The NHC hosted a public conversation on Coastal Thinking led by four leading scholars of environmental humanities and science in a discussion of coastlines and cultures in context of climate breakdown, with a focus on their experiences of the diversity of humanities and science approaches to engaging with the histories and futures of communities shaped by water.
This unique three-day summit of scholars and experts from across the country featured a dynamic intersection between discussion, presentations, and exhibitions, grounded with practical site excursions. Beyond Despair intended to foster cooperation, impact the field of environmental humanities, and launch dialogue that has the potential to change how environmental issues are taught.
This scholarly roundtable, featuring Center Fellows in conversation with NHC President and Director Robert D. Newman, explored the important role for humanists in ongoing public discourse about climate change. Touching on topics such as environmental justice and indigenous peoples, the economic history and lasting legacies of deforestation in Latin America, and the shift in demand for fossil fuels to support global military conflicts, these scholars discussed how the human element must be accounted for as we struggle to shape climate policies for the twenty-first century.
In the closing months of World War II and its aftermath, how did Italians come to terms with their recent history? How did they go about remembering and/or distancing themselves from the legacies of Fascism? In this scholarly conversation, Fellows Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi and Mia Fuller discuss how Italians contended with these questions.
Since first coming to prominence with his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the My Lai massacre and its subsequent cover-up during the Vietnam War, Seymour “Sy” Hersh has remained one of our nation's most important investigative journalists. Hersh recently published his tenth book, Reporter: A Memoir, in which he reflects on his long career as a journalist, shares behind-the-scenes accounts of the people and events who were central to his most important stories, and reminds us again of the vital importance of a free press.
Tania Munz, vice president for scholarly programs, recently presented a five-minute talk at RTP180, a monthly showcase for organizations in NC’s Research Triangle Park. In her talk, “Nerds in the Woods, or Why the Humanities Matter,” Munz discussed the Center's role in support of advanced humanities research and the ways this research contributes not only to researchers' specific academic fields but to broader questions and concerns.
Successful DH initiatives must be carefully conceived and managed over time to realize their scholarly potential. This day-long conference focused on planning, logistics, and long-term maintenance of digital humanities projects.
This panel discussion, held April 19, 2018 at the New York Public Library, is part of the Humanities Moments project, an initiative created by the National Humanities Center to explore the intersection between the humanities and transformative moments in our individual and public lives.
On September 1, 1939, the British government launched a program ominously codenamed Operation Pied Piper, whereby thousands of children were evacuated from the cities to the countryside. This operation brought class conflict into the foreground, laying bare the drastic inequalities of British society, but also provided the foundations for the development of child psychoanalysis. This talk by Maud Ellmann examines the impact of the evacuation crisis on psychoanalytic theories of the child, comparing these to the depiction of children in wartime fiction.
In the wake of the American Revolution, political leaders insisted that their new republic could not survive without improved and more comprehensive public education meant to create better informed citizens. But the push for educational reform often ran afoul of local legislators and voters, who balked at the taxes needed to fund expanded systems of education. In his talk, historian Alan Taylor discusses this intriguing irony—that republican reliance on popular sovereignty complicated efforts by elites to improve voters through education.