The WHC will deepen knowledge and broaden vision by supporting projects that focus both on the arts, ideas, and values of peoples from around the world and in all ages and on the diversity of Wisconsin s past, present, and future. WHC grants support public humanities projects that further one or more of these goals. Like the arts and sciences, the humanities may be defined in terms of the disciplines they represent. The humanities are about the study of human existence in all its variety. To reflect upon particular aspects of human histories and cultures, the humanities have developed as a set of disciplines or ways of thinking.
Historians ask questions about the past and seek to construct meaningful stories from it.
Through literature and its study we experience with great intimacy the textures of individual lives and the narratives that depict them. Cultural anthropology examines past and present cultural practices among peoples from around the globe. Art history and criticism offer ways to think about and deepen our appreciation of artists and their works. Thus the humanities seek answers to questions about who we are, what we believe, where we have been, what we value, and why. A project is a humanities project when its audience is offered an opportunity to explore a particular topic from the perspective of one or more of the humanities disciplines.