There is an economic gap that favors adults who have higher levels of educational attainment (United States Department of Labor, 2010). With more than 9.3 million Americans over the age of 25 facing unemployment as of June 2012 and over 79% or 7.4 million of those unemployed Americans having attained less than a Bachelor's degree (U.S. Department…

Describes the state-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides grants to local institutions through state committees for support of public programs in the humanities which relate to public issues.

Because of the perception that the humanities lack practical application to real problems and issues of many adults, they tend to be neglected in adult and continuing education programs/courses. In reality, the humanities can offer insight into the ways people view and interpret life's events. Several major trends in continuing education suggest a…

North Carolina State's humanities-extension program operates through the university's cooperative-extension service. The program was begun when there was a realization that future interest in the humanities might drop, and the university wanted to find outreach outlets for the school's faculty members. (MLW)

Presents an overview of the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored Let's Talk about It Program. The intended audience is examined, the role of the scholar analyzed, and the special responsibilities of the discussion leader delineated. Results of the program are evaluated and suggestions for planning a program are offered. (six references)…

Intended for public libraries that have not yet sponsored programs for the adult community, this manual describes the steps in designing and staging programs designed to bring together local citizens, public policy makers, and scholars in the humanities to discuss issues of concern to their state or community. Sections are devoted to the National…

This handbook, produced by a project of the Office of Public Libraries and Interlibrary Cooperation (OPLIC), provides planning, topic, funding, and resource information to help public libraries in Minnesota, in collaboration with other education and community agencies, provides public adult programming in the humanities. Information was gathered…

This report is an evaluation of the Silver Edition II Project, a program to offer library-centered humanities programming to older adults. In the program local scholars in seven geographically dispersed library systems led discussion groups made up of 20 to 25 participating older adults. This evaluation focuses on the stated goals of the project:…

The autumn conference of the Vermont Council on the Humanities focused on discussions about Allan Bloom's book, "The Closing of the American Mind," and his call for Americans to return to fundamental questions of the nature of man and society. The Council also runs book discussion groups in local libraries. (MLW)

Humanities courses have often been given little attention in continuing education for adults, possibly because they have been viewed as not "practical" or not "job-oriented" enough in our career-oriented, technologically advanced society. However, the humanities should be an integral part of our culture and of the lives of…

ALTHOUGH LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES, THROUGH TECHNICAL COLLEGES AND EVENING INSTITUTES, ARE THE LARGEST PROVIDERS OF ADULT EDUCATION IN BRITAIN, LIBERAL STUDIES ARE DOMINATED BY THE UNIVERSITIES AND BY THE WORKERS' EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION (WEA). LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITIES HAVE TENDED TO FAVOR A NON-UNIVERSITY APPROACH BY PROVIDING CLASSES IN A…

The following papers are included: "Values in the Arts and Education" (Jones); "Conditions of Art Confrontations" (Wijdenes, Haanstra); "Arts, Aesthetics and Values in Adult Education" (Greene); "Arts for All" (Milton); "Importance of Culture as Mirrored in the Arts" (Debra); "Arthur Lismer,…