IHC Recognizes

The Illinois Humanities Council recognizes excellence in humanities work throughout the state through the following awards programs:

• The Public Humanities Award (PHA) recognizes individuals and organizations for their contributions to public understanding of the role the humanities play in transforming lives and strengthening communities.
  
• The Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award was launched in 1999 in honor of IHC's 25th anniversary. For this award, mayors are asked to nominate those individuals, primarily volunteers, who have championed the humanities in their communities. The program is now run on a biennial schedule. Since 1999, nearly 300 recipients have been named. The communities that have participated in the program are as far south as Makanda and as far north as Waukegan. These unsung "humanities heroes" contribute to cultural life through projects related to historic preservation, heritage, adult and childhood education, and the study of arts or music.
  
• The Lawrence Towner Award was created by the IHC Board of Directors in 1985 in memory of a past chairman, Lawrence W. Towner. The Towner Award is presented annually to an IHC-funded project which has demonstrated "venture and risk-taking" in the development and execution of a public humanities project. In the past "venture and risk-taking" have been demonstrated through new formats, unusual venue, use or imaginative interpretation of the humanities disciplines not usually integrated into public humanities programs, or through an attempt to reach an audience not usually associated with the humanities.

 

IHC Recognized

The IHC has also been recognized for its excellence in public humanities work by a number of national and local organizations. Please look under "awards received" below details about the awards the IHC has received over the years.