Humanities Truck
The Humanities Truck is an experimental mobile platform for collecting, exhibiting, preserving, and expanding dialogue around the humanities in and around the Washington, D.C. area.[1] This project was devised by Dan Kerr, director of American University’s public history program, and initially funded through a generous grant of $225,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation.[2] The grant supported the purchase and customization of the truck, the technology for community documentation and exhibition, supplies, website development, and project staffing.[3]
The Humanities Truck is fitted with a recording studio, mobile workshop space, and a gallery for pop-up exhibits that features built-in speakers, a flat screen television, a roll-down screen and projector, and even an outside exhibit wall. The truck’s exterior was designed by Carly Thaw, a recent AU graduate.[3]
Kerr aims to use the truck to push the boundaries of what is possible in collaborative, community-engaged, research projects, which offer the benefits of shared historical authority.[3]
The Humanities Truck: A Model for College and University Collaboration with their Communities[edit]
The Humanities Truck was a topic of discussion among the more than 100 college and university presidents, foundation representatives, and State Council executives who attended the 29th annual meeting of The Council of Independent Colleges on October 15, 2018. Officers of large philanthropic organizations, such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the TIAA Institute, the Teagle Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the U.S.-Mexico Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and Strada Education Network presented at this conference. Several speakers suggested that the survival of the humanities and the liberal arts depends on universities broadening their community engagement.[4] Keynote speaker Eugene M. Tobin, senior program officer for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, called on colleges and universities to "collaborate with surrounding communities to tackle issues of local as well as national significance."[4]
Sean T. Buffington, Vice President of the Henry Luce Foundation, emphasized the importance of funding projects that are "locally based and involve partnerships with local organizations," such as the Humanities Truck's mission to "collect people’s stories on such issues as immigration and homelessness."[4]
Public Appearances[edit]
The truck made its debut appearance as a pop-up exhibit space at the 40th Annual Adams Morgan Day community festival on September 9, 2018. In collaboration with DC Public Libraries and the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, the Humanities Truck showcased the photography of Nancy Shia, a local activist and artist who has captured the Adams Morgan Day Festival since it began. Shia’s work can be seen at the Anacostia Community Museum in the current exhibition, “A Right to the City.” Festival visitors were also invited to learn about the neighborhood’s past by listening to oral histories and watching live interviews with neighborhood activists Marie Nahikian, Topper Carew, and Ronald and Mary Pierce.[5] [6]
October 19-21, 2018 was American University’s All-American Weekend. As part of the Golden Eagles Reunion, the Humanities Truck partnered with the American University archives to present the Class of 1968 exhibit on the AU quad Friday, October 19th. Archivists Leslie Nellis and Austin Arminio collaborated with the Humanities Truck team to create the exhibit. In addition to numerous captioned photos, a slideshow of nostalgic photographs played while an infamous speech by Hubert Humphrey sounded throughout the grounds. Oral history interviews of several alumni were conducted during the exhibition.[7]
On November 2-3, 2018, the Humanities Truck participated at the 2018 D.C. History Conference (formerly known as the Annual Conference on D.C. History), which is a collaboration between the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., George Washington University, DC Public Library, and DC Office of Public Records. The conference theme was Mobility, Migration, and Movement. The Humanities Truck popup exhibit “Whose Downtown? The Past and Future of the CCNV Shelter” was created from Director Dan Kerr‘s research on homelessness, which was relevant to the conference theme. Visitors were invited to watch a documentary playing on the outside screen, look at photos and story panels inside the truck, listen to oral histories playing on the inside speakers, and peruse printed documents. This exhibit offered something for everyone interested in learning about housing tensions in DC, homelessness, the Community for Creative Non-Violence shelter, and Mitch Snyder.
On December 1, 2018, Whitman-Walker Health held their 32nd annual Walk to End HIV, beginning in Freedom Plaza. Working in collaboration with the Humanities Truck, American University Public History master's student, Hannah Byrne, curated a mobile exhibit on the history of the Walk to End HIV. Byrne, the organizational archives assistant at Whitman-Walker, interviewed people whose "lives form the larger story of Whitman-Walker’s evolution."[8] The exhibit was displayed at this year’s walk.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Forth, Kathryn (October 29, 2018). "Professor, alumna collaborate to debut 'Humanities Truck'". the Eagle. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ↑ Roberts, Pamela (July 2018). "DC Thinkers and Doers". American University Magazine. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Housman, Patty (August 28, 2018). "AU's New Humanities Truck Hits the Road: Gathering Stories in DC Communities". American University's College of Arts and Sciences News. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Foundation Officers Encourage College and University Presidents to Strengthen Their Community Ties". The Council of Independent Colleges. 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ↑ "Know Your Neighborhood at Adams Morgan Day". DC Public Library. September 9, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ↑ Burke, Lilah (September 10, 2018). "Adams Morgan Day to mark 40th anniversary with a focus on history, art, community". The DC Line. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ↑ "Class of 1968". Humanities Truck. October 23, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ↑ Riley, John (November 29, 2018). "Whitman-Walker's Walk to End HIV gives hope that "we can see an end to HIV"". Metro Weekly. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
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