us resolve these challenges and forge a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world? Panelists ask these questions and others as they ponder what the next ten years hold for the humanities and for us all.

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Panel Discussion: Humanistic Dimensions of Environmental Advocacy

Environmental advocacy work is benefiting from young leaders bringing their humanistic backgrounds to bear on critical issues related to conservation and environmental justice. In this discussion, we consider the role that the humanities can and should play in our collective efforts to preserve the health of our planet and build equitable communities.

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Panel Discussion: Reforming the Academic Reward System

How can institutions of higher education reimagine their protocols for faculty advancement to account for the increasing importance of public engagement, collaborative research, and to recognize new interdisciplinary models of intellectual inquiry across humanities fields?

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Scholar-to-Scholar Talk: “Family as a Knowledge Methodology: Writing Intimate Histories”

On February 9, 2023, historian Blair L. M. Kelley (NHC Fellow, 2022–23) and political scientist Tiffany Willoughby-Herard (NHC Fellow, 2022–23) opened a conversation at the NHC about “Family as a Knowledge Methodology: Writing Intimate Histories.” Africana religious studies scholar LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant moderated the discussion. These distinguished scholars of African American life discuss how our families teach us about being free and being unfree. They ask, how do our family stories help us think about scholarly knowledge-making? What are the larger stakes of writing about Black families?