Established in 1974 as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Mass Humanities is a programming and grant-making organization that receives support from the NEH and the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources.

Mass Humanities is governed by a volunteer board of 25 directors who reflect the social and geographic diversity of Massachusetts. Approximately half the board represents the general public (business, labor, the professions, cultural affairs, and community life) and half are humanities professionals (college faculty, K-12 teachers, independent scholars, museum and library professionals, and writers). Six directors are appointed by the governor.

Mass Humanities supports programs that use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life throughout the Commonwealth.

Mass Humanities regularly identifies areas of special interest or concern and develops initiatives aimed at increasing program activity in those areas. Our current thematic initiative, "Crisis, Community and Civic Culture," encourages applicants to explore the confluence of challenges that has led to today's fraying of the social contract as well as the history and promise of collective action organized in response to a variety of crises.

Previous Mass Humanities initiatives have focused on the interpretation of Native American history and culture in New England museums and historical societies, the contributions of women to public life in Massachusetts; and humanistic perspectives on the millennium, and the interplay of "liberty" and "justice" as two fundamental principles of American political life.

Mass Humanities gives highest priority to projects that apply the humanities to current issues, deepening public understanding of these issues and thereby enhancing civic life.

Mass Humanities is particularly interested in funding projects that

• address our current thematic focus, "Crisis, Community and Civic Culture"
• reach those whose access to the humanities has been limited due to social, economic, educational, or geographic circumstances;
• involve collaboration among humanities institutions and other types of institutions and agencies, both public and private (e.g. hospitals, prisons, social service agencies);
• foster connections across disciplines, among different bodies of thought, or between past and present.