Indiana Humanities

Indiana Humanities is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to promoting the public humanities. We’re a grant-maker, a neutral convener, a facilitator, a program partner, and much more.

In short, Indiana Humanities encourages Hoosiers to?think, read?and?talk. How? By creating its own programs, such as ALL-IN, INconversation, Novel Conversations,Chew on This, Community Conversations and more; by providing grants for humanities programs throughout the state; and by providing a space—physically and digitally—for people to connect and converse.

Indiana Humanities traces its roots to 1972, when the?National Endowment for the Humanities?(NEH) asked a group of five energetic Indiana citizens to form a statewide grant-making agency. The group was comprised of Dr. Marvin E. Hartig, Mrs. Edmund F. (Virginia) Ball, Dr. Robert E. Burns, Mr. Edward N. Howard, and Dr. Robert W. Richey. Their goal was to focus federal dollars on more local, grassroots initiatives.

We’ve come a long way since then. Today, we’re still a grant-making agency, but we are also a convener, leader and partner. We promote the public humanities and engage Indiana’s community of minds to create stronger, more vibrant communities. Using literature, history, art, music, philosophy and our shared cultural heritage, we strive to help Hoosiers better understand themselves and the world around them.