Missouri Humanities Council e-News | September 2009 | View Online  

Passages Masthead
Our Home Back Issues READ from the START Web ReadMOre Web Our Blog Our Wiki

In this issue:

Transformations – Our Annual Conference for Museums and Libraries

A year ago we began to offer an annual conference for small museums.  We offered the same program in October and April in different towns, and the response was tremendous.  Not only did people find inspiration in the program sessions, they found support in the network of like-minded people.  This year’s conference offers an all-new program at the central location of Columbia, on October 16-17. 

The program includes sessions on how to create exciting, interactive learning experiences on a shoestring; how to develop a disaster plan; how to make your school programs meet curriculum standards; how to help people learn about American Indians, past and present.

Details are on our web site at http://www.mohumanities.org/programs/museums/Conference_Oct16-17_2009.htm  If you’re involved with a museum or library that wants to develop better learning experiences, I sure hope I see you at this conference!

Michael Bouman's Retirement Announcement

Several years ago I stopped thinking I would like to remain in this career until I "die in the saddle." Now I have a different future in mind. Kathy and I are entering our third month of marriage, and I'm remembering more often than not the names of six new grandchildren who came into my life with her.

My household to-do list includes signing up for Medicare next month. It's time to work myself out of this intoxicating career and begin a new chapter. Somehow, this story revolves around the number fifteen. I'm going to retire on May 15. It's the fifteenth anniversary of my last day at the Vermont Humanities Council, where I learned how to make a difference in adult education. I'm into my fifteenth year here at MHC. But the real key to the timing is rhythm. I am tuned to the rhythm of schools and gardens. May 15 is the natural ending of one season and the beginning of the other. To the extent permissible, I belong in a garden, or in correspondence with gardeners, or in dreams of the hybrid crosses I will make next summer with my daylilies at a garden with a name that must be sung, not spoken: Daylily Lay. Google for it; you'll see.

Until May 15, this work of human and institutional development will be my focus. My calling in life is "to bring people into light," and there are so many ways to do that. One can pass a torch without walking away into darkness. Light is a birthright, not a stationary object. In this work, we help people find their share of it. I've written more about this in a blog titled, "Grandfather of Eight." I hope you enjoy it. The URL is http://creatinginterest.blogspot.com/2009/09/grandfather-of-eight.html

If you want to reminisce with the song that contains that lyric, point your favorite MP3 vendor toward "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."

MHC will announce the national search for my successor on October 15 on the MHC web site. A position announcement and application instructions will be posted there on behalf of the board's Succession and Search Committee. If you would like to know about the search and the duties, please wait until October 15 and download the committee's information packet. They are working on it now.

Exhibit Opening: Shawnees and Delawares in Missouri

“We the People, Shawnee and Delaware, Our Journey” is a new, permanent exhibit at the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History in Marble Hill.  The exhibit was conceptualized by a team of advisors from the Shawnee and Delaware tribes and Nations who worked with designer Delilah Tayloe over a five-year period. [NOTE, Correction, October 19, 2009: The planned exhibit opening has been postponed to Spring 2010 because of a need for additional tribal consultation before exhibit panels are finalized and installed.]   Read more about the exhibit: http://mohumanities.org/E-News/Sept09/OurJourney.htm

Dispatch from the Comfort Zone

Julie Douglas writes this month about being a learner last month, fearful as the teacher pushed her out of her comfort zone.  She realized one great advantage of group learning experiences and wrote quite a yarn about it!  See the whole story at http://mohumanities.org/E-News/Sept09/ComfortZone.htm

On-Line Advocacy for Missouri Humanities

Today you have an opportunity to assist the Missouri Humanities Council in our efforts to increase support for the work that we are doing throughout Missouri!  We invite you to show your support for the humanities in Missouri and nationwide. Let your Congressional legislators know how much the humanities mean to you and how increased funding makes a difference. Earlier this year the House of Representatives approved a $6.124 million increase to the State Humanities Councils and a $15 million increase to the National Endowment for the Humanities in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget.  The Senate voted in favor of a more modest increase.  Very soon Congress will decide on final budget numbers.  They need to hear from you to know how their decisions can benefit our communities.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils has put together a "Taking Action" website to assist you with this correspondence.  It includes a template letter with the request and a place for you to include your own message.  The site link
(http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=fshc&hotissue=6) will be active for at least two more weeks. 

Podcast of NEH Chairman James Leach

James Leach recently spoke about the humanities with Inside Higher Ed.  It’s a great interview, and you can listen to it on your iPod or your computer, as it’s a podcast.  Here’s the URL for a download link:
http://www.insidehighered.com/audio/podcasts/the_new_voice_of_the_humanities

Lincoln Portraits from the Smithsonian - an opportunity

"The Mask of Lincoln" is a portfolio of images from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Five sets have been sent to MHC by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibitions Service (SITES), and we're giving them away, first come, first served, to libraries. Each image is accompanied by some brief descriptive text. The set could work as a temporary exhibit or as something beautiful to peruse in a reading room.

There's a smaller version of this set on line at http://www.sites.si.edu/lincoln You can download a PDF file and find additional resources there. Contact my colleague, Clarice Britton if you want one of the five sets for your library. (800) 357-0909

Support the Council

Giveness Logo Purchases from online retailers Amazon.com, eBay, and others yield a donation to the Council with no cost to you. The retailer contributes a portion of its profits on each transaction when you shop through giveness.com/mohumanities