Latest News
CHC leads “Humanities Communication Convening” on Sept. 6, 2024
On September 6, 2024, the Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) led at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, MA, a first of its kind by-invitation event: a Humanities Communication Convening of humanities organization leaders with leaders in science communication, journalism and media, communication, public relations, strategic advocacy, social media, and other fields…. [more]
Agenda — Participants (bios) — Briefing Kit
New on Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) blog: post by Lynn Pasquerella, President of American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), on “Communicating the Value of the Humanities.”
Excerpt from Lynn Pasquerella’s post–
Countering the devaluing of the humanities, then, will require employing multiple messages that target different audiences. Prospective students and their parents, together with legislators controlling the purse strings, certainly need to know about research like AAC&U’s employer surveys, consistently showing that hiring managers value the skills, competencies, and dispositions foundational to an education in the humanities (AAC&U, How College Contributes to Workforce Success: Employer Views on What Matters Most). Yet, we shouldn’t appeal to data at the expense of emotional and social factors underlying how people form beliefs…. [more]
What’s Our Mission?
The mission of the Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) is to help recognize, train, and support humanities communicators — both professionals (similar to “science communicators”) placed across a broad spectrum of organizations and media, and “new voices” of the young and old across the spectrum of society. Through our Humanities Communication Training Institute (HumComm) we want to help students, early-career professionals, retired people, and others who have a passion for or expertise in the humanities to enter organizations, professions, and media roles that bring the humanities to the public.
Our related mission is to help create and curate resources that support the work of humanities communications, starting with an open-access digital Humanities Communication Interchange (HumSource) containing quality humanities advocacy and communication resources, materials, and tools. (Our Bibliography is a start on defining the scope and gathering materials for such a clearinghouse.)
We believe that a Center for Humanities Communication can effectively prepare and support individuals, groups, and organizations in their work advocating and communicating the humanities.
This is Our Model
Just as the National Science Foundation’s high-impact Science and Engineering Indicators reports helped inspire the American Academy of Arts & Science’s Humanities Indicators project (started in 2009), so the model of professional and citizen science information-gathering, science writing, and science communication generally can offer the humanities a model to adapt for publicizing the importance of the humanities in society.
Our goal is to support and expand communication about, and from the point of view of, the humanities through knowledgeable, skilled, and trained humanities communicators. Humanities communicators curate and spread high-impact news, reports, excerpts, interviews, podcasts, social media, and other media about the humanities in a way that parallels the historically successful model of science communication.
There are many talented humanities communicators now spread out across a broad range of institutions, social sectors, and jobs. And there are many potential new humanities communicators from diverse ages and groups who will be willing to work or volunteer in humanities communication. Creating a framework for this network of people to work together with shared materials in a sphere of activity recognized publicly and professionally as “humanities communication” is our model, which will be structured around:
- Humanities Communication Training Institute (HumComm)
- Humanities Communication Digital Interchange (HumSource)
Latest Posts on CHC Blog
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Communicating the Value of the Humanities
A version of this post was presented at the CHC’s “Humanities Communication Convening” held at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences on Sept. 6, 2024. I am convinced that to be effective, the work of enhancing humanities communication needs to be considered against the backdrop of this moment of enormity for American higher education—one…
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Where Are All the Humanities Communication Trainings? — Cataloging Courses and Programs in Humanities Communication
In May 2022, I began working as an Assistant Director of Research Communication with the PhD Plus program at the University of Virginia. PhD Plus was a relatively new initiative to support graduate student professional development—to help them understand the relevance of their skills for a range of careers and to build skills that their…
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CHC Leads “Humanities Communication Convening” on Sept. 6, 2024
On September 6, 2024, the Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) led at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, Mass., a first of its kind event (by invitation only): a Humanities Communication Convening of humanities organization leaders with leaders in science communication, journalism and media, communication, public relations, advocacy, social media, and other…
Do You Want to Help?
We are in the initial stages of development, and we seek individuals and organizations willing to work with, partner, or provide seed funding. Engage with us by joining our email list, making a suggestion, or becoming a CHC Associate.