Looking for a new way to enrich the lives of community members? Need to round out an existing panel of scholars or experts, but not sure where to look? Have more curious minds than dollars? The Illinois Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau program supplies easy solutions to these problems by providing non-profit organizations the opportunity to offer high-quality public humanities programs free to local audiences.

In response to the Road Scholars’ consistent popularity, the IHC has recruited new scholars and made the application process easier than ever. The required application and new roster, featuring 46 speakers and 98 unique presentations, can now be accessed by visiting the IHC’s web site, www.prairie.org, and clicking on "Educational Programs and Grants." All the presenters in the new catalog are available for booking immediately.

The Road Scholars program encourages Illinoisans to reflect upon the human condition from a range of perspectives, providing a distinctive forum for discussion and dialogue. "At a time when the humanities, and the liberal arts in general, must struggle to maintain their visibility in American society, the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau demonstrates their importance in a most concrete way," said Kristina Valaitis, IHC Executive Director.

The program places humanities scholars in diverse communities throughout the state where they give presentations on a variety of topics that include history, culture, literature, music, the environment, politics, ethnicity, anthropology, and archaeology. Below is a sampling of the programs being offered in 2005-2006:

Literature: "Grimm’s Grimmest: The Darker Side of Fairy Tales" and "The Poetry of Black Chicago"

Illinois Heritage: "Crossroads of the Nation: The Hidden History of Illinois’ Railroads" and "Desperadoes: Notorious Lawbreakers of Early Illinois"

Politics: "First Ladies as Activists & Leaders" and "Sons & Daughters of Abraham: A Look at the Issues Dividing Israelis and Palestinians"

Religion: "Fundamentalism & Religious Violence" and "Living Islam"

History: "Moundbuilders: Life in Illinois 2,000 Years Ago" and "Private Ryan’s Sergeant on D-Day"

Music: "Abraham Lincoln in Song" and "An Introduction to Irish Music"

Culture: "Time is Life: The Concept of Time in Dante, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare" and "Millennium Park Unveiled"

Non-profit organizations that are interested in hosting a Road Scholars speaker should visit the Illinois Humanities Council website (www.prairie.org/RoadScholars) or call (312) 422-5580 for directions on how to apply. There is a $50 processing fee for each speaking engagement requested. The IHC pays the honorarium and expenses for the speaker. Examples of eligible non-profit organizations include, but are not limited to, historical societies, libraries, senior centers, museums, community colleges, professional groups, and community organizations.

The Road to Brown Shown at UIS

In May 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declared that segregation in the public schools was unconstitutional. That landmark ruling, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, proved to be a watershed moment in U.S. history. With it, the Warren Court overturned the doctrine of "separate but equal" that had prevailed since 1896. The justices concluded that separate facilities were "inherently unequal." For the next half century, the nation would face the challenge of implementing the Court’s decision.

Graduate student George McLaurin sits in an anteroom apart from the other students while attending his first class at the University of Oklahoma in 1948. (NAACP Collection, Library of Congress)

From May 2004 through May 2005, the Illinois Humanities Council marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown decision in a series of events around the state. As a part of that effort, the Central Illinois Regional Planning Committee co-sponsored a series of events in the Springfield-Decatur-Jacksonville area that looked at Brown in historical context and that considered the legacies of the decision.

The final event in this series will be a showing of The Road to Brown, a documentary about the development of the Brown case, followed by a question and answer session. This free program will be held at UIS at 7:00 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the History Club @ UIS.

Lionel Kimble, assistant professor of African American Studies at UIS, will moderate the question and answer session after the film. Dr. Kimble earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Iowa. He joined the faculty at UIS in the fall of 2004. He previously served as visiting assistant professor at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and as assistant to the director of the African American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For additional information, call Cecilia Stiles Cornell at the University of Illinois at Springfield, 217-206-7430.

The Illinois Humanities Council’s statewide in commemoration, "Brown v. Board 50 Years Later: Conversations on Integration, Race, and the Courts" uses the 50th anniversary of this landmark decision to recollect, reflect on, and re-imagine the possibilities that surrounded the historic Supreme Court decision of 1954.

"Fifty years after Brown we live in a very different world; however, some fundamental challenges remain," writes Professor Barbara Ransby, Executive Director of the Public Square, Departments of History & African-American Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, and a member of the IHC Steering Committee for "Brown v Board: 50 Years Later." "Tens of thousands of children live below the poverty line and many cannot afford the cost of a college education. And perhaps most ironically, more than a generation after Brown, over half of all black and Latino children attend schools that are majority minority.