NEW YORK COUNCIL FOR THE HUMANITIES

Reading and discussion:the reading and discussion program offers time for participants to think deeply about a single idea from a variety of perspectives. In the process, texts become catalysts for civic engagement, cultural understanding, and personal reflection. Participants read a series of thematically linked texts over the course of four to six sessions. At each session, they come together with others in their community for a conversation about the ideas in those texts, guided by a trained local facilitator. Themes range from "james baldwin's america and "growing & aging" to the indigenous experience of the revolutionary war era and the women's suffrage movement. Host organizations identify a theme relevant to their community, how many sessions they plan to host, and partner with a local humanist to facilitate the program. Hny trains both the host site and the facilitator on best practices for generating discussion and drawing in multiple voices. Hny provides grants of up to $2,000 for program expenses, provides a lending library of books for each theme, and pays the cost of freight for books to and from the host site. Participants, recruited by the host organizations, attend the programs for free. Hny's programs team reviews all applications, and any that demonstrate the ability to attract an audience and host the program successfully are awarded, so long as funding permits. If necessary, humanities new york gives preference based on geography and new partner organizations to insure our resources reach new audiences and underserved areas of the state.

Other programs include humanities centers initiative (hci), humanities new york events, and community conversations (cc).