In Vermont’s Constitution, citizens are urged to develop the civic virtues of justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality. This presentation considers the role Vermont’s five civic virtues hold in our current moment.
Deliberation is the practice that holds our democracy together, but does it always lead to better decisions? When citizens only talk to like-minded citizens, the thinking gets stuck and the decisions tend to be more extreme. Presenter Meg Mott gives participants a chance to find new ways to think about a contentious issue using two fundamental principles of the Constitution: separation of powers and free speech.
In response to concerns about election tampering in the 1850s, New Yorker Samuel Jollie proposed a novel solution: a ballot box made of glass. Emphasizing glass’s transparency and purity, Jollie suggested that his box would ensure fair and just elections. Middlebury professor Ellery Foutch illuminates the contemporary resonance of Jollie’s invention.
Nineteenth-century Americans often saved or exchanged locks of hair, constructing jewelry or keepsake wreaths of their kinship networks. Delicate braids of hair also interlace to frame the famous silhouette of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake. In more recent decades, hair has become a powerful political medium. Middlebury professor Ellery Foutch shares research about hair-based works in local collections and explores the meanings of hair in American culture, past and present.
The publication of Tillie Walden’s recent graphic novel Charity and Sylvia–and its selection as the 2026 Vermont Reads choice–was a wonderful impetus for the Henry Sheldon Museum to rethink how we might feature the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake in the museum galleries.
Join artist and educator Jen Berger for a presentation that places monuments within the broader field of public art, examining how objects in shared space shape memory, belonging, and power, and how monuments, often permanent and officially sanctioned, are mistaken for neutral history.
CALLING is a participatory, interdisciplinary humanities offering that invites communities to reflect, create, and reimagine what it means to be American at the threshold of our nation’s 250th anniversary.
This project will bring together Vermonters from across the state to discuss the founding principles and future of the Vermont National Guard, its relationship to the U.S. Constitution, and criteria for deployment to combat around the world. Veterans, service members, and their family members are particularly encouraged to participate in this discussion.
New York Times bestselling author M. T. Anderson, whose National Book Award-winning novel The Pox Party explored this history, will discuss some of the lost and overlooked stories of that revolution within the Revolution, and why they’re important to remember in this celebratory anniversary year.
Consuelo Northrop Bailey (1899-1976) was a national pioneer among women in public service. Born and raised in Fairfield, Vermont, a 1921 graduate of the University of Vermont, Bailey was one of the first women in America to serve as a state’s attorney, as speaker of a state house of representatives, and as lieutenant-governor. Historian Kevin Graffagnino details the life and career of this extraordinary Vermont role model for women in politics and the law.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
