Latest news with #NewMexicoHumanitiesCouncil
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Humanities in Trouble
Humanities Councils play an important role in reaching underserved audiences, poet Darryl Lorenzo Wellington writes. (Getty Images) In early April, state humanities councils in all 50 states received a letter from the infamous DOGE. It read 'Your grant no longer effectuates the agency's needs and priorities and conditions of the Grant Agreement and is subject to termination' It meant — simply put — their funding was axed. Many councils had probably foreseen this coming, given prior moves that undermined integrity at the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment of the Arts. Councils have been in a tailspin since. It's a cultural domino effect. The federal money humanities councils received would otherwise have been divvied out in smaller grants to libraries, historical societies and museums. Checking online websites, I see councils across the nation posting heartfelt apologies, alongside lists of programs they will no longer support. That's bad enough. New Mexico Humanities Council Director Brandon Johnson, however, offers the most dire prognosis: He expects the NM Humanities will have to shut down. Gone. Utterly gone — lock, stock and barrel — ending its mission to support relevant work. Which is? It's work related to history, philosophy, literature, ethics, media and cultural studies. It's helping a local art museum fund a special exhibition, exploring Hispano traditions. It's funding the library to sponsor a special speaker who has just published a book preserving Native American stories. It could be be funds for a public exhibition in which you or your children could participate. It's providing free access to a lecture on that small piece of history that you feel hasn't been done justice. Because that's what the humanities by definition is: the intellectual study of human culture. The job of councils, on the other hand, is to make these studies available to the general public, regardless of location, and without cost. I have been a beneficiary of the New Mexico Humanities Council, both as someone seated in the audience, and as an artist/historian. The NM Humanities Speakers Bureau programs sends writers, and artists of various disciplines, to public institutions across the state. I have traveled extensively, delivering lectures on Black American history, especially the Black presence in New Mexico. It's a subject many New Mexican have never devoted attention to, given the state's small Black population. I love watching audiences, who have come to hear me with obvious curiosity, as their eyes light up, exploring new vistas. A Q&A follows every lecture. This is the part that is truly in the Socratic tradition. Knowledge isn't simply delivered on a silver platter. It's probed. It's investigated. It's put to the test. However, looking back, the most memorable incident in my lecturing career occurred in a private encounter with an audience member. It was a question from a very young man who said he was college student. He approached me after I finished my talk with an earnest, but worried look. I could tell he had serious intentions. He was very somber, though his question was quite naive. 'I …uh… wanted to ask you something…' Go ahead, I signaled with a nod. 'Ummm… how do you read books, and enjoy them?' I was flabbergasted because this wasn't a question about my subject matter. He asked me about the roots of studiousness. I asked: Was he having trouble in school? Was he overwhelmed by books? He said he was a freshman who until recently had never been required to read so much — or so extensively. And he was fascinated by his college subjects. And he was simultaneously feeling overwhelmed. I finally answered that all an ideal reader needed to have was passion. I believed he had this. He was young, with a genuine desire to become a better reader. His commitment wasn't feigned. He was beginning a lifetime's worth of scholarship. Stick with it, I said. I feel proud, looking back, believing my lecture awakened an earnestness inside him, or stirred his desire to read and read and read. I believe in tens of thousands of New Mexicans out there —especially from underserved backgrounds — waiting to be stirred, provoked or inspired in the same way. Reaching them is a mission that must be restored, by reinvesting in humanities councils, or else we will give the phrase 'the closing of the American mind 'a new meaning.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
History competition for students in New Mexico loses funding due to federal cuts
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A popular student competition getting New Mexico school kids learning about American history is now the latest victim in an avalanche of federal budget cuts. Hundreds of New Mexico middle and high school students take part in this yearly event, and said it would be a sad thing to see the competition go. Story continues below Business: Two big New Mexico brands up for sale as owner looks toward retirement Education: Albuquerque high school students get up-close look at big-time film production News: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham authorizes National Guard deployment to ABQ 'I love it, I love the competition, and more than just that, I love seeing how much it helps me, how much it helps these other kids in their education. Seeing that go away would just really devastate me, honestly,' said Isaac Beck, senior student at Silver High School. The Beck brothers have been competing in the state's 'National History Day' event since the fifth grade. The yearly tradition put on by the New Mexico Humanities Council gets students learning and competing through performances, presentations, websites, and documentaries. 'You get to dig deep and really go into the topic, and you will learn so much more than you will ever learn in a classroom,' said Paige Kimball, freshman student from Farmington. But this might be the last time it happens in New Mexico, as the National Endowment for the Humanities has eliminated the grant funding for the competition through cuts from the Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'So, this is a real dire situation for this program, National History Day in particular, but also other programs,' said Brandon Johnson, Executive Director of New Mexico Humanities Council. He said the cut could spell the end of their 53-year-old organization. 'If we don't understand the past, we're doomed to repeat it, right? And I think that's why programs like this and other programs in the humanities are essential,' said Johnson. Nationally, the DOGE funding cut to the 'National History Day' competition itself is worth about $336,000. The New Mexico Humanities Council said it's expecting to lose $700,000 overall. Besides National History Day, the New Mexico Humanities Council also helps fund public libraries, museums, and storytelling groups. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Humanities Council will have to close its doors following latest Trump cuts, director says
A child wearing a top hat advertises registration for New Mexico National History Day Contest, an event supported by the New Mexico Humanities Council. The council learned late Wednesday that it would have to close due to cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities. (Photo Courtesy NMHC website) An organization that provides small grants to uplift and explain New Mexico culture and history will have to close its doors, following deep cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities and local humanities councils across the country. The New Mexico Humanities Council has been around since 1972 and has provided schools, tribes, colleges, cultural centers, libraries and others grants to engage 'New Mexicans with history, culture and humanities topics.' Recent events that credit the council include a Taos exhibition honoring Hispanic stories of northern New Mexico; a youth history competition; and virtual learning experiences at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. 'Those will essentially go away,' said Brandon Johnson, executive director of the humanities council, in a phone interview Thursday with Source New Mexico. Johnson received two letters around 11 p.m. Wednesday from Michael McDonald, the acting director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, related to two NEH grants the council received. About $500,000 had not been awarded to the council, Johnson said, from what online records show were initially $11.3 million contracts. 'NEH has reasonable cause to terminate your grant in light of the fact that the NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda,' McDonald wrote in the letter dated April 2, citing a February Trump executive order seeking to reduce the federal bureaucracy. Federal government to preserve history of Indian boarding schools 'Your grant's immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities. The termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for the administration,' McDonald wrote. The letter goes on to note that an audit may still occur, even though the grants were terminated, and provides a Microsoft email address to contact 'with only urgent questions.' An unnamed official told NPR that McDonald recently told senior staff of the so-called 'Department of Government Efficiency' team that he wants to 'claw back' $175 million in grant money that has not been disbursed. A large number of NEH employees will soon be fired, as well, according to the New York Times. Johnson said the news came as a shock and called the cuts 'very disappointing,' though he acknowledged he'd withheld much stronger words he wanted to say about the abrupt cancellation of the program. He noted that the NEH has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades and that the council here has done great work across the state. Social Security commissioner nominee advances to U.S. Senate floor amid DOGE questions 'That's money that won't go to our New Mexico communities,' he said. A statement from the National Alliance for the Humanities, an advocacy group, called on members of the public to fight back against the cuts, noting that the spending was already approved by Congress. 'We condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms,' the alliance wrote. 'We support the mission of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the agency staff who make that mission possible, and we call upon Members of Congress to ensure that this crucial government agency fulfills the mandate set by Congress.'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New Mexico History Museum to host regional youth history competion
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico History Museum is set to host a regional youth history competition next month. Museum officials say they are partnering with the New Mexico Humanities Council to host one of four 'National History Day 2025 Regional's Contests' in the state. Story continues below Crime: Trial continues for men accused in fatal shooting of 11yo outside Isotopes Park DWI Scandal: DWI Advocate Reacts To Corruption Scheme Sports Office: From player to businessman with NBA veteran Kenny Thomas Teachers and students are invited to share their historical perspectives with judges about his year's theme: 'Rights and Responsibilities in History.' The competition will be held on Friday, March 7. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
