The Humanities Ladder Program

FAIN: ZH-252965-17

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (Slippery Rock, PA 16057-1314)
Aaron Cowan (Project Director: May 2016 to May 2024)

Expansion of a humanities program for high school students and the addition of Slippery Rock University students as Humanities Fellows to serve as teaching assistants and mentors for high school students.

The Humanities Ladder is a high school "ladder" three year program that intends to: 1)introduce college-level material in the humanities to high school students; 2) provide low stakes, high engagement opportunities for students to practice reflective critical thinking in disciplines like aesthetics, philosophy, anthropology, history, and more; 3) demystify college for first-generation students who might otherwise not consider attending a university; and, 4) provide Slippery Rock University students insight of and empathy with community members beyond the university and outside their prior experience, through ongoing engagement. The Center for Public Humanities adapted the well-known Clemente Course (2015 National Humanities Medal honoree) into the Humanities Ladder for high school students in the economically and geographically isolated communities of southwestern Pennsylvania.