How can scholars, creatives, and others working in the humanities better communicate their work to the public? How can humanities communicators–like their science communicator colleagues–benefit from professional training for needed roles in education, the media, cultural and entertainment industries, non-profits, and elsewhere? And what new materials and tools can they invent for telling the humanities’ story across platforms?
To jump start the Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) in creating training and resources to address such questions, the Mellon Foundation has awarded the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) a grant of $150,000 to help launch the recently formed CHC. (The AAC&U supports the CHC as it establishes itself by acting as its fiscal sponsor.)
“This is the initial seed funding we had hoped for,” said Alan Liu (who, with Christine Henseler, is co-president of the CHC). “The flexibility of a grant like this, which goes toward a range of goals and not a narrowly defined deliverable will let our new organization get on its feet.” “This generous grant will allow us to build a strong organizational foundation,” Henseler adds, “one that will advance the initiatives we have planned.” Lynn Pasquerella, President of the AAC&U, comments, “AAC&U is honored to receive an award from the Mellon Foundation on behalf of the CHC. Their work is more critical than ever, and we are proud to support the launch of this exciting new organization.”
To be used over eighteen months starting February 2025, the grant supports two main goals. One is accelerating the CHC’s organization-building, allowing the CHC’s leadership team time and resources to recruit others to the organization, design a business plan that might enable the CHC to sustain itself as a non-profit, reach out to potential organizational partners in both the humanities and sciences, and create such mission-defining materials as core principles of humanities communication and humanities talking points for the public.
The second goal of the grant is to accelerate the CHC’s work on a portfolio of services and outputs, starting with professional training workshops and internship programs for “humanities communicators” on a par with training programs in science communication. (See the CHC’s backgrounder briefing on the field of science communication.) Kath Burton and Anke Finger, directors of CHC’s Scholars Communication Program and co-leaders in our team of four, emphasize the significance of the grant’s promise: “We are grateful to the Mellon Foundation for this vital seed-funding and thrilled that we can continue to build Humanities Communication programs with and for a wide range of scholars within and beyond academe.”
In a next phase of work, the CHC plans to seek funding to create an open-access digital repository of quality humanities communication and advocacy resources, materials, and tools: a humanities communication interchange.
Just recently in September 2024, the CHC brought together leaders of humanities organizations, science communication, the media, foundations, and others in an innovative “Humanities Communication Convening.” The purpose of the convening (co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences) was to brainstorm new directions for humanities communication.
The Mellon Foundation grant now allows the CHC to start exploring those directions. (See how to engage with us.)