Minnesota Humanities Center awarded competitive NEH grant to examine military service at the margins

SAINT PAUL, MN. — Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) has been awarded $100,000 for its project, “Examining Military Service from the Margins” which will encourage Veterans and community members to consider the experiences of women, LGBTQA, American Indian, ethnic minorities, and immigrants. MHC was one of three recipients to receive a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Dialogues on the Experiences of War Program which supports the study and discussion of humanities sources that address the experiences of military service and war from a wide variety of perspectives.

“NEH grants are highly competitive, MHC was the only state humanities council among the 258 awards by NEH this cycle to receive a grant and we feel very fortunate,” said Kevin Lindsey, CEO of MHC. Lindsey continued, “I also want to extend congratulations to Hallie Q. Brown Community Center for its NEH Humanities Collection and Reference Resources grant and Dr. Averill Earls for her NEH summer stipend.” This is the third time MHC has been awarded a “Dialogues on the Experience of War” grant for their work with Veterans.

Leading this initiative is U.S. Army Veteran and educator Miki Huntington and MHC humanities officer and historian Karen Sieber. Contributors to the project will include scholars from around the country including Dr. Beth Bailey (University of Kansas), Dr. Charissa Threat (Chapman University), Dr. Mael Sheridan Embser-Herbert (Hamline University and U.S. Army), Dr. John A. Little (University of South Dakota). Contributors will also include local scholars such as David Mura, noted memoirist, poet, and documentary producer, and MHC’s Veterans Advisory Board.

Discussion groups will take place in 2024 at University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), Winona County Historical Society, and Minnesota State University-Mankato. In 2025, MHC will explore national expansion of the program via digital methods and partnership with the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center in Maine and African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. MHC ultimately wants to build a flexible framework that can be easily replicated yet locally tailored anywhere within the United States.

Announcements will be made in late 2023 to recruit participants and paid discussion leaders. For more information, contact Karen Sieber at karen@mnhum.org.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.  

About the Minnesota Humanities Center

The Humanities Center connects our past, present, and future by bringing people together to increase understanding and spark change. Using story as a catalyst and the humanities to explore the question of what it means to be human, MHC seeks to create a just society that is curious, connected, and compassionate. MHC, founded in 1971, is a statewide nonprofit organization affiliated with and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. MHC operates a full-service Event Center in a historic building on St. Paul’s East Side. More information is available at mnhum.org.