A Message from Geoff Giglierano, Executive Director
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. – John Dewey
It’s been a long and, at times, circuitous journey that has brought me to the Director’s desk at the Missouri Humanities Council. I’ve spent over thirty years working in libraries and museums as an historian, educator, curator, development officer, consultant and administrator—and, above all, as a storyteller. Along the way I have acquired experiences and hopefully useful perspectives that can be applied in helping the MHC carry out its mission. Now that I’m here, I’m extremely excited about doing all that I can to facilitate this organization’s ongoing efforts to promote the humanities and support institutions that are working to make subjects such as history, literature, philosophy and archaeology meaningful for diverse audiences.
So, you may ask, what does that mean for MHC? How do I expect to be putting my background to good use during the foreseeable future?
For now, I don’t think you’re going to see me taking much of a direct hand in the programming side of the equation. The organization has a great staff that is doing important work. For the present, I’ll be doing my best to not get in their way. As I see it, my attention initially will be focused on making sure that these people can keep doing their jobs and accomplishing their goals. I intend to concentrate on expanding the resources that MHC has to draw upon, and to explore ways of diversifying sources of support. Furthermore, I will be putting a good bit of energy into fostering greater awareness of the organization and its mission—we don’t want to keep our “light under a basket.”
In fact, I think it is absolutely vital that we make that “light” as visible as possible, not just for the good of MHC, but for the benefit of all the people of Missouri. One of the things that you are going to hear me hammering away on, over and over (so you might as well get used to it) is that the humanities are highly relevant in our everyday lives and essential to our civilization as a whole. The disciplines that make up the humanities constitute the collective memory and conscience of a society. Discussions framed within the context of the humanities can offer us opportunities to share our stories and better comprehend not just what makes us unique and different, but also what we hold in common. That, in turn, can help serve as a foundation for civil discourse and enhance our understanding of one another.
In short, the team at the Missouri Humanities Council has important work to do. I can’t wait to get started in functioning as a member of that team as we work together to achieve these goals.
mail@mohumanities.org