Celebrating the power of poetry this month!

Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before. - Audre Lorde

Humanities@Home:

Stories of South Asian America

Friday, May 5th at 5:00 pm on Zoom!

Today, nearly 5.4 million South Asians live in the U.S., immigrating from countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Afghanistan. How do movies, television series, and literature shape our understanding of what it means to be South Asian in America today?

Dr. Preeti Singh will discuss TV shows such as Ms. Marvel and literature by fiction writers and poets like Meena Alexander to highlight stories that explore the South Asian diaspora. She'll examine the limitations of these stories – what stories are palatable to broader audiences in the United States – and how living in both the U.S. and a global, interconnected world shapes South Asians' sense of identity.

About the presenter: Preeti Singh is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages program at Dartmouth College. She researches and teaches postcolonial studies and world literature with a focus on 20th and 21st-century South Asian diasporic literature and cinema. Her broad focus is on literary expression of political and social crises amidst decolonization and the global cold war, as well as discourse on human rights, and contemporary expression of populism.

We’re heading out on a humanities roadshow this spring and are looking forward to seeing you as we bring a special series of programs to communities around the state! The Roadshow series will illustrate a few of the ways we share stories – through dance, oral traditions, film, music, and the written word. Please join us for one or all five events, as we explore the diversity of storytelling in the Granite State! 

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances, The Shire, performed by NSquared Dance Co., co-presented with NH Dance Collaborative and previously advertised in Lebanon, will be postponed until June. Watch for announcements about a new date!





Wednesday, May 3, 6:00-7:00 pm

Wisdom Keeping: Abenaki Stories and Storytelling Traditions

Presented by Anne Jennison

Strawbery Banke Visitors Center, 14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth (FREE)

Traditional Abenaki stories are and have always been for all ages and communities. Anne Jennison, a traditional Northeast Woodlands Native American storyteller of European and Abenaki heritage, will share some of the stories that tell of the world's creation, the creation of the aki (land), nebi (water), first awaasak (animal people), and first alnobak (human beings), to teach us how to live in balance with one another.

Wednesday, May 10, 5:30-7:30 pm

Storytelling on Film:

A Screening of Lost Boundaries

Presented by Larry Benaquist

Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St., Concord (FREE)



Based on the true story of Dr. Albert Johnston, a Black man and his family who passed as white in early-20th- century Keene - until they didn't - Lost Boundaries illustrates New Hampshire's complicated history of racial passing. Lawrence Benaquist, Professor Emeritus of Keene State College, will show a groundbreaking Hollywood film that depicted how this family dealt with the humiliation of discrimination and segregation. 

Thursday, May 18, 6:00-7:00 pm

The Colonial Theatre Showroom, 20 Commercial Street, Keene

A Sampler of NH Stories in Song

Presented by Tom Curren

Follow Tom Curren’s musical journey through New Hampshire's past as he shares songs that explore the land, people, traditions, and unique cultures that have shaped our state. 

Wednesday, May 24, 6:00-7:00 pm

Littleton Opera House, 2 Union Street, Littleton

Stories of Place: A Year in the Life of Mount Washington

Presented by Dan Szczesny

Mount Washington - home of the world’s worst weather - is more than just a rock pile; it’s the cultural and natural soul of climbers and tourists from around the world. Hear the story of Dan’s exploration of the heart of the White Mountains and the culture, characters, and colors of this remarkable place.

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances, The Shire, co presented with NH Dance Collaborative and previously advertised in Lebanon, will be postponed until June. Watch for announcements about a new date!)

Attend a Perspectives book group!

Perspectives book discussions take place across the state and we invite you to attend one in your community or join us online! See below to RSVP to the host organization to reserve your spot and your free Perspectives book prior to the discussion. 

April 26, 6:00 pm, Richards Free Library, Newport

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer DETAILS

April 26, 6:30 pm, Cook Memorial Library (VIRTUAL)

Beneficence by Meredith Hall DETAILS

May 9, 6:30 pm, Jaffrey Public Library (VIRTUAL)

Beneficence by Meredith Hall DETAILS

May 16, 6:30 pm, Hooksett Public Library

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer DETAILS

For more information about the books and scholar facilitators, visit www.nhhumanities.org/Perspectives or email us at bookgroups@nhhumanities.org.

Upcoming Grant-Funded Programs

 Sunapee Heritage Alliance:

Building Community Through Oral History

Saturday, April 22, 10:00 am

The Livery in Sunapee Harbor

58 Main Street, Sunapee

Esteemed oral historian Jo Radner will guide participants as they spend the day converting their dreams for gathering and preserving stories into an actual plan of action. Representatives from libraries, historical societies and schools, as well as families longing to preserve personal histories, will learn a variety of skills including interviewing techniques, how to be a good listener and how to apply what they’ve learned. DETAILS 

New Hampshire Institute of Politics:

Our Fire is Stronger Than Your Bombs

Monday, May 1, 4:00 pm

NH Institute of Politics Auditorium

100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester

The NH Institute of Politics invites the public to a special program marking the one-year anniversary of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The program features an exhibition of war posters by contemporary Ukrainian illustrators, living and working in Ukraine, sometimes with no power, water, cell signal, or Internet connection.

Lada Kolomiyers, Veronika Yadukha, and Hanna Leliv, three scholars and translators currently at Dartmouth College, will present a selection of translations they have been working on over the past year. A poetry reading will be performed to the music accompaniment by Joe Deleault and Don Davis. Free and open to the public with advance registration

This program is funded in part by a New Hampshire Humanities Community Project Grant and presented in partnership with the Gregory J. Grappone ‘04 Humanities Institute at Saint Anselm College and the Leslie Center for the Humanities at Dartmouth College. 

Upcoming Grant Deadlines & Workshop

To fund these programs and more,

we count on YOU!

As we continue to bring free public programs to thousands of Granite Staters and our many cultural institutions, your support is more important than ever before. Please click the Give button to make a secure online donation.

Thank you – every gift matters!

BOARD PICKS OF THE MONTH:

Close and Lost Boundaries

Recommended by Zachary Camenker

I recently saw the film Close at Red River Theatres in Concord. The intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys Leo and Remi suddenly gets disrupted. Struggling to understand what has happened, Léo approaches Sophie, Rémi's mother. Close is a film about friendship and responsibility. Although it has since left the theatre, you can rent it on many streaming services. A quiet but provocative and powerful piece, it will leave you thinking for a long while after. The focus on youth, masculinity, and emotion are all incredibly relevant discussions that we can and should have with each other and our kids.

I'm so excited to see Lost Boundaries at Red River Theatres in Concord on May 10, as part of New Hampshire Humanities' 2023 Humanities Roadshow. I first heard about this film some years ago from a college professor and was struck by its themes. It feels like an incredibly important and fitting film for us to sponsor as we consider the complicated history of race in our country. I hope you'll join us for what is bound to be an enlightening screening and discussion!

Thank you, Zach!

News from the NEH

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced this week $35.63 million in grants for 258 humanities projects across the country. Here in New Hampshire, Piero Garofalo from the University of New Hampshire has received a summer stipend for his project, Translation of Italian Poet Giovanni Pascoli’s Collection, Myricae; in Hanover, Maron Greenleaf of Dartmouth College received a summer stiped for her project, Cities of Trees: Reforesting the Birthplace of Industrial Capitalism; and Brian Eisenhauer of Plymouth State University received a Humanities in Higher Education grant for Humanities in the Sustainability Curriculum.

“These 258 newly funded projects demonstrate the vitality of the humanities across our nation,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “NEH is proud to support exemplary education, preservation, media, research, and infrastructure projects that expand resources for Americans, support humanities programs and opportunities for underserved students and communities, and deepen our understanding of our history, culture, and society.”

Learn more

Partner News

On Wednesday, May 3, the American Independence Museum (AIM) will open its doors for 2023 and introduce the museum’s new three-year inclusivity and diversity theme, We Are One. Launched earlier in 2023, We Are One represents AIM’s organizational focus on developing programs, exhibits, and tour experiences that honor many perspectives, including those often marginalized in history. This emphasis on inclusivity, according to curator Maddie Beihl, guides her work in developing a new exhibit at the Ladd-Gilman House (c. 1721) that will open by early summer. “We want to acknowledge the Indigenous heritage of the region and the specific impacts of Exeter’s colonial history on Pennacook and Abenaki independence,” she explained. Read more

Thank you to our annual partners who

provide critical year-round support for our work:

Lead Humanities Partner:

Bronze Partner:

Media Partners: