Humanities to Go Programs

Death Café

Death Cafés offer opportunities for people who don’t know each other to come together, share tea and cake, and talk openly about death. These gatherings have no agenda, lecture, or set theme (other than death itself); instead, they are participant-driven conversations where individuals can share experiences, ask questions, and reflect together. The goal is to normalize discussions about death in our (often) death-denying culture, while encouraging deeper thought about life and how we might live it more fully.

Open Questions: Can Machines Think?

Presenter: Joshua Tepley

Open Questions is a series of thought-provoking community conversations presented by New Hampshire Humanities. This series explores essential questions about meaning and life that are important to Granite Staters. Each program is facilitated by philosophy professors who will explore essential questions about meaning and life.

If you appreciate beauty, if you are still full of wonder, if you ponder the meaning of life, you will love this program. Timm Triplett's hands-on philosophy inspires you to free your curiosity, re-affirm your sense of wonder, and convey your love of wisdom to children, who are themselves delightfully receptive to the excitement of philosophical questions.

The Quest for Happiness

Presenter: Maria Sanders

The ancient Greek philosophers defined eudaimonia as living a full and excellent life. In this illustrated talk, Maria Sanders explores how ideas of happiness have changed in Western civilization through the ages, while comparing and contrasting major concepts of well-being throughout the world. Can money buy happiness? To what extent does engaging in one's community impact happiness? When worldwide surveys of happiness are conducted, why doesn't the U.S. make the top ten? Participants will be invited to discuss various definitions, current measures for assessing self-reported levels of happiness, specific findings reported as increasing people's levels of happiness, and happiness projects undertaken by entire communities - including a town-wide happiness quest in Plymouth, NH.

Uprooted: Heartache and Hope in New Hampshire

Presenter: John Krueckeberg & Sara Withers

Uprooted is a 30-minute documentary based on interviews collected during New Hampshire Humanities' Fences & Neighbors initiative on immigration. It tells the story of five refugees who escaped from war-torn countries to resettle in New Hampshire. The film explores what it means to be a refugee and how it feels to make a new life in a strange place, often without English language skills, family, a job, or community contacts. The film leaves us pondering questions of belonging and citizenship. What does it mean to be an American? Once a refugee, are you destined always to be a refugee? What are our responsibilities toward one another? A New Hampshire Humanities presenter introduces the film and leads a post-film discussion.

Vietnam: Video and Discussion

Presenter: Suzanne Brown

The Vietnam War film and discussion program utilizes short videos and a trained facilitator to prompt discussion about the Vietnam era. Content is culled from Ken Burns' and Lynn Novick's PBS documentary, THE VIETNAM WAR, which tells the story of one of the most consequential and divisive events in American history. The videos explore the human dimensions of war that still haunt us today. Witnesses from all sides give their personal testimonies-Americans who fought in the war, those who opposed it, as well as combatants and civilians from North and South Vietnam. These programs are offered in partnership with New Hampshire PBS:

Program 1: THE VIETNAM WAR: Diverse Perspectives This 28-minute video includes war stories told by an American journalist; an anti-war activist; an American author and combat soldier; a Vietnamese author and soldier of the North Vietnamese Army; Hero Mothers; a South Vietnamese refugee; an ARVN officer; and several U.S. Marines.

Program 2: THE VIETNAM WAR: Veteran Voices This 21-minute video features war stories told by American, North Vietnamese, and South Vietnamese soldiers. One story explores moral injury by following a disabled Vietnam Marine veteran who supports young warriors deployed during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

The two videos must be booked as separate Humanities To Go programs. The host site must provide a DVD or Blu-ray player.

US@250: Big Watch

Presenter: Mohamed Defaa

Be a part of something BIG: Join US@250: Big Watch, a statewide series of community-driven programs that bring Granite Staters together to watch, discuss, and reflect on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution.

Join us to commemorate and reflect upon the 250th anniversary with a film screening and discussion. Together, we’ll watch a short (30 min) excerpt from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a new film directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, followed by a community discussion. The featured segment from THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,“The Spirit of Service,” explores service as a core American value, from the nation’s founding through to the present day – examining volunteerism, civic participation, public leadership, and more.

Expert facilitator Mohamed Defaa will guide thoughtful conversations about “remembering together,” considering questions such as:

- What moments from our past define who we are and point to a shared future?
- What are the key historical moments in your town’s or community’s history?
- How does focusing on these moments shape your sense of your community’s future?

This program will last approximately 1.5 hours (30 minutes for film screening, 1 hour for facilitated discussion). Please make sure you have appropriate technology for the film screening, including a strong internet connection, large screen, and sound system. Please contact programs@nhhumanities.org for the link to the themed excerpt.