|
James Leach, the recently confirmed Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, made New Hampshire the first stop on a planned “civility tour” to all fifty states. Leach spoke at a luncheon co-hosted by the New Hampshire Humanities Council and Lincoln Financial Group on Tuesday, December 1 in Concord. The NH Humanities Council is one of 56 councils in states and U.S. territories that receive a portion of their funding through the NEH.
At the luncheon Leach spoke about the lack of civility in public discourse in America
today and the ways that the humanities can help address the issue. “It is impossible for a
thinking citizen not to be concerned about American public manners and the discordant rhetoric of our politics,” said Leach. “Words reflect emotion as well as meaning. They
clarify - or cloud - thought and energize action, sometimes bringing out the better angels in our nature, sometimes lesser instincts.”
“The reason I consider it important from NEH’s perspective to refocus and reframe programmatic approaches with a cohesive theme is to emphasize that divisive attitudes and malicious words can, like hate speech, jeopardize social cohesion and even public safety. Conversely, healing approaches such as Lincoln’s call for a new direction ‘with malice toward none’ can uplift and help bring society and the world closer together.”
Humanities Council Executive Director Deborah Watrous introduced five friends of the
Humanities Council who each offered his or her perspective on an aspect of the Council’s public programming and its value to participants. The speakers provided Chairman Leach and the 80 guests at the luncheon a sense of the ways in which the Humanities Council is “connecting people with ideas” by bringing cultural and educational opportunities to people in every corner of the state, supporting cash-strapped local organizations, encouraging literacy, and fostering productive dialogue on essential human questions and contentious public issues.
Al Audet, a participant in the Council’s Connections adult literacy program, spoke on his experiences as an adult new reader. Former NH Speaker of the House Donna Sytek spoke of her experiences leading civic reflection discussions through the Humanities Council’s
Shifting Ground: Religion and Civic Life in America project. Jere Daniell, Professor Emeritus of History at Dartmouth College, spoke about his decades of experience as a “road scholar,” visiting more than 100 New Hampshire communities to present programs on local history through the Council’s Humanities to Go program. Katy Doherty, Librarian at White Mountains Community College in Berlin, discussed the Council’s book discussion programs and the valuable resource they have been to her community. And Dr. Gary Sobelson offered an overview of the Council’s Literature and Medicine program and its impact on medical caregivers throughout the state.
View a video of Chairman Leach's remarks on civility in public discourse at the Humanities Council luncheon
Listen to Chairman Leach's interview with Laura Knoy on The Exchange
Read the Concord Monitor editorial about Chairman Leach's visit and his role as Chair
Read a follow-up article in the Concord Monitor about Chairman Leach's visit and his focus on civility
Read nationally-syndicated columnist E.J. Dionne's column about Chairman Leach
|
