New on CHC HumComm Talk blog!
Blog post by Christine Henseler: Johanna Drucker on Identification, Imagination, and Problem-solving to Communicate the Humanities
June 18, 2025 — Distinguished scholar, writer, and artist, Johanna Drucker recently shared her insights with me on designing effective humanities communication to engage undergraduate and high school students.
Our conversation began with Drucker’s thought-provoking articulation of a central challenge facing humanities communicators: “We must shift from speaking about the humanities to enabling students to speak for and through them.”
Drucker has seen traditional humcomm methods all too often fail to captivate students’ imaginations and their evolving sense of identity, resulting in a disconnect between the subject matter and their lived experiences.…. (Read 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)
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.
Latest on All Things CHC & HumComm Talk Blogs
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Johanna Drucker on Identification, Imagination, and Problem-solving to Communicate the Humanities
Distinguished scholar, writer, and artist, Johanna Drucker recently shared her insights with me on designing effective humanities communication to engage undergraduate and high school students. Our conversation began with Drucker’s thought-provoking articulation of a central challenge facing humanities communicators: “We must shift from speaking about the humanities to enabling students to speak for and through…
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Internships and Humanities Courses: a Winning Combination
Like many graduate students studying creative writing, I apprenticed myself to literary magazines and presses to better understand how a poem was published. These experiences taught me a side of poetry I wasn’t learning about in graduate seminars. By the time I was a professor, I’d served on mastheads of various literary publications as a…
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Playing to Win: A Diplomat’s Strategy to Communicating the Humanities
André, whose distinguished career focused on tangible global impact, noted that bridging the gap between theoretical understanding and practical implementation often presents the biggest hurdle in communicating the humanities’ relevance. As such, he emphasized the need for a real back-and-forth, moving beyond passive information delivery. Think gamification and immersive environments. These could serve as proving…
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How are we developing a Vision to train Scholars in Humanities Communication?
As the Directors of CHC’s Scholars Program, Kath and Anke have been busy conceptualizing and planning next steps for humanities scholars across the career cycle, including humanities scholars who identify as such but are located outside of a formal institutional setting. This deep conceptualizing has been ongoing since we paused to consider the multiple insights…
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News Release: Center for Humanities Communication Receives $150,000 Mellon Foundation Grant to Start Work
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’…
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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…
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Empowering Humanities Communicators: Introducing the CHC’s Talking Points Toolbox Proposal
Imagine a platform where you could find all the necessary, relevant, and relatable information about the humanities, ready for you to use and apply to your own communication goals. This is exactly what the Center for Humanities Communication (CHC) aims to provide with its innovative advocacy Talking Points Toolbox. Currently in draft form, the CHC…