The Great Plains Chautauqua "From Sea to Shining Sea: American Expansion and Cultural Change;" and Capitol Forum, a program for high school students that uses the humanities to explore American democracy.

The Nebraska Humanities Council (NHC) requests $48,030 to support two programs: Chautauqua and Capitol Forum on America's Future. The We The People funding will be used to help underwrite the Great Plains Chautauqua, "From Sea to Shining Sea; American Expansion and Cultural Change, 1790-1850" in Sidney and Lexington, Nebraska during the summer of 2005. The 2004-5 Capitol Forum, a curriculum-based program created by Brown University will help encourage approximately 1800 Nebraska high school students to better understand American democratic values and, thus, combat civic apathy.

To support the production of a new Chautauqua entitled "Visions for Amereica: Notable Nebraska Reformers," featuring William Jennings Bryan, George Norris, Grace Abbott and Marlcolm X; expansion of Capitol Forum on America's Future to additional high school students in western and rural parts of Nebraska; and to expand presentations on American history and culture in the Council's Speakers Bureau.

The NHC will produce an original chautauqua "Visions for America: Notable Nebraska Reformers," featuring scholars portraying William Jennings Bryan, George Norris, Grace Abbott, and Malcolm X. WTP funding will help the Council extend "Capitol Forum on America's Future" to students from western and rural high schools and provide additional speaker bureau programs to low-income schools and other non-profit organizations.

The statewide tour of the Smithsonian exhibition, "New Harmonies," the Kansas-Nebraska Chautauqua, activities at the 2008 Nebraska Book Festival, a Humanities Resource catalog, and the tour of Picturing America images to six sites.

The NHC will collaborate with the Smithsonian to bring "New Harmonies" to six communities; work with the Kansas Humanities Council to continue the "Bright Dreams, Hard Times" Kansas-Nebraska Chautauqua in two new Nebraska communities; sponsor the 2008 Nebraska Book Festival; fund speakers and educational materials from a new Humanities Resource Center catalog, and distribute "Picturing America" to six sites.

To support an increased number of speakers for the Humanities Resource Center Speakers Bureau; the 2011 Chautauqua "Bright Dreams Hard Times: America in the Thirties," offering enchanced programming for young people; the planning and programming for the Nebraska tour of "Journey Stories" traveling exhibition; and the expansion of the Capitol Forum to high school students and teachers in small, far-western Nebraska communities.

The Nebraska Humanities Council requests a We The People grant of $88,150 to support four projects that are core programs within the NHC's strategic plan. The Humanities Resource Center speakers bureau will provide over 400 programs on U.S. and Great Plains history and culture across the state, reaching children and adults in communities of all sizes. The "Bright Dreams, Hard Times: America in the 1930s" Chautauqua will bring scholars portraying President Franklin Roosevelt, Louisiana Governor Huey Long, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, writer, Zora Neale Hurston, and humorist Will Rogers to a Nebraska community for four days of humanities programming. "Capitol Forum on America's Future" will offer over 1,000 high school students an opportunity to examine key issues facing the United States from the perspective of the humanities. Museum on Main Street will bring an American history exhibition directly to the citizens of six small, rural communities.

Humanities Nebraska will bring people of all ages together at the World War I: Legacies of a Forgotten War Chautauqua to explore WWI, how it shaped the past century, and how it continues to impact our world today. Chautauqua enables audiences to learn from historic figures as portrayed by humanities scholars; these portrayals are followed by moderated audience discussion with the historical figure and then with the scholar. Chautauqua also includes daily workshops and a Youth Chautauqua Camp for middle-school students studying local historic figures that develops skills in research, interpretation, and performance. Chautauqua particularly benefits rural residents with less access to the humanities. It engages the public through an effective combination of education and entertainment, enabling people to use the humanities to explore how important aspects of our past relate to our present and future.

General operating support for state or territorial humanities council

Humanities Nebraska (HN) inspires and enriches personal and public life by delivering opportunities for Nebraskans to engage thoughtfully with history and culture. HN will make high quality, relevant, and affordable humanities programming available to all Nebraskans including Capitol Forum on America's Future, Chautauqua, Governor's Lecture in the Humanities, competitive grants, Prime Time Family Reading Time, Speakers Bureau, and Museum on Main Street. HN will partner with Nebraska Public Radio to provide Humanities Desk programming; Nebraska Wesleyan University to implement National History Day; Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission to support One Book One Nebraska programming, Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Library Commission for Nebraska State Poet outreach, and the Nebraska Writing Project in support of Nebraska Warrior Writers veteran writing workshops. These and other programs will reach Nebraskans of all ages and walks of life with the humanities.