Contents:
- Doing a Better Job Together
- Playing Together in the Great Sandbox Called St. Louis
- Children’s Books about Cooperation
- St. Louis’ Nine Network of Public Media Explores Immigration Issues with “Homeland”
- The Way We Worked Smithsonian Exhibit Travels Across Missouri
- The Governor’s Humanities Award 2011
- MHC Welcomes New Board Member, Crosby Kemper III
Doing a Better Job Together
In recent months, MHC council members and staff have been doing a lot of work to communicate with our state and federal legislators about what the Missouri Humanities Council is and what we do, and our hopes and plans for the future. We have also been doing a good bit of listening in the course of these visits and it has been enlightening and useful to hear from the legislators and their staffs about what they think we could and should be doing. One commonly recurring theme in these discussions, not surprisingly, is their interest in the economic development potential that is inherent in much of our programming.
Playing Together in the Great Sandbox Called St. Louis
I have often asked myself, why can’t humanists pool their resources more effectively? Do we have some individualist streak that makes collaboration difficult? Humanities scholars typically are not collaborators. To be sure, humanists will circulate their work among colleagues and specialists to get feedback and criticism but they do not, as a rule, partner with other scholars to produce their work, in the way scientists and social scientists commonly do. The humanist scholar is a lone wolf who frequently disdains a collaborative culture. This is all beginning to change. With greater emphasis on interdisciplinary dialogue, humanities scholars are being compelled more and more to make common cause with their colleagues to do joint projects. This is very much to the good.
Children’s Books about Cooperation
Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” I keep that quote taped near my computer. It’s a good reminder that I can’t do everything; no one can. Working in the nonprofit world, we hear a lot about collaboration and partnerships. We are encouraged (and sometimes required) to team up with others who share a common goal. Successful collaboration makes a task easier, but I think it also makes us better people. When we work together, we are really able to appreciate the gifts and talents of other people. We are also able to be more forgiving of our own shortcomings because we know we can rely on the strengths of our partners. What we “can’t do” by ourselves is less important than what we “can do” with the help of others.
St. Louis’ Nine Network of Public Media Explores Immigration Issues with “Homeland”
Public media is often the community’s opportunity to explore the local context of a larger societal issue, which is exactly what St. Louis’ Nine Network is doing through various media platforms on the contemporary story of immigration with their latest project: Homeland.
The Way We Worked Smithsonian Exhibit
The Way We Worked, the newest Smithsonian Institution exhibition will travel throughout Missouri with the Missouri Humanities Council’s Museum on Main Street program, sharing the stories of how work became a central element in American culture and the many changes affecting the workforce and work environments over the past 100 years. The Way We Worked will visit Ste. Genevieve, Rolla, Poplar Bluff, Fulton, Lawson and Savannah.
The Governor’s Humanities Award 2011
The Missouri Humanities Council is calling for nominations for the 2011 Governor’s Humanities Awards. Nominations for any individuals or groups whose education, community or literary achievements set an example worthy of statewide attention are open until Wednesday, June 1, 2011.
Welcome New Board Member Crosby Kemper
The Missouri Humanities Council welcomes Crosby Kemper III, Library Director of the Kansas City Public Library, to the Council’s Board. Kemper’s new position will build on his strong commitment to supporting the humanities.
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