Resources:Commonwealth Speakers:
Call for Speakers Guidelines and Application Form


Commonwealth Speaker storyteller Linda Goss. Photo courtesy of Debora Kodish.

Benefits to Speakers

Speakers receive:

  • A $300 honorarium per presentation for service, as well as full reimbursement for all travel expenses

  • The opportunity to share your expertise with audiences who quite likely are new to your field

  • Consideration for inclusion in Humanities Live, a new public television collaboration between PHC and Philadelphia's WHYY-TV that adapts presentations for television. Humanities Live participants are selected from the pool of Speakers

  • The opportunity to have a major impact on the lives of Pennsylvanians. No other program in Pennsylvania offers free presentations of the breadth and depth as Commonwealth Speakers

Selection Criteria

The Speaker selection process is very competitive. PHC carefully reviews all applications and evaluates them against the following criteria:

  • Credentials—a demonstrated expertise on the subject of the presentation
  • Humanities treatment—whether and how the talk addresses ideas of significance
  • Capacity for engagement—a demonstrated ability to engage members of the general public and/or experience with public presentations
  • Artistic quality (for artists)—an ability to communicate ideas deftly to members of the general public and to educate them about the arts
  • Presentation's overall ability to promote the joy of learning

To apply to the 2008-2009 cycle, you must:

  • Permanently reside or be employed full time in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
  • Be available from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009 to offer your presentation
  • Be willing to travel anywhere in Pennsylvania to give presentations to nonprofit groups of any sort
  • Agree never to use your presentation to persuade an audience to a particular political, philosophical, religious or ideological point of view
Application Form [PDF, 306K]

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