Engaging with our communities on and offline
NJCH engages with our community in accordance with our values. Through discussions, whether online or in person, we aim to open opportunities for discovering, listening, discussion, and fostering understanding.
Within the spaces we control and in which we engage, we appreciate all voices who participate in civil, informed, and respectful exchange. In exchanges within these spaces, we aim to act responsively, in a manner responsible to our place within the state and the humanities community, and with honesty and transparency.
We make concerted efforts to create space for voices that have historically been underappreciated in the public square.
We appreciate the roles humor and fun can play in maintaining these ideal spaces. However, we reserve the right to withdraw our organizational voice and spaces from the public discourse if and when such discussions run afoul of the values discussed above, or when they otherwise threaten the safety or wellbeing of our organization, staff and board members, or community members.
On social media, as offline, we aim to facilitate shared ownership in the creation and the sharing of knowledge, ideas, and practice. In this way, our platforms will be used to solicit and share ideas and content from our community to others within it and beyond. We hope that our engagement in this arena bolsters our roles as humanities experts, advocates, and conveners.
Related Programs
Prime Time Family Reading is a national program serving 6- to 10-year-old kids and their families. Participating families build early literacy skills, engage in critical thinking, and connect with each other through literature and discussion.
NJCH offers an opportunity to connect communities with renowned speakers on environmental humanities topics.
Community History participants work closely with their communities to learn about and share their untold stories. Participants receive instruction on public history practices, develop projects in a collaborative environment, and receive funding from NJCH to launch projects in their communities.
Funding, creating, and amplifying humanities-grounded programming that raises media literacy and expands support for local journalism—particularly in communities and places that are seldom covered by traditional media outlets.
NJCH offers a free college course in the humanities in partnership with Rutgers University-Newark and the national Clemente Course initiative. The 16-week course, open to Newark-area veterans and military-connected civilians, offers an opportunity for adult learners to explore themes of war and reconciliation through literature, art, history, and philosophy.
Via both an online form and "ballot boxes" located at partner sites throughout the state, NJCH collected hundreds of responses from New Jerseyans in response to pressing questions about our democracy. Responses and creative works based on them can be explored here.
In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program, NJCH brought the exhibit "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" to six community colleges around New Jersey and supported a host of democracy-related public humanities programs at nonprofit organizations.
