Humanities New York | Reading and Discussion Program

“The mission of Humanities New York is to strengthen civil society and the bonds of community, using the humanities to foster engaged inquiry and dialogue around social and cultural concerns.”

The Reading and Discussion Program

The New York Council for the Humanities Reading & Discussion Programs for Adults is a program focused on bringing together community members for a series of thematically-linked, text-based conversations.

It makes time for thinking deeply about a single idea from a variety of perspectives, allowing texts to become catalysts for civic engagement, cultural understanding, and personal reflection.The texts in each series vary: novels, poems, speeches, memoirs, and essays; works of history, philosophy, religion, and criticism. Each series is organized around a significant theme or important historical commemoration.

In each of Humanities NY’s Reading & Discussion Programs, participants read a series of thematically linked texts over the course of six sessions. At each session, participants come together with others in their community to discuss a text in a conversation facilitated by a trained local scholar.

Partnering with Refugee and Immigrant Self- Empowerment (RISE) in Syracuse, New York, this program brought together refugees, immigrants and various other community members to explore how to better serve the city.

Partnering with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, this program explored the work of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin. These collective readings offer keen insight into the differences that strengthen American society. The two series provided participants with an opportunity to discuss Lorde and Baldwin’s writing as well as identity, race, class, gender, and sexuality.