Tag: community

Let’s Rise: Stories of youth engagement and education

Welcome to the next installment of LET’S RISE, the PA Humanities statewide video project,  created in partnership with Emmy-winning filmmaker Kelly Dessoye in celebration of our 50th anniversary. In December, we’re spotlighting how young people are engaging with the humanities through PA Humanities programs and initiatives and finding new ways to understand themselves, one another, and their communities. We invite you to watch and reflect, and join us in ensuring that the humanities remain a vibrant force in Pennsylvania.

Let’s Rise: Stories of connecting through culture

Welcome to the next installment of LET’S RISE, the PA Humanities statewide video project, created in partnership with Emmy-winning filmmaker Kelly Dessoye in celebration of our 50th anniversary. This month we’re spotlighting how three different organizations uplift culture and use the tools of the humanities to connect and create positive change in their communities.

Bratwurst and egg rolls: cultural cooking sessions spark connection at Norristown library 

This past year, the teens of the Youth-Led Humanities program at the Montgomery-County Norristown Public Library took a hands-on approach to cultural learning. Every other week, they gathered to make recipes from different
cultures together and share the diverse traditions tied to food. These cooking sessions allowed them to connect with their own family history, forge intercultural connections, and build community together.

Communities, partners gather to celebrate 10 years of Heart & Soul

For the past decade, PA Humanities’ partnership with Community Heart & Soul has shown how a simple but powerful process rooted in storytelling and resident-driven planning can change lives and transform communities. By creating space for people to share their stories, recognize their own expertise, and build shared values, Heart & Soul has helped towns across Pennsylvania foster deeper connections, spark new leadership, and shape more inclusive, vibrant futures.

Pittsburgh storytellers connect at Voices of History event

Voices of History is a statewide effort to collect and celebrate the stories, family histories, struggles and triumphs of Black Pennsylvanians in the 20th and 21st centuries. In December, a group of Pittsburgh storytellers who will be featured as part of the project gathered at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.

Voices of History project spotlights Erie’s Black heritage

PA Humanities’ Voices of History project is capturing the stories of everyday Black Pennsylvanians and their families. The project launched in Pittsburgh this summer, and moved to Erie this fall with two story circles held in November at the Historical Institute of Culture and the African American Experience.