April 2023 Public Humanities Newsletter

A monthly newsletter from Humanities for All, an initiative of the National Humanities Alliance.

Apr 05, 2023

In This Newsletter:

If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to our Substack (for free!) so that you receive the newsletter in your email inbox and don’t miss any news in the future. We also encourage you to submit items to share. If you have any questions or would like to connect about the newsletter, please email Humanities for All Project Director Michelle May-Curry (mmaycurry@nhalliance.org).

Coming soon! Toolkit on documenting impact in the public humanities

The National Humanities Alliance and the Humanities for All initiative will soon launch a new resource for public humanities practitioners. Created with funding from the Whiting Foundation, this toolkit on documenting the impact of higher ed-based public humanities work will provide information on creating surveys and focus group/interview protocols as well tips on analyzing and mobilizing the data collected. Add your name here to receive the toolkit when it launches!

Calls for Proposals

2023 National Humanities Conference—deadline extended!

Proposals due April 9, 2023

The Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance are excited to announce the 2023 National Humanities Conference, which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 25–29, 2023. This annual conference brings together representatives from colleges, universities, state humanities councils, cultural institutions, and other community-based organizations to explore approaches to deepening the public’s engagement with the humanities. In keeping with the state motto of Indiana, “The Crossroads of America,” the 2023 conference theme is “Crossroads.” The deadline for proposal submission for offsite sessions, workshops, interviews, roundtables, panels, working groups, and individual presentations has been extended to April 9, 2023. Learn more about submitting a proposal here.

Reimagining New England Histories: Historical Injustice, Sovereignty, and Freedom project

Proposals due April 30, 2023

A joint venture between Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ), Williams College, and Mystic Seaport Museum, Reimagining New England Histories is a collaborative public humanities print and digital publication with partners from Native Nations and organizations and African American communities and organizations within the New England region. Sponsored by the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative, the book project’s central objective is to foreground both the various histories as well as contemporary lives of the Indigenous, African American, and Afro-Indigenous populations in New England. Accepted submissions include poems, non-fiction, fiction, recipes, visual artwork, creative writing, photography, interviews, songs, and more. The deadline for proposal submissions to be included in the print volume is April 30, 2023. Learn more and submit here.

National Council on Public History conference

Proposals due May 1, 2023

The National Council on Public History seeks proposals for virtual sessions, workshops, and events for Virtual NCPH 2023 (October 4–6, 2023) and Virtual NCPH-OAH 2024 (late April into May 2024). View the CFP and link to submit here.

April Spotlight: MLA ADE/ADFL Joint Bulletin on the Public Humanities

This past month, the Modern Language Association’s Association of Language Departments and Association of Departments of English published a joint bulletin on the public humanities. This joint ADE/ADFL Bulletin is guest edited by Darryl Dickson-Carr, who is a professor of English at Southern Methodist University. It is a product of MLA’s Academic Program Services (MAPS) Leadership Institute, which was held June 20–July 2, 2020, and hosted by Southern Methodist University. Most of the essays here have their origins in the MAPS seminar while others were developed later. Sections of the bulletin include “structures and partners,” “public humanities projects,” and “public humanities and career preparation.”

This joint bulletin was released shortly after the publication of MLA’s new Guidelines for Evaluating Publicly Engaged Humanities Scholarship in Language and Literature Programs, which helps departments, institutions, and faculty members in languages and literatures value and assess public humanities work. Created by the MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Valuing the Public Humanities, the document articulates core principles for the evaluation of public humanities scholarship, provides guiding questions for evaluators to consider, and offers advice for departments, university committees, administrators, and candidates for evaluation.

Interested in learning more about how scholarly societies broadly support the public humanities and themselves do publicly engaged work? Read Humanities for All’s essay “Scholarly Societies and the Public Humanities.”

Upcoming Events

Imagining America Dissertation Dish: “When There’s Good, There’s Good. When There’s Harm, There’s Harm”: Diverse Voices on Community Engagement

April 6, 2023 | 12:00pm EDT | Virtual

Join Carmine Perrotti and Imagining America for their next Dissertation Dish, a webinar event showcasing Perrotti’s dissertation on service learning and community engagement (SLCE). Perrotti is Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Scholarship at the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University, where he works to support students and faculty interested in the integration of academic study with community-engaged learning and research. Carmine also is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Education at Brown University and a faculty member at College Unbound. Carmine received his Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a Master in Public Policy from American University. Perrotti’s community-based case study, drawing on theories of whiteness and neoliberalism, aims to engage a multivocal account of how one community described and understood their experiences with SLCE by one college. As a result of the community knowledge and contributions shared, this dissertation aimed to (re)imagine more equitable possibilities for the future of SLCE with those who have often been left out of research. Learn more and register here.

Public Humanities and Social and Economic Sciences in Research with Dr. Rayvon Fouché and Dr. Matthew Gibson

April 18, 2023 | 12:00–1:30pm EDT | In person and virtual

Dr. Fouché will discuss "Broadening Participation and the Future of Research and Innovation." Dr. Gibson's talk is entitled "I Know It When I See It: The Invisible, Flourishing (Public) Humanities in Virginia." This talk and discussion will focus on both the definitional and real challenges they see across humanities fields in higher education. The talk posits that we can mitigate some of these challenges by paying more attention to what is happening in public communities and readjusting higher education frameworks toward collaboration with the public. Learn more and register here.

Publication and Project News

Recently on the Humanities for All website:
On the Humanities for All blog, Laura A. Macaluso wrote about a new digital exhibition that celebrates murals in New Haven, Connecticut, that were created in the 1970s with funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, or CETA.

“Under Review: Rethinking Humanities Graduate Education” is a new podcast supported by the University of California Humanities Research Institute and the University of Florida Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere. Under Review is produced and hosted by two recent Ph.D. students in the humanities, Dr. June Ke and Dr. Lauren Burrell Cox. Putting graduate education under review, the podcast discusses how Ph.D. professionalization should include openness to a variety of careers and that discussions of career diversity must be embedded in larger discussions of contingency, educational reform, and racial and socioeconomic diversity. In each episode, June and Lauren speak to guests about pressing issues such as the tenure-track jobs crisis, economic outcomes for humanities Ph.D.s, future directions for graduate education, and professional development that takes into account diverse paths and the current realities of the job market.

“How Will Critique Save the World?: Popular Theory and Public Humanities” is a new episode of the High Theory podcast produced and edited by Kim Adams and Saronik Bosu who are “two tired academics trying to save critique from itself.” This episode is based on a conference paper Saronik and Kim wrote for the American Comparative Literature Association Conference in 2023. It talks about the method wars on Twitter, the cameo appearance of Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation in The Matrix, alt-right conspiracy theory, and the academic job market.

“The Future of Humanities is Public” is a new opinion piece by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) doctoral students Kari Lindquist, Delaney Thull, and Aurora Yu as well as Michael Vazquez, who is the Director of Outreach at the Parr Center for Ethics. The piece explores public humanities work at UNC and showcases work happening in the philosophy, classics, and music departments.

“Humanities in the Public Square” is a recent article by Jeffrey Veidlinger that appears in the Winter 2023 issue of Liberal Education, the magazine of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. In the piece, Veidlinger—a professor of history and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan—discusses how to bring history to the masses and why it matters.

Employment and Funding Opportunities

As part of Michigan State University’s Mellon Foundation-funded project Diaspora Solidarities Lab, the College of Arts & Letters announces a new postdoctoral or post-MFA fellowship in the Arts & Humanities. This is a search for an interdisciplinary scholar to fill a 12-month, full-year postdoctoral position (research associate) in the Department of English with the opportunity to begin a tenure-system assistant professorship in one of the departments within the College of Arts & Letters the following year. The goal of the Diaspora Solidarities Lab (co-directed by Yomaira Figueroa of Michigan State University and Jessica Marie Johnson of Johns Hopkins University) is to foment work in Black and Ethnic Studies, digital humanities, transdisciplinary studies, and community collaboration. Review of applications began March 17, 2023, but will continue until the position is filled.
The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico seeks a Curator of Education to coordinate and oversee the Museum’s wide-ranging educational programs, with a particular focus on K–12 outreach and engagement. The Maxwell Museum is a dynamic center of anthropological research and public engagement on the University of New Mexico campus, producing numerous in-person and virtual exhibitions and public and educational programs annually. Review of applications began March 24, 2023, but will continue until the position is filled.
The Newberry Library seeks Public Humanities Summer Fellows. Reporting to the Director of the D’Arcy McNickle Center, the Public Humanities Summer Fellows will support the development of the Indigenous Chicago project. Indigenous Chicago is a multi-faceted public humanities project that was initiated with community meetings in 2020. Through an exhibition at the Newberry Library in Fall 2024, a digital mapping website, curricular resources for K–12 students, new oral histories with Indigenous community members, and a series of public programs, the project explores Chicago as an Indigenous place and emphasizes the importance of centering Indigenous voices, laying bare stories of settler colonial harm, and celebrating Native resilience. Review of applications began March 31, 2023, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
The National Endowment for the Humanities’ Office of Digital Humanities seeks a Program Specialist. The Program Specialist acts as an expert in matters pertaining to digital humanities, library, and museum-related grants, and grant-funded research. The Office of Digital Humanities (ODH) offers grant programs that fund project teams experimenting with digital technologies to develop new methodologies for humanities research, teaching and learning, public engagement, and scholarly communications. ODH funds those studying digital technology from a humanistic perspective and humanists seeking to create digital publications. Apply by April 10, 2023.
The Center for Design and Material Culture (CDMC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is hiring an Engagement Manager for Exhibitions and Programs. Reporting to the executive director, this position is responsible for consistently managing high quality exhibitions and programs across the Ruth Davis Design Gallery, the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery, and the new Dorothy O'Brien Innovation Lab, as well as innovative programming and outreach that supports the material culture, textile, and design thinking pillars of the CDMC's mission. The Engagement Manager develops and maintains relationships with colleagues and students across campus, community organizations, donors, collectors, and corporations. Work on social media outreach, online exhibitions, press releases, and creative storytelling supports these goals. Apply by April 16, 2023.
The College of Liberal Arts and the Humanities Institute at the University of Texas at Austin seek an inaugural Associate Director of the Intersectional Humanities Initiative. The Intersectional Humanities Initiative is an initiative that will both generate and support international, US-based, and community-based research and will serve as a research and resource hub for UT’s many interdisciplinary centers and units focused on intersectional identities and experiences. Apply by April 28, 2023.
New York University is hiring an Assistant Director of The Latinx Project. Partnering with a team of full-time staff, graduate students, and others, the Assistant Director will work with faculty and community stakeholders to create University and external partnerships and synergy among programming and initiatives, including exhibitions, public humanities programs, and virtual events.
Columbia University’s History Lab seeks graduate student fellows to participate in a summer research project on “Writing the History of Covid-19: Lessons for the Next Pandemic.” Fellows will begin with a two-week workshop (June 5–16, 2023) in which participants will meet with historians, journalists, archivists, and public health experts. Over the following months, the interdisciplinary team will conduct interviews and gather documents, and finally reconvene to report findings August 31–September 1. This program will be led by Professors Matthew Connelly, Wilmot James, and Stephen Morse.
Michigan Humanities seeks a Programs and Events coordinator to help manage their online event calendar; establish relationships with grant recipients, award winners, and other partners to populate an online event calendar; and work closely with the Michigan Humanities team to identify requirements and expectations for each event.
The University of Michigan seeks a director of its new University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit (UMCI). The director of the UMCI, reporting to the provost, will be a critical voice in the university’s continued collaborations with a wide variety of Detroit stakeholders and encourage further workforce and economic development in the city. The UMCI will provide the University with a downtown Detroit venue that will support innovative educational programming, collaboration with established companies and bold entrepreneurs, and thoughtful societally-just community engagement.
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation seeks a Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs. The curator will assume a full range of curatorial responsibilities for the School’s core exhibitions program in the Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery, as well as all spaces of the School.
The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin seeks an Associate Director for Exhibitions and Public Programs. The Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin. The Associate Director for Exhibitions and Public Programs provides strategic vision for the Ransom Center’s community engagement initiatives and leads and directs the Education & Exhibitions Division with responsibility for developing and managing exhibitions, the visitor experience, and public programs that promote discovery and learning.
The University of Chicago’s Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts seeks a Director of University Arts Engagement. As a home for the creative life of the University of Chicago campus and the City of Chicago, the Logan Center is a partner, resource, and catalyst for developing deeper cultural networks and richer creative projects at the University, across Chicago, and beyond. This position will lead the Logan Center’s collaborative programming and university engagement efforts by working in partnership with faculty, students, staff, and other partners from across the University and throughout Chicago to develop, enhance, and support collaborative arts projects and programs that contribute to the creative environment at the university and support the artistic work of our students and faculty.
The Public Library of Princeton seeks a Public Humanities Specialist to lead the library’s efforts to promote the humanities as an essential aspect of contemporary life by planning and implementing public programming, collection development, outreach, and special projects. The specialist will collaborate on humanities-based programming efforts with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Princeton University Humanities Council, other institutional partners, and library colleagues in order to encourage greater participation in the humanities and to attract new audiences, including people of all ages and communities who do not typically participate in humanities programs.
The University of Lynchburg is seeking a Director of the Daura Museum of Art. The Daura Museum of Art is a teaching museum that enhances the University of Lynchburg’s academic mission, transforms learning through encounters with works of art, advances creative collaboration with all fields of study, engages in critical discourse, furthers the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts, and deepens our understanding of the human experience and cultural diversity both within the University and global communities. This position will provide strategic vision and leadership for the museum’s academic and community engagement initiatives.

As always, check out the latest postings on the job boards for the National Council on Public History and the American Association for State and Local History, which provide lists of opportunities that might be of interest to those trained in the public humanities.

Interested in careers in scholarly publishing? Check out the Association of University Presses and the Society of Scholarly Publishing job boards.

Interested in careers in museums? Check out the American Alliance of Museums job board.