Who We Are

Michigan Humanities is committed to promoting and supporting humanities programming throughout our state that explore, strengthen, and celebrate expansively and inclusively the stories, histories, and cultures of the people in our state. Through our own programming and grant-making we seek to partner with diverse organizations from all sectors in our state: urban and rural, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnic, gender, and racial identities, and targeting different ages. Michigan is a state rich in people’s and place histories, languages, and stories. Such histories, languages, and stories have been partially captured by literary works, film, and artistic expressions, but this work remains non-exhaustive.

Michigan Humanities is one of the 56 state and territorial humanities councils funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our headquarters lay on land that occupied the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg-Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw.

Mission

Bringing people together through stories, histories, cultures, and conversations.

Vision

A more thoughtful, connected, engaged, and informed Michigan.

Values

• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
• Discovery and Understanding
• Authentic Conversation
• Respectful Collaboration
• Meaningful Experiences

Pillars

• Connecting
• Sharing
• Growing

What are the humanities?

At Michigan Humanities, we view the humanities as ideas, words, and activities that help us understand our lives and our world. Through stories, histories, cultures, and conversations, they introduce us to people, places, and ideas. Connecting with people through the humanities gives us a window into how others approach living. Examining diverse heritages, traditions, and histories can point the way to mutual understanding and encourage empathy.