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NJCH BOARD | ANNUAL REPORTS | JOIN OUR MAILING LIST | CONTACT US From our new Executive Director: Greetings! I am honored and delighted with the chance to succeed Jane Brailove Rutkoff as Executive Director of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Her legacy provides a strong foundation to build upon, supported by able, dedicated Council staff and ambitious, visionary Council members. Challenges lie before us, of course, not the least of which is finding ways to make the humanities directly valuable to all New Jersey residents and visitors. With economic hard times on everyone’s mind, I am often asked why people should support the humanities. My answer refers to the famous proverb – would you rather have one fish to feed yourself today or learn to fish and feed yourself forever? Not all the charity in the world can do as much practical good for the public as a lively, informed civic spirit engaged in guiding our government toward a just and sustainable future. The humanities are the best tools we have to inspire a vision of that future, teach the skills of self-government, and foster the courage to act. That is what we aim to do. I look forward to working with the Council and staff, and also with schools and teachers, libraries and community organizations, historic and heritage sites, and colleges and universities. I call upon New Jersey foundations and philanthropists, and legislators at every level from town councils to state offices to join with us to create the new energy that will make New Jersey thrive in the 21st century. Dr. Sharon Ann Holt + + + + + + + +
The New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH), a nonprofit organization, was established in 1972 as the state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our programs are free and open to the public. A twenty-five member board of trustees, drawn from academia, business, and public life, oversees our work. Wendel White is the Council's Chair. Mary Rizzo is the Interim Director. The mission of the NJCH is to develop, support and promote projects that explore and interpret the human experience, foster cross-cultural understanding and engage people in dialogue about matters of individual choice and public responsibility. The Council's Horizons Speakers Bureau supplies lecturers to nonprofit organizations in humanities areas as wide ranging as ethnic studies, history, literature, interpretation of the arts, and public policy. Clemente Courses offer high-quality, post-secondary education in the humanities to young adults in New Jersey's underserved communities who have the potential to succeed in college. The Teacher Institute, the centerpiece of NJCH's educational programming, runs yearly residential seminars for K-12 teachers that provide a content-based approach to professional development. To date, NJCH has conducted 39 residential seminars, 60 school-based workshops, and a multi-school seminar using interactive television technology. Over 2000 educators have participated in our seminars and workshops; an additional 350 are expected to participate in the coming year. NJCH is proud to have been chosen by the New Jersey Department of Education as its partner organization in writing the revised Social Studies Curriculum Framework. The Council's Teacher of the Year Award is given each year to an exemplary public school humanities educator. Other achievements
in the humanities are celebrated annually with NJCH's Humanities
Awards. Individuals and institutions are honored with the Council's
Public Humanities Award, Humanities
Citizen of the Year Award, Civic
Leadership Award, and Humanities
Book Award.
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