Registration for the National Humanities Conference (NHC) in Providence, RI from November 13 – 17, 2024, is now open! Click here for details.
This national conference is organized by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance, in partnership with Rhode Island Humanities. The NHC will draw hundreds of attendees from across the country—providing a unique opportunity to highlight the dynamic public humanities ecosystem in the Ocean State.
Registration & Schedule:
With NHC 2024 taking place in the Ocean State, the connection between water and human communities, behavior, and decisions over millennia inspires the conference’s theme of Making Waves, Navigating Currents of Change.
The conference will include topical sessions highlighting connections across humanities and other disciplines and practices that incorporate the theme of water, making waves through public humanities, and navigating currents of change.
There will also be a series of off-site sessions and tours which will take place outside of the conference hotel and will introduce participants to an aspect of the Providence or Rhode Island humanities landscape or to a type of humanities program that is best understood beyond the hotel and convention center walls.
Schedule details and registration information are available here. The deadline to register for the conference is November 1.
All conference presenters (including off-site presenters) are expected to register for the conference at a discounted rate ($350).
The National Humanities Conference (NHC) strives to include participants and partners in a wide range of backgrounds and institutions. The NHC had a limited amount of funds available to offset registration costs and will give priority to students, contingent faculty, community partners, and participants who lack institutional support to attend. These funds have now been expended. Moving forward, the best option for discounted registration is via volunteering. See details below.
Free registration for the Walter H. Capps Memorial Lecture – Friday, November 15 from 5:15 – 6:30 PM- Limited Seating
Held at the historic First Baptist Meeting House, this year’s Capps Lecture will feature Lorén M. Spears (Narragansett), executive director of the Tomaquag Museum, Akeia de Barros Gomes, vice president of maritime studies at Mystic Seaport Museum, and Linford D. Fisher, associate professor of history at Brown University; the conversation will be moderated by Mack Scott (Narragansett), visiting associate professor of slavery and justice at Brown University.
Drawing on Mystic Seaport Museum’s new exhibition Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea, the speakers will engage in a conversation that focuses on Black and Indigenous histories connected to water and the sea, cultural power, and new approaches to research, interpretation, and engagement.
The Capps Lecture is open to all conference attendees and is also free and open to the public – seating is limited and registration is required. If you are NOT registering for the full conference, but are interested in attending the Capps lecture, please register here.
If you have any questions about engaging with the National Humanities Conference, please email Associate Director of Engagement Rachael Jeffers at rachael@rihumanities.org.
Volunteering at the National Humanities Conference – November 13-17, 2024:
Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the National Humanities Conference (NHC) November 13 – 17, 2024 in Providence, RI. We will need help throughout the conference and are excited to provide the following benefits to volunteers.
Benefits: Volunteering is a great way to meet other Rhode Islanders and to connect with people from across the country working in public humanities.
- By volunteering for a single 3 hour shift, you will be entitled to attend the remainder of that day’s conference activities for free.
- By volunteering for a 3 hour shift each day of the main days of the conference (Thurs 11/14, Fri 11/15, Sat 11/16) you will be entitled to attend the full conference for free.
Volunteers will staff the registration table at the RI Convention Center, welcome attendees from across the country, provide support directing attendees to offsite events and tours, support social media outreach during the conference, and generally help out the staff throughout the conference.
All volunteers will be invited to a virtual training session (via Zoom) ahead of the conference.
Please complete this form and we’ll get back to your shortly. If you have any questions, please email: nhc24@rihumanities.org.
photo credits: Van Leesten Memorial Bridge, Providence, RI – INFORM Studio + Buro Happold (Photo by Steve Kroodsma).
