From a SPCR press release:
A year-long initiative, sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council, titled “Civility Matters,” kicks off at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Powell Saturday, September 18 at 11:15 a.m.
Featured at the event is National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jim Leach and Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, a board member of the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation.
Following the kick-off of “Civility Matters,” Leach and Simpson will also participate in “A Conversation on Civility with NEH Chairman Leach and Senator Alan Simpson” at Northwest College in Powell at 1 p.m.
Two journalism and political science students will interview Leach and Simpson with the session introduced by Northwest College President Paul Prestwich and moderated by faculty member Lou McPhail. The public is welcome.
Leach, a long-time Republican Congressman from Iowa, who became head of the NEH in August 2009, will provide a major address, “Civility in a Fractured Society,” at 7:30 p.m., that evening at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. Both events are free and open to the public.
The events coincide with Leach’s 50-state “American Civility Tour.” Additionally, the Wyoming Humanities Council announces 12 months of promotion and online and face-to-face programs on the topic of civility, offering residents of the Cowboy State broad opportunities to consider the meaning of civility, both in the context of the nation’s democratic commitments to freedom of expression and in the context of an increasingly global world.
With funding provided by the Wyoming State Legislature through the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, programs include a partnership with the Casper Star-Tribune, featuring opinion editorials by humanities scholars and professionals, state leaders and Wyoming citizens; statewide book and film discussions; a publication with selected readings; an innovative summer public discussion series in Wyoming’s community and state parks; a community grant initiative; and a statewide tour by a national humanities scholar, who will culminate the year with presentations at Wyoming potlucks and schools.
The Wyoming Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization that is an affiliate of the University of Wyoming and the National Endowment for the Humanities. It provides community programs and funds community grants across Wyoming. The Wyoming Humanities Council, the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation, and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center are sponsors of Leach’s Wyoming visit. For more information about the Wyoming Humanities Council, call 307-721-9243 or visit
www.uwyo.edu/humanities.
