Humanities research and programming is up against a number of challenges in the current climate, and yet the humanities continue to be a vital source of deepened understanding, creativity, and critique. In this panel discussion that will appeal to audiences from both small and large institutions, foundation and nonprofit funding organization officers will reflect on changes they have seen in humanities funding to universities in their careers as well as offer thoughts on future directions. Panelists from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Council on Library and Information Resources, and the American Council of Learned Societies have deep experience in the humanities funding landscape. They have all been involved in evaluations and evolutions of their respective organizations’ humanities grant programs in recent years as well as their partnerships with additional foundations, including the Mellon Foundation and Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

Guiding questions include: How have foundations evaluated and adapted humanities funding programs in recent years? What role do the humanities play for advancing higher education commitments to inclusion? How have funders diversified their higher education grantees to reach a broader range of institutions? Is there tension between curiosity-driven humanities research funding and publicly engaged humanities research funding? What is the role of foundations in shaping the direction of humanities scholarship, or what could it be? What new models of humanities funding support or collaboration can we imagine?