California Humanities’ 40th anniversary celebration is hitting the road and we’re bringing friends! We share in celebrating the 50 year mile marker of the National Endowment for Humanities and the centennial of the Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Prize Board has partnered with the Federation of State Humanities Councils to create the Pulitzer Prize Centennial Campfires initiative to commemorate their milestone and ‘to launch their second century in ways that deepen and inspire the public’s engagement with and understanding of the value of great literature, history, music, drama, and journalism.
California Humanities joins 45 other state humanities councils in this initiative ‘to foster conversations across the nation and among diverse individuals on the impact of the humanities on our lives and times, illuminating their value to public life’. We are excited to announce our On the Road with California Humanities series featuring Pulitzer Prize-winners and other notable thinkers and anchored by California Humanities-funded projects. The series examines contemporary issues through a humanities lens to guide California along the road to a bright future.
Here’s an overview of the individual forum topics within the series. Each forum will include 1-2 Pulitzer Prize winners or finalists. Stay tuned for more details on the speakers and activities coming soon!
March 2016 – On the Importance of Historical Literacy: What Good is History?
Los Angeles
The conversation is built around a deceptively simple query: what’s the use of American history? What does historical perspective, and the humanities, have to teach us about point of view, context, and the rights and wrongs of our past and our present?
April 2016 – Food Futures
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the state produces almost half of fruits, nuts and vegetables in the US and yet one out of seven people in our state struggle with hunger. How can that be? What does the future of food look like in the coming years in this land that includes both plenty and need?
June 2016 – Journalism and Democracy in California
San Jose
California journalism has a long and proud history and is more essential than ever to California’s civic life yet the business and the craft of news reporting is in crisis. What is the future of journalism in the very state that’s given the world the information revolution? Regional journalists will discuss the evolution of investigative, government and culture reporting.
August 2016 – California’s Water: Rivers, Oceans, and Our Future
Salinas
Water is a finite resource is at the center of debate as California grapples with the challenges of drought and climate change. What we know and don’t know, and what we must learn about how to manage a future in which water is going to become all the more precious.
September 2016 – The Farmworker Movement in California: From Chavez Onwards
Fresno
The history of the farmworker movement in California has been well-documented, but how can the experiences of the past help inform the future of agriculture and the state’s economy?
October 2016 – In Tune: The Arts and Humanities in the Golden State
Oakland & Sacramento
Stay tuned as we develop this celebration of the arts and humanities in partnership with the CA Arts Council.
We are grateful for the generous support of Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Pulitzer Prize Board to bring this series across California.
