WSCC receives grant for Humankind series. 

WSCC receives grant for Humankind series. 

VICTORY TOWNSHIP – The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) has announced that West Shore Community College is the recipient of a $15,000 grant in support of the college’s Humankind series.

Year two of the series is focusing on the cultural, social and political parallels between the Middle East and the U.S. The series of lectures, exhibits, activities and performances provides diverse perspectives on a region of the world that sparks many debates and controversies.

In the first year, the series featured Sub Saharan Africa and year three will focus on Cuba.

In addition to this direct support, the college was required to present matching cash or in-kind cost share, bringing at least an additional $15,000 to the table. This major grant cycle, the humanities grants, support projects exploring history, poetry, reading, education and community identity.

“Humanities grants are more critical than ever to keep quality cultural programs in our local communities,” said James Nelson, MHC program officer. “These grants play a vital role in defining our culture, our state, our community and ourselves, and are intended to connect us to Michigan’s rich cultural heritage and historical resources.

“The review committee loved the level of detail in the college’s grant application, the variety of projects, the clear humanities focus, and how cleanly delineated everything was on the whole. We are impressed with the human stories that will come to life in the series.”

“We are grateful for the council’s support of our series. We recognize some community members and students may already know quite a bit about the regions we are exploring while others may know very little. Everyone will learn something and we are confident the series will expand our world view and how we are all connected to the regions we are studying,” said Brooke Portmann, dean of arts and sciences and one of the series organizers.

Humanities grants are awarded to Michigan nonprofits in support of cultural, educational and community-based public humanities programming.

For information about the entire Humankind series, contact humankind@westshore.edu or call 845-6211. All Humankind events are free and open to the public.