Humanities Grants: Examples of Humanities Programming


From the documentary Tracks Across the Sky which depicts the vision and hard work that went into the design, construction and preservation of the Kinzua Viaduct. Produced by Seneca Highlands in McKean County.

The humanities are an excellent resource for engaging people in learning. With Humanities Grants, organizations can enrich Pennsylvanians' understanding of the human experience. The humanities provide historical, critical or personal contexts and help participants analyze and interpret ideas, themes and questions raised by a program.

Humanities Experts

Projects funded by Humanities Grants involve humanities experts in planning and presenting a public program. PHC defines a "humanities expert" as someone with a graduate degree in a humanities field and/or someone who has done extensive humanities-oriented research or has other interpretive experience. Artists can serve as humanities experts if their bios or resumes demonstrate their expertise in the humanities, e.g., through publications or work experience. Artists are involved in programs where the arts play a major role.

Examples of Humanities Programming:

  • Women in the Civil War: What roles did diverse women play during the war—on the home front as well as the battlefield? How did their backgrounds influence the kinds of roles they took? How did the war reshape conventional gender roles? How do their roles compare to those of women today?

  • Contemporary Indian art: How do contemporary Indian artists integrate India's cultural traditions with contemporary media and methods? How do they address issues concerning India's rise as a political and economic power? How does their work express the upheavals caused by global popular culture's impact on ancient culture and traditions?

  • Urban neighborhoods: How do neighborhoods change over time? What places and institutions are important landmarks in these communities? How have new groups of residents transformed the landscape? What memories shape a neighborhood's identity? What associations connect neighborhoods to communities in other parts of the nation and the world?

Note on Local History Projects

At the core of humanities programs are the exploration and exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives which help us understand our experiences and also those of other peoples. Projects that are primarily concerned with conveying historical information or which appeal principally to an institution's membership are not supported by PHC. Note: For high-quality Pennsylvania history projects—which do not involve the humanities—please contact the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Information on PHMC grants is available at www.phmc.state.pa.us.


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