Joseph Cialdella, Program Manager, Michigan Humanities Council

Proposal Type: Structured Conversation

Seeking: Additional Presenters, Specific Expertise, General Feedback and Interest

Abstract: As of this writing, I envision my role in the session as briefly discussing the Michigan Humanities Council’s new Heritage Grants Program, which makes awards to historic sites, museums, and other cultural organizations to explore histories of race, ethnicity and cultural identity to help challenge the idea of an exclusive past by telling multiple stories. This specific example, along with those from others on the panel, would help frame a larger discussion about the role of the state humanities councils in shaping and responding to the field of public history (perhaps with particular focus on the relationship between theory and practice).

Seeking: What role have State Humanities councils played in advancing the field of public history? What role might they play in the future? The 50th anniversary of the NEH and many state councils being celebrated in 2015-2016 offers moment to reflect on how these state-wide organizations foster meaningful engagement with the past for various public audiences. For example, the Michigan Humanities Council recently began implementing the Heritage Grants Program. Funded with $1.7 Million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the goal of the program, the mission is to provide resources to historic sites, museums, and other cultural organizations to explore histories of race, ethnicity, and cultural identity that were previously untold or little known, helping to challenge the exclusive past by empowering people and organizations to tell stories and create new narratives.

I am interested in locating other public historians who work for state humanities councils, the NEH, and/or their project partners (ideally a representative from each perspective) who would be interested in participating in a “structured conversation” or “roundtable” on the topic of how the state humanities councils have shaped and responded to the field of public history. How have theories and best practices from the field been used to shape grant programs and projects? How have partnerships with various local and national organizations helped pushed the state councils in new directions and helped to challenge the exclusive past? From these questions, the goals of the session are to 1. Discuss the relationship between the state humanities councils and public history; 2. Imagine what the relationship might look like in the future; and 3. Reflect upon how the work of the councils and their project partners have helped to challenge the “exclusive past.”

If there is interest in this general idea, I would be interested in working with others to shape the session and focus or elaborate the proposal depending upon our shared interests, areas of expertise, and current projects to submit a proposal by the July 15 deadline.

If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Joseph Cialdella,jcialdella[at]mihumanities.org

If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.

All feedback, and offers of assistance, should be submitted by July 3, 2015.

Related Topics: Civic Engagement, Government Historians, Museums/Exhibits, Preservation, State Humanities Councils, Theory

 

Discussion

6 comments
  1. Cathy Stanton says:

    It’s great to see a proposal on this topic! I don’t know if you read last summer’s series of posts that emerged from a conference session about humanities councils at the 2014 conference – if not, you can find it here. Sounds as though your session could be a good follow-up in this ongoing discussion.

  2. Joe says:

    Thank you Cathy. I read the articles about the state councils in a 2013 issue of The Public Historian, but missed the posts and conference sessions. If there is interest it does seem like it could be a good way to continue the conversation.

  3. Hi Joe,

    I work for the Maryland Humanities Council whose office is about 15 minutes away from the conference location and I think someone from our organization might be interested in being a part of this conversation, in addition to myself. You can contact me at [email protected]. The other individual is Marilyn Hatza, Program Officer for Grants and Strategic Partnerships. Her email is [email protected].

  4. As a public historian leading a state council, I am very interested in this topic too. I am also interested from the perspective of a council as a grant maker and capacity builder–how can councils can empower and resource communities to recover and reflect on their history? I was involved in the last NCPH session on state councils and I would be happy to help further the conversation.
    Briann

  5. Mattea Sanders says:

    Hi Joe,

    Have you contacted anyone such as Karen Middleman at NEH? When I was at NEH they were in discussions about what they were thinking of doing for the 50th but I am wondering if this could be part of their activities especially with it being in Baltimore.
    -Mattea

    1. Joe Cialdella says:

      Hi Mattea,

      Thanks for the suggestion. Briann is reaching out to Jeff in the Public Programs division, but also good to have another name to contact if Jeff can’t participate.

      Joe

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