June 2023 Public Humanities Newsletter
A monthly newsletter from Humanities for All, an initiative of the National Humanities Alliance
In This Newsletter:
June Spotlight—new resource! Documenting the Impact of the Public Humanities in Higher Education: A Toolkit
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).
June Spotlight - new resource! Documenting the Impact of the Public Humanities in Higher Education: A Toolkit
The National Humanities Alliance is pleased to announce the launch of a new resource for public humanities practitioners, Documenting the Impact of the Public Humanities in Higher Education: A Toolkit. Created with funding from the Whiting Foundation, this toolkit on documenting the impact of higher ed-based public humanities work provides information on creating surveys and focus group/interview protocols as well tips on analyzing and mobilizing the data collected.
Calls for Proposals
2023 Community College Humanities Association National Conference
Proposals due June 15, 2023
The Community College Humanities Association (CCHA) invites proposals for sessions at their 2023 national conference, which will be held October 12–14, 2023, at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. The theme of this conference is “A Life Worth Living Together: Humanities as Collaboration.” Proposals are being accepted through an extended deadline of June 15, 2023. Learn more here.
Upcoming Events
Public Digital Humanities Institute Symposium
June 20, 2023 | 3:00 PM CDT | Virtual
The Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities (IDRH) at the University of Kansas is proud to announce a virtual symposium on the Public Digital Humanities. The symposium is the concluding event of the Public Digital Humanities Institute (PDHI). Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and hosted by the IDRH, the PDHI provides networking, technical resources, and public-humanities training for public-facing digital projects across the country. Held via Zoom at 3pm CDT on June 20, 2023, the Symposium is open to everyone interested in using digital tools for public interventions. Learn more and register here.
Workshop on Documenting Impact
June 22, 2023 and July 25, 2023 | Virtual
With the launch of its new resource, Documenting the Impact of the Public Humanities in Higher Education: A Toolkit, the National Humanities Alliance is pleased to offer a virtual workshop on documenting the impact of the humanities. Building off the content of the toolkit, this workshop will provide attendees with an overview of documenting the impact of the humanities, tips and tricks for getting started, and help thinking about impact research as it relates to their own work. This virtual workshop will be offered twice throughout the summer to accommodate a variety of schedules. Learn more and register here.
Data Matters
August 7–11, 2023 | Virtual
Data Matters is a week-long series of one- and two-day courses that gives attendees the chance to learn about a wide range of topics in data science, analytics, visualization, curation, and more from expert instructors. Those in the public humanities may be particularly interested in courses on data visualization, surveying, and geospatial data (including storytelling with maps). Learn more and register here.
Blast Courses in the Humanities
July 10–August 11, 2023 | Virtual
Johns Hopkins University’s Blast Humanities Courses are open for Summer 2023! Run by the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, these free online public humanities courses are open to all adults. Choose from nine, five week-long classes, with interactive activities to connect a range of topics to students' lives and communities. Registration opened June 1 for courses that begin on July 10th. Learn more here or email AGHI@jhu.edu for more info.
Publication and Project News
Recently on the Humanities for All website:
On the Humanities for All blog, 2023 Marshall Scholar Maggie Sardino wrote about her journey to discovering her passion for the public humanities and community-based storytelling through the Engaged Humanities Network at Syracuse University.
The University of British Columbia has made available video recordings of its Public Scholarship sessions. Sessions titles include “Wikipedia as Public Scholarship,” “Curating Exhibitions as Public Scholarship,” “Podcasting as Peer Reviewed Scholarship,” and “How to Write A Trade Book.”
“Public History’s Downfall” is an opinion piece by Michael J. Kramer, who is an associate professor of history at the State University of New York (SUNY) Brockport. Kramer, who himself is a public historian, details his views on the current desire for universities to “go public.”
Read the May 2023 issue of The Public Historian, a journal publication of the National Council on Publication and the University of California Press. This issue brings several articles that explore the concept of authority in public history, an idea that has long shaped debates about how we define our field.
“The Future of Doctoral Education: Four Provocations for a More Just and Sustainable Academy” is an article by Stacy M. Hartman and Bianca C. Williams, published by the Los Angeles Review of Books. Based on what the authors have learned from five years of running the City University of New York’s PublicsLab, the article offers a set of provocations about graduate education as a public good.
Who Would Believe a Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848–1920 is a new book from the Indiana Women’s Prison History Project that features contributions from ten incarcerated or formerly incarcerated women. In this volume, a group of incarcerated women at the Indiana Women’s Prison have assembled a chronicle of what was originally known as the Indiana Reformatory Institute for Women and Girls, founded in 1873 as the first totally separate prison for women in the United States. You can also read a review of the book in the New Yorker.
Employment and Funding Opportunities
The Arts & Humanities Grant Studio (AHGS) at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is seeking three inaugural Postdoctoral Fellows in Grant Operations Management and Creative Engagement. Guided by a director and facilitated by a team of postdoctoral fellows, the AHGS reinforces the work of the university’s leading faculty, staff, and student humanists, assisting with the workload of and cultivating growth for grant-funded projects. Responsibilities will include both administrative and relationship aspects of project management. Fellows will be integral in building collaborative networks across campus and with community partners that will enhance knowledge of (and participation in) grant activities. By applying, applicants will be considered for all three vacancies. Review of applications began on May 11, 2023 and will continue until the positions are filled.
Bard Graduate Center (BGC) invites applications for the Assistant Director of Public Humanities + Research. This is a full-time, on-site position at their campus on West 86th Street in New York City. BGC is a graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of the cultural history of the material world and committed to the encyclopedic study of things, drawing on methodologies and approaches from art and design history, history of technology, philosophy, anthropology, and archaeology and cultural history. Reporting to the Director of Public Humanities + Research, the Assistant Director oversees the execution of all internal and public-facing research events. Review of applications began on May 30, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled.
The department of history at the University of Oregon seeks to hire a Postdoctoral Scholar in Public History, beginning in Fall 2023. The Postdoctoral Scholar in Public History will deepen engagements between the department and public institutions in the region and beyond, further student engagement with experiential learning, collaborate with students in joint ventures producing public-facing cultural resources, pursue their own research, and join a vibrant community of shared inquiry. Review of applications began May 31, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries seeks a Head of Digital Scholarship Services (DSS), serving as the Libraries’ co-director for the Center for Digital and Public Humanities and supervising staff in the Digital Scholarship Services department within the Special Collections & Archives Division of UMKC Libraries. The Head of DSS position is responsible for operational management of the Digital Collaboration Studio, a technology-rich space designed to support research and teaching across all disciplines with an emphasis on Digital and Public Humanities; creating programming, resource guides, and consulting services that support digital research and pedagogy; and administrative management and direction for the Libraries’ participation in the Center for Digital and Public Humanities, a partnership between the Libraries and the School for Humanities and Social Sciences. Applications received by June 4, 2023 will be given priority consideration.
Illinois Humanities seeks a Programs and Events Coordinator for Envisioning Justice. Created and facilitated by Illinois Humanities in 2017, Envisioning Justice leverages the arts and humanities to envision alternatives to the enduring injustice of mass incarceration. This Illinois Humanities initiative works with communities and people impacted by mass incarceration to spark conversation and illuminate community-based strategies that address our racist and unjust criminal legal system. Application review will begin in mid-June 2023 and applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Wisconsin Library Services is hiring a Curating Indigenous Digital Collections (CIDC) Fellow to assist in the development of a Wisconsin Native Nations Digital Records Collective. This one-year, full-time opportunity is made possible by a Preservation Education and Training grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The fellowship is an opportunity to develop knowledge in digital preservation and curation, Indigenous information issues, and the library/archives/museum field. The position is aimed at recent graduates of programs in library or information science, museum studies, Indigenous studies, public history or related fields, or an early career professional with direct experience working in tribal cultural institutions. The first round of reviews will be no later than June 15, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled.
The Jane Addams Hull House Museum (JAHHM) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) seeks an Associate Director. The museum’s mission draws on the legacy of social reformer Jane Addams, the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and her colleagues whose work changed the lives of their immigrant neighbors as well as national and international public policy. Reporting to the Director of the JAHHM, the Associate Director is responsible for providing leadership and direction in exhibitions, interpretation, and programming; overseeing operations, and providing accountability criteria to demonstrate overall institutional goals are maintained. The Associate Director is also responsible for initiating and overseeing collaborations with UIC students, faculty, and staff; and ensuring that the resources of the museum are made available to the faculty and students in meaningful and innovative ways. Apply by June 16, 2023.
Historic New England is seeking applicants for two, part-time Indigenous Community Liaison/Researcher openings to support its Recovering New England’s Voices initiative. The team will act as a representative of Historic New England to initiate new and build upon already established relationships with Indigenous groups, communities, organizations, and individuals throughout New England with the goal of partnership and coalition building. They will also work to help staff with historical research and the integration of Indigenous stories into tours, programs, and interpretation at historic house museums. Each researcher will be responsible for one region in New England, the north or the south, but will work as a team to achieve the goals for this position. Apply by June 19, 2023.
The Monument Lab seeks an Exhibit Team Manager for its Beyond Granite: Pulling Together initiative. Pulling Together is the pilot exhibition of the Beyond Granite initiative. The exhibition is curated by Monument Lab and will feature installations and special programs from six leading contemporary artists on the National Mall that respond to a central curatorial question: What stories remain untold on the National Mall? The exhibition will take place between August 18 and September 18, 2023. Beyond Granite is a partnership among the Trust for the National Mall, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the National Park Service and is funded by the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project. Apply by June 19, 2023.
The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice seeks qualifications from individuals or teams to support the development, creation, and implementation of innovative digital resources that spread awareness of the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. The Center began as the Pauli Murray Project: a public humanities, community-based initiative of the Duke University Human Rights Center at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute aimed at promoting open dialogue among Durham residents about the pressing issues of our time and their historical roots. The goals of the current project are to develop content for enhanced experiences, both virtually and on the grounds of the Pauli Murray Center and to create a digital record of the Fitzgerald home to highlight the history and ongoing legacy of Pauli Murray. The project submission deadline is June 23, 2023.
Tulane University seeks a Professor of Practice & Director of Operation Restoration for the School of Professional Advancement College in Prison Program. This position will oversee educational programming offered at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW). The Director will work in collaboration with a community-based organization, Operation Restoration, and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections to offer academic programs and support to students at LCIW. This individual will hold a faculty appointment in the School of Professional Advancement as a Professor of Practice and teach three courses per year in the College in Prison Program in humanities or social sciences. Apply by June 25, 2023.
The Modern Language Association seeks graduate students to apply to its Public Humanities Incubator program. Twelve graduate participants are placed in teams with mentors active in the public humanities. Over the course of the incubator, from September to December, teams work with their mentors to envision their research as contributions to public humanities scholarship and to imagine audiences and impact, form and dissemination, collaboration and partnerships, and the project’s life cycle. The mentors for 2023 are Sarah Buchmeier (National Park Service), Darryl Dickson-Carr (Southern Methodist University), Valerie Popp (New Jersey Council for the Humanities), and Michael A. Smith (The Fine Foundation). Apply by June 30, 2023.
Incite at Columbia University is searching for the next cohort of Assembling Voices Fellows. Assembling Voices is a fellowship for artists, writers, scholars, journalists, performers, activists, workers, and others with compelling ideas for public initiatives that advance Incite’s mission—catalyzing conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies. Fellows receive $25,000 in support, plus intellectual and administrative support and tailor-made training. Apply June 30, 2023.
The New York Botanical Gardens seeks a Director of the Humanities Institute. The Director will develop, implement, and administer programs in environmental humanities that support scholarly gatherings and fellowships including a residency program for visiting scholars, a fellowship program for pre- and post-doctoral students, a junior fellowship and internship program, and a schedule of public and scholarly events to raise awareness in the broader community. The Director of the Humanities Institute creates a public forum for exchanging thoughts at the intersection of the sciences and humanities, attracting new audiences to the Garden, and positioning NYBG at the forefront of the field of environmental humanities.
The University of Houston seeks a Digital Humanities Technologist to work in the Digital Humanities Core (DHC) facility. The DHC is a partnership between the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Data Science Institute and University of Houston (UH) Libraries and incorporates technological infrastructure, research tools, instructional programming, and interdisciplinary expertise to a centralized resource that facilitates high-capacity production and publishing of digital humanities research at UH. The Digital Humanities Technologist coordinates and supports the implementation, scaling, and evolution of the DHC’s micro-credentialing in the Digital Humanities program.
Tufts University seeks an Archivist and Project Manager for its Slavery, Colonialism, and Their Legacies project. Housed in Tufts Archival Research Center (TARC), the Archivist and Project Manager participates in and manages TARC’s work related to the launch of a university-wide collaborative research project to examine the history of slavery, colonialism, and their legacies at Tufts.
The Department of Public & Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona is seeking two Adjunct Instructors for Fall 2023. The department works to translate the personal enrichment characteristic of humanities study into public enrichment and the direct and tangible improvement of the human condition. Through research-driven, collaborative, and publicly facing projects built to explore and enhance life in the community and beyond, our students and scholars convert understanding into action for the measurable betterment of society. The teaching load is 1-2 undergraduate general education courses per semester.
The University of New Hampshire’s Center for the Humanities seeks a distinguished visiting scholar to help reinvigorate the spirit and purpose of the James H. and Claire Short Hayes Professor of the Humanities Chair, a generously endowed faculty chair meant to concentrate on New Hampshire’s history, culture, and government and to be a focal point within the university for research and teaching. To this end, the visiting scholar position will have two objectives: 1) to conduct compelling, publicly engaged humanities research in New Hampshire and 2) to convene workshops, communal conversations, and other occasions with UNH faculty to help build capacity for future Hayes Chair applications.
Bard College seeks an Executive Director of the Clemente Course in the Humanities. Since 1996, the Clemente Course in the Humanities has provided transformative educational experiences for adults facing economic hardship by sharing the power of the humanities through accredited college courses in philosophy, art history, literature, history, and critical thinking and writing. Through more than thirty programs across the U.S., Clemente helps students build the confidence to further their education and careers, become effective advocates for themselves and their families, and engage actively in the cultural and political lives of their communities.
Barnard College seeks an Associate Director of Community Engagement. The Associate Director oversees the implementation and evaluation of pioneering efforts to bring Barnard’s resources to communities throughout New York City. Together, with the director of the Center for Engagement and Inclusion, the AD will support relationship building and collaboration with both on and off-campus partners and to maximize the College’s civic engagement in and with communities and institutions throughout NYC.
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.