No matter how we say it, we definitely mean it!

It is our privilege to collaborate with and serve nearly half a million people through a dozen innovative, high-quality humanities programs like Chautauqua, Journey Stories, Maryland History Day, One Maryland One Book, and Practicing Democracy. The Maryland Humanities Council offers more than 650 events each year…that’s a whole lot of education, enlightenment, inspiration, and entertainment!

You are the vital ingredient that catalyzes the conversations we need in the classroom, meeting room, or living room. Together, through the humanities, we can examine our past, navigate our present, and envision our future.

On behalf of our amazing staff of 12 and our dedicated, 25-member volunteer Board of Directors, please accept our deepest gratitude for being part of the Maryland Humanities Council family. We couldn’t do this without you.

Phoebe Stein Davis, Executive Director

P.S.: Please help us start strong in 2013 with a tax-deductible gift. Click here to give.

The MHC would like to thank Washington College for allowing us to share this article from their spring 2012 issue. The article contains a preface by MHC Board Member, Adam Goodheart.

“…we thought it would be a good idea to remind politicians and citizens of every party persuasion to mind their manners.” CLICK HERE to read on… -Washington College Magazine

Adam Goodheart’s book, 1861: The Civil War Awakening, is now available in paperback. 1861: The Civil War Awakening remains on the New York Times Best Seller List and was recently announced as a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize.

Interested in buying 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart?  Click through our site to barnesandnoble.com and they’ll donate a portion of your purchase to MHC—at no additional cost to you!

Eight exceptional student scholars and two dedicated teachers will receive commendations tonight during Maryland Senate and House of Delegates sessions in Annapolis for receiving national honors at the National History Day competition.

History Day students receiving their awards.

Sure, students achieve in all sorts of areas, from sports, to science fairs, and the arts, but what is it about success at a History Day competition that is worthy of such recognition?

What sets this competition apart from other types of student achievement? Because when students study history, they learn what it means to be human, and their immersion into the lessons of the past builds an informed citizenry, cultural understanding, and fulfills a need for shared identity. History isn’t just a review of our legacy.  It molds our future.

The writer Sam Ewing said “Hard work spotlights the character of people:  some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” It isn’t often that a singular school project requires students to tap into their creativity, delve into primary source research and develop a project over the course of a school year. They pick a topic based upon a broad annual topic, and can choose to work in groups or individually.  Projects can be in the form of a website, historical exhibit, interpretive research paper, dramatic performance, or multi-media documentary.  Because students are empowered to explore topics of interest to them in a modality of their choosing, Maryland History Day provides an active learning experience that will stick with these kids for a lifetime.  Math and science teach important skills, but history also connects us with our humanity during a technologically driven, instant message, 140-character world.

Last year National History Day (NHD) released the findings of an independent study that showed that this competition  teaches critical thinking, writing, research skills and boosts performance across all subjects, that NHD students perform better on standardized tests, and that the contest prepares students for college, career, and citizenship You can read the key findings of the report or a summary on our site.

Watch this short video from NHD about their findings: History Day: It’s More than Just a Day…It’s an Experience.

On behalf of MHC, congratulations to these young scholars!  To view a list of the students and teachers traveling to Annapolis today, visit the MHD News page.  Look to MHC’s History Day Facebook page and our MHC Fan page for pictures from today’s activities.

The following is a guest posting from a participant of the recent program “Moving Stories:  Getting Around in Baltimore”, as part of MHC’s Practicing Democracy Program. Thank you, Jessica, for providing your reflections.

Listen to an excerpt of Jessica’s performance:  Jessica Keller, Moving Stories excerpt

I love to speak about all forms of transportation but what I love to discuss most is being car free.  So, when someone forwarded the “Moving Stories” opportunity to me, I applied right away.  I was a little anxious too because I work for a transit agency and being car free isn’t always pretty; I didn’t want to be seen as disparaging my agency.  What I saw was an opportunity to show regular people that other regular people, like myself, use mass transportation. As I mentioned, being car free isn’t always pretty but those ugly instances, in hindsight, tend to be pretty funny and make for great stories.

After telling my not-so-pretty story, I had the chance to discuss transportation issues with people who I ordinarily wouldn’t come to meet.  I hope some of those people will reconnect with me in the future to help make Baltimore a better place to travel around.

I’m curious……have you ever taken transit and if not, what would encourage you to do so? OR, are you car free and loving it too?  Can you imagine giving up at least one car?

Jessica A. Keller, Storyteller “Moving Stories”

Since the shooting in Tucson, Arizona that claimed six lives and injured many others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, it seems the loud, contentious, acrimonious mode of communication made popular by talk show hosts and news entertainers on both the right and left is slowly losing its punch. (more…)

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the arguments both for against editing the “n-word” from Mark Twain’s classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. If not, here’s the gist of it:

The case for editing: Alan Gribben, the English professor at Auburn University who re-wrote the novel taking out the “n-word” believes that the new, cleaned up version will help the book regain popularity—since some teachers avoid using it in classrooms because of the offensive term—and make it more accessible to young readers. (more…)

The holidays are a great time to spend with friends and family–to catch up, strengthen relationships and form lasting memories. But it’s also a good time to sneak away and spend some downtime catching up on your reading list. (more…)

Rapper Jay-Z’s book, Decoded, hit shelves this fall and quickly became big news. It’s currently No. 6 on the New York Times best sellers list; Oprah included it among her wildly viewed “ultimate favorite things”; Jay-Z appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote it, and even The New Yorker has been commenting on its popularity and merit. (more…)

The tradition of Thanksgiving has been alive and well in the US since the pilgrims celebrated surviving their first brutal winter in New England. Since then it has become customary to gather with friends and family, over turkey and pumpkin pie, and reflect on what we are appreciative of.
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November is National Novel Writing Month! Also known as NaNoWriMo, this annual creative writing project was created by the nonprofit organization, the Office of Letters and Light that challenges people to write a new 50,000 word novel in the month of November. (more…)