Teachers as Scholars is an innovative program of professional development that brings together college faculty and secondary school teachers in a Humanities-based program which provides seminars designed to connect them to the world of scholarship. The program is offered June 18-22, 2012.
View the informational and registration brochure here.
Click here for the 2012 online application
The annual Spring Humanities Symposium is held every Spring semester (during the fourth week of February) as a week-long
campus-wide conversation
centered on a common theme and with a keynote speaker. Here is a list of our Spring Humanities Symposia to date :
2012 - The Transforming Book (detailed brochure here)
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Anthony Grafton, Henry Putnam University Professor at Princeton University, Fellow of the British Academy and President of the American Historical Association
2011 - Friendship
Keynote Speaker: The Honorable James Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities
2010 - Memory (Messiah's centennial year)
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University
2009 - Faith in the Public Square
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Alan Wolfe, Director, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life
2008 - Eyes Wide Open: Engaging Technology with our Humanity
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Edward Tenner, noted scholar and writer on technology & culture
2007 - Globalization
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kent Hill, Senior Administrator of the Bureau of Global Health, US AID
2006 - The Power of Human Imagination
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Wendy Wright, author and writer on spiritual formation
2005 - E Pluribus Unum or the Two Americas?
Keynote Speaker: David McCullough, celebrated American historian
2004 - Culture, Community, and Belonging
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jean Kilbourne, noted media critic
Since 1987 when this lecture series began, the American Democracy Lecture has been co-sponsored in alternate years by the History and Politics departments. Previous distinguished speakers have included James McPherson, Peter Onuf, Patrick Allitt, Harry S. Stout, Darrel Bigham, Wilma King, Wilfred McClay, E. J. Dionne, Larry Diamond, John J. Dilulio, Jr.,
Jean Bethke Elshtain, Louis Fisher, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Seymour Martin Lipset, Byron Shafer, and Theda Skocpol.
2011 American Democracy Lecture (PDF)
Dean' s Statement on the American Democracy Lecture;
Frequently asked Questions
2010 American Democracy Lecture (PDF)
This liberal arts bridging course provides access to higher education for those whose circumstances have prevented them from considering a college education. The Hoverter Course in the Humanities provides tuition-free, collegiate instruction for credit to economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals between the ages of 18 and 35, with the hope that a humanities-based exposure to higher education will equip students with basic liberal arts skills and encourage them to aspire to college study. Course participants receive 110 hours of instruction in five humanities disciplines (writing, communication, critical & ethical thinking, American history & civics, and creative arts) from experienced college faculty members. Classes meet twice a week for around six months at our Harrisburg Institute, and students receive free books and limited transportation and childcare assistance. To show our appreciation for the kind support of the Lawrence L. and Julia Z. Hoverter Charitable Foundation, we have named this program the Hoverter Course in the Humanities.
(Click here to view the application brochure for the 2011-12 academic year in PDF format)
(Click here to view the 2011-2012 academic year schedule in PDF format)
History Day is a regional competition involving students from many middle school and high school districts in Central Pennsylvania. Students present their work on a variety of topics and using various media (essays, oral presentations, video documentaries, web pages, and dramatic performances), with finalists chosen to continue to the state History Day finals at Millersville University.
For more information about the Pennsylvania National History Day, click here: http://pa.nhd.org/index.htm
Debate and Individual Events Days are
regional forensics competitions involving students from many middle school and high school districts in Central Pennsylvania, which are sponsored by the Pennsylvania High School Speech League and hosted by the Center at Messiah College.
For more information about the Pennsylvania High School Speech League, click here: http://phssl.org/
Films screened in our own campus cinema. This can take the form of a semester-long series on a common theme as well as the annual film series tied to the Spring Humanities Symposium theme.
