By Stephen Kidd
Each October, we celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month by calling attention to the many ways humanities research, teaching, and programs serve students and communities across the country.
This year, with the country in the midst of a reckoning with racial injustice and facing a pandemic that has caused widespread suffering and affected communities of color disproportionately, National Arts and Humanities Month is an opportunity to highlight our many partners who draw on the humanities to address issues of racial and social injustice.
Over the last three years, we have worked closely with educators and community-based organizations to document the impact of their work to advance a more just and equitable society.
This month, we will highlight some of what we have learned, sharing a story each day about campus and community-based initiatives that promote social and racial justice by:
- Confronting legacies of slavery and racism on campuses and in communities
- Amplifying voices and collecting heritage from communities that are under-represented in our collective understanding of the American past and present
- Expanding participation in the humanities both in higher education classrooms and in community-based programs
- Supporting the efforts of students and communities to broaden their understanding of cultures and practices different from their own
And much more. I hope you will follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #NAHM20. We are so grateful to our partners doing this work and are looking forward to raising the visibility of their tremendous and creative efforts.
Posted on October 2, 2020