CHICAGO, IL- September 16, 2014— Twenty-five fun, educational and very affordable humanities programs, presented by some of Illinois’ most talented historians, story tellers, scholars and musicians, have been announced and are now open for hire for eager Illinois communities big and small.
The Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, a program of the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC), has announced a brand new roster of speakers and topics. Organizations seeking affordable, entertaining, and thought-provoking humanities events for their communities are encouraged to apply. The speakers hail from 20 different towns and cities across Illinois and will discuss topics in history, culture, literature, music, politics, law, science, and many other fields.
Since 1996, the IHC Road Scholars Speakers Bureau has provided speakers to present programs to audiences all over the state. , Road Scholars offers nonprofit organizations with small budgets the opportunity to share high-quality humanities programming with their communities for an affordable $75 processing fee.
The IHC hopes these engaging and educational programs, which have both historical and contemporary significance, will pique the curiosity of Illinois. “The topics of these Road Scholars programs are fascinating and also relevant to the lives of people today,” says Matt Meacham, the IHC’s coordinator for the program. “How did the groundbreaking films of the sixties influence the films we see today? Can the archaeological record help us to predict future floods and earthquakes? How is Illinois’ French history represented through music? Through the humanities, we can understand today’s world a little better, and these speakers will help us to do so.”
Presence Health has provided funding for the upcoming year’s Road Scholars programming. The largest Catholic health system based in Illinois, Presence Health encompasses 12 hospitals and numerous other facilities in various regions of the state and seeks to contribute holistically to the health of the communities it serves.
“We’re grateful to Presence Health for its generosity, and we look forward to expanding our Road Scholars roster in the coming months with subject matter reflecting the system’s interests,” Meacham commented.
Nonprofit organizations that are interested in hosting a Road Scholars speaker should visit www.prairie.org, or contact Matt Meacham at (312) 422-5589 or by email at mwm@prairie.org for directions on how to apply. Examples of eligible nonprofit organizations include—but are not limited to—historical societies, libraries, senior centers, museums, community colleges, professional groups, and community organizations.
The 2014-2015 Roster:
- Jon Austin (West Peoria) – Civil War Field Embalming: A Demonstration of Period Technique
- Jeanne Schultz Angel (Chicago) – The Anti-Slavery Movement in Black & White
- Brian “Fox” Ellis (Bishop Hill) – Walt Whitman‘s Lincoln
- Ed Finch (Freeport) – Hollywood & World War II
- Leslie Goddard (Darien) – Mary Pickford, America’s Silent Film Sweetheart
- Bucky Halker (Chicago) – Solidarity Forever: Workers and Protest Music in Illinois
- Judith Heinemann & Daniel Marcotte (Chicago; Bolingbrook) – Grimm’s Grimmest: The Darker Side of Fairy Tales
- Erika Holst (Springfield) – Domestic Servants in the Nineteenth Century
- William Iseminger (Collinsville) – Telling Time in Ancient North America
- Barbara Kay (Glen Carbon) – Molly Brown: More than Unsinkable
- Paddy & Jon Lynn (Mundelein) – Selections from Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology
- Norm Moline (Rock Island) – Greatness Explained: The Great Lakes
- Rich Morthland (Cordova) – He Gave the World the Steel Plow
- Lee Murdock (Kaneville) – The Star-Spangled Banner and the Struggle that Forged Two Nations
- Stephen Parry (Chicago) – The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance
- Brian Russell (Troy) – Superheroes and Patriots: Comic Book Propaganda Unveiled
- Jose Sandoval (Mt. Prospect) – Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
- Cyndee Schaffer (Northbrook) – The Journey to Mollie’s War: WACS and World War II
- Kay Shelton (Dekalb) – Establishing the Lincoln Highway and Charitable Giving in Illinois
- Dennis Stroughmatt (Albion) – Illinois Creoles, French Canadians, and Louisiana Cajuns (and Their Fiddling)
- Chris Vallilo (Macomb) – Music of the Civil Rights Movement
- Gregory Vogel (Eldred) – The Archaeology of Disaster
- Peter Wenz (Springfield) – The War on Drugs
- Alan Wenzel (Freeport) – 1967: The Tumultuous Sixties Arrive in Hollywood
- Catherine Zurybida (Chicago) – Parthenon Sculpture and the Nature of Cultural Property
About the Illinois Humanities Council
The Illinois Humanities Council is an independent, nonprofit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with a mission to strengthen society by fueling inquiry and conversation about the ideas and works that shape our culture. The IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.
Media Contact:
Carlos Velázquez
(312) 422-5587
cav@prairie.org