The Center promotes understanding of the humanities and highlights their vital role in a vibrant, democratic society through a variety of public programs and initiatives, podcasts, and events.
Public Events
Restoring Our Vitality: The Heart of the Matter and the Future of the Humanities
Coming Spring 2023
In the wake of a global pandemic, amid festering social and political divisions, and with trust in higher education and other institutions ebbing, how might the humanities meaningfully improve life in twenty-first-century America?
A Crisis of Caring: The Humanities and Our Health
April 11–14, 2022
This interdisciplinary conference considers the ways that knowledge drawn from humanities disciplines and methodologies can help identify the symptoms and causes of our malaise while guiding us toward a healthier, more caring future.
In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Humanities
April 7–22, 2021
This conference examines issues surrounding the integration of AI through a series of virtual events highlighting perspectives from leading humanists, scientists, engineers, artists, writers, and executives collectively advancing inquiry into key emerging questions.
The Afterlife of the Humanities Major
November 9, 2021
What becomes of humanities majors after they finish the degree? How might colleges and universities assist them in the transition? This conversation features the perspectives of both academia and industry.
Videos
The Pre-History—and Likely Sequels—of the Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
Scholar-to-Scholar Talk
The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was the most violent assault on democracy in modern American history. Nancy MacLean (NHC Fellow, 2008–09; 2021–22) explains how it was the product of decades of intentional cultivation.
Freedomville: The Story of a 21st Century Slave Revolt
Laura T. Murphy (NHC Fellow, 2017–18)
Freedomville is the story of a small group of enslaved villagers in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, who founded their own town of Azad Nagar—Freedomville—after staging a rebellion against their slaveholders.
Educating Citizens and Reforming Generations
Alan Taylor (NHC Fellow, 1993–94)
In the wake of the American Revolution, republican reliance on popular sovereignty complicated efforts by elites to improve voters through education.
An Evening with Seymour Hersh
NHC Public Event
Seymour “Sy” Hersh, one of our nation’s most important investigative journalists, discusses his most recent book, Reporter: A Memoir.
Podcasts
Discovery and Inspiration
Podcast Series
What makes scholars so passionate about the subjects they pursue? What is it like for them to make a new discovery? To answer a confounding question? And what can we learn by taking the time to ask scholars about the research they are doing?
Nerds in the Woods
Podcast Series
A series of virtual audio journeys through the intellectual woods, surveying some of the compelling topics being studied by historians and philosophers, scholars of literature, art, and other fields who come to the Center from all over the world.
Psychoanalysis in China
Howard Chiang (NHC Fellow, 2021–22)
Tracking the emergence and adaptation of psychoanalysis in China allows us to understand the effects of cultural and disciplinary exchange on emerging intellectual discourses.
Imagining the Tropics: Women and Tourism in the Caribbean
Elizabeth S. Manley (NHC Fellow, 2021–22)
From the proliferation of their travel writing in the late nineteenth century to their active roles in shaping the hospitality industry, women have played a central role in establishing an image of the Caribbean.
Humanities in Action
Individual Rights vs. Social Responsibilities in a Pandemic
In a pluralistic society committed to personal freedom, how can the humanities help us take action to ensure the common good?
Healing Rifts and Restoring Civility
What role do the humanities play in resolving conflicts, establishing justice, and fostering unity?
Addressing Structural Racism in the Academy
We must pay attention to those whose experiences of the academy have been shaped by encounters with racial bias if we are to have hope of correcting it.
Pursuing Justice and Preserving Open Debate
How do we balance our pursuit of a more just and equitable society with our desire to protect freedom of expression?
Humanities Moments
Creating Stories and Memories from Tradition
The final months of the year provide a chance to reflect on what connects us to one another. Whether it’s an heirloom recipe or an annual gathering, traditions can offer ways to remember the shared past and envision the future.
Composing Connections Through Music
Both intensely personal and communal, music is a medium through which to engage the world and one another, allowing us to forge connections across geographical and cultural borders.
How I Came to Oppose the Death Penalty
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Steve Earle discusses the impact of witnessing his father write a letter to the Texas governor on behalf of a condemned man in San Antonio.
La Fiesta de La Tirana: Integrating Spirituality, Corporality, and Tradition
The more we learn about divinity, the more we learn about our own transcendence and significance. The closer we get to our reality, the closer we get to unraveling the mystery of divinity.
