Vermont Humanities

Board of Directors

Rep. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with students in front of a schoolbus

Board of Directors

The Vermont Humanities Board of Directors meets quarterly at our offices in Montpelier and virtually.

Next meeting

  • Wednesday, September 6 (In-person)

2023 Board Meeting Schedule

  • Wednesday, March 8 (Virtual)
  • Wednesday, May 24 (In-person)
  • Wednesday, September 23 (In-person)
  • Wednesday, November 29 (Virtual)
Denise Bailey wearing silver metal glasses with a brown top and a black shirt

Denise Bailey

Denise Bailey of Montpelier is a member of the legal bar in Vermont, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and operates a law office in Montpelier.

Bev Colston

Beverly Belisle, Co-Chair

Beverly Belisle of Winooski is the director of the Mosaic Center for Students of Color (MCSC) at the University of Vermont.

Ellen “LN” Bethea

LN has performed as a Spoken Word Poet across Vermont from Morrisville to Brattleboro. She was thrilled to have been chosen by Vermont Arts Council as an “I Am A Vermont Artist 2021.”

Susan Burch

Susan Burch is an historian whose work centers on deaf, disability, Mad, race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, and gender and sexuality in the United States and Russia across the 19th and 20th centuries.

Poet Judith Chalmer

Judith Chalmer

Judith Chalmer of Burlington is the former director of VSA Vermont, recently re-named Inclusive Arts Vermont, a nonprofit focused on arts and disability.

T. Elijah Hawkes wears a navy coat and white collared shirt standing in front of a green outdoor backdrop.

T. Elijah Hawkes

Elijah Hawkes is an educator, writer and dad. He is Director of School Leadership Programs at the Upper Valley Educator Institute, a small graduate school that prepares future teachers and school leaders in Vermont and New Hampshire

Jinny Huh wearing a blue dress against a white background

Jinny Huh

Jinny Huh of Burlington is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Vermont, specializing in comparative race studies and detective fiction. She authored “The Arresting Eye: Race and the Anxiety of Detection.”

Poet Shanta Lee Gander standing against a brick wall

Shanta Lee

Shanta Lee of Brattleboro is an artist who works in different mediums and a public intellectual whose work has been featured in many publications, including her exploration of the poet Lucy Terry Prince.

Lizzy Lyons

Lizzy Lyons of Colchester is a licensed clinical social worker (LICSW), with her Masters in Social Work from UVM. Lizzy majored in Politics with minors in Painting, Photography, and International Studies from College of Santa Fe, in New Mexico.

Image of Adrienne Major

Adrienne Major

Adrienne Major of Westminster West is professor of English at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont, where she has worked for 27 years in varied capacities including chair of the English department and Academic Dean.

Patricia Menduni wearing a white turtleneck and a black sweater, sitting on a red couch

Patricia Menduni

Patricia Menduni of Rutland has served as Community Liaison for Representative Peter Welch and spent ten years on Senator James Jeffords’ Rutland staff.

Ron Miller wears glasses and a white beard, in a blue checkered shirt standing in front of a green outdoor backdrop.

Ron Miller

Ron Miller of South Burlington has been an educational scholar and activist, teacher, publisher and bookseller, community leader and philanthropist. He has authored several books, and has founded, published, or edited several magazines.

Morgan Moore

Morgan Moore, Treasurer

Morgan Moore of Barnet is the Director of Experiential Learning for Kingdom East School District. Previously, Morgan was the principal of Newbury Elementary School and taught middle school humanities in Burke, VT, and in Boston, MA.

Image of Mary Otto

Mary Otto

Mary Otto of Norwich is a retired high school English teacher and teacher consultant with a lifelong dedication to the humanities.

Patricia M. Sears with light purple hair and animal print glasses wearing a red top and red lipstick

Patricia M. Sears

Patricia M. Sears is a co-founder of NEKTI Consulting and a certified community coach for Community Heart & Soul a proven community engagement tool that strengthens social, cultural & economic vitality through community self-awareness & local decision-making.

Vera Longtoe Sheehan, Secretary

Abenaki culture bearer, master artist, educator and activist Vera Longtoe Sheehan serves her community as director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, a multi-arts services organization.

Image of Steve Stettler

Steve Stettler, Co-Chair

Steve Stettler of Weston served as Producing Artistic Director of the Weston Playhouse, Vermont’s oldest professional theatre, from 1988 to 2018.

Luis Vivanco wears a dark colored fleece and a white collared shirt standing in front of a green outdoor backdrop.

Luis Vivanco

Luis Vivanco of Burlington is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Vermont, and Director of the UVM Humanities Center.

Image of Yasmine Ziesler

Yasmine Ziesler

Yasmine Ziesler of Montpelier is chief academic officer for the Vermont State Colleges system.

Vermont Humanities*** November 30, 2014