Montana Committee for the Humanities -February, 2004, E-Newsletter

Welcome to the Montana Committee for the Humanities monthly e-newsletter. Here you will find links to MCH, Montana Center for the Book, and Montana Festival of the Book news, grant guidelines and deadlines, calendar of events, and much more. Please send queries, address corrections, changes, subscription and unsubscription requests, etc., to Mark Sherouse .

Help Plan the Future of Public Humanities in Montana

2004 is MCH’s quintennial planning year and will include a Self-Study and visit from NEH in September. You can help us understand Montana’s needs, review and assess our programs, and chart MCH’s future course by completing the 2004 MCH Public Questionnaire. Copies of the questionnaire will be available on the website after March 1st and also will be printed in the forthcoming spring issue of the MCH magazine Rendezvous: The Humanities in Montana.

President Bush Proposes $27 Million Increase for NEH in 2005

The FY2005 Executive Budget http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/agencies.html recommends an increase of $27 million for NEH. The President’s proposal follows an actual increase of $9.9 million in FY2004 for NEH’s "We the People" initiative. Check the NEH website http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20040202.html for further details.

Join the Speakers Bureau

MCH’s biennial recruitment of speakers is underway. Applications to become a member of the MCH Speakers Bureau are due March 1st. Go to the Speakers Bureau page http://www.humanities-mt.org/speakers.htm for information, the call for proposals, application form, and related items.

Leadership Montana

Leadership Montana is a cooperative venture of Montana business, government, and higher education communities, seeking to provide leadership and civic education to emerging state leaders. MCH executive director Mark Sherouse is a member of the organizing committee. Recruitment for Leadership Montana’s first class, for 2004-2005, is now underway. Further information, including the application form, is at the Leadership Montana site http://www.leadershipmontana.org/ .

Media Grant Letters of Intent

Media grant letters of intent, for projects involving film, radio and television programs, and other media projects, are due March 20th. Check our website for further information on MCH’s media grant program http://www.humanities-mt.org/mediagrant.htm .

MCH Media Collection

Check out the new, updated MCH Media Collection Catalog. Entries are searchable, or one can simply browse listings by subject in the catalog http://www.humanities-mt.org/media.htm .

Key Ingredients Comes to Montana

MCH will sponsor the Smithsonian Institution exhibit Key Ingredients: America By Food for an extended Montana visit in 2006. http://www.keyingredients.org/ The Committee will select six rural Montana museums to receive grants and host the exhibit. Further information, grant guidelines and deadlines, will appear at the MCH Key Ingredients page http://www.humanities-mt.org/keyingredients.htm .

Montana Festival of the Book

2004 Montana Festival of the Book is now scheduled for October 1st-2nd in Missoula. Further information http://www.bookfest-mt.org/ .

Calendar of MCH and Montana Center for the Book Events http://www.humanities-mt.org/calendar.htm

Looking for a Speakers Bureau program, an OpenBook session, or other MCH event nearby? Check the regularly updated MCH calendar of events.

Upcoming Deadlines

Join the Speakers Bureau: March 1st, 2004

Grants under $3,000: 20th of each month

Grants over $3,000: March 20th, 2004

Contact MCH staff concerning availability of grant funds before applying…

For more information…

The Montana Committee for the Humanities is Montana’s independent nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/ . Much more information on MCH, the Montana Center for the Book, the Montana Festival of the Book, and our many other programs and services, is available on our websites, http://www.humanities-mt.org, http://www.montanabook.org, http://www.bookfest-mt.org, and http://www.civicmontana.org. Write us at 311 Brantly, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, or at , or call us at 406-243-6022, toll-free in Montana, 800-624-6001.