The Prairie Landscape

ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL CONDUCTS SPRING BOARD MEETING AT THE CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER

04/19/2000

CHICAGO -The Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors will hold its spring board meeting at Chicago’s Cultural Center, 78 East Washington, on Friday, April 28, 2000. The Board will convene at 10:00 a.m.

The meeting marks the departure of five retiring Board members: Charles Benton, Beverly Fawell, John Kordek, Donald Marshall, and Chairman John (Jack) Wing. Items on the agenda include a review of major grant proposals and the election of new board members.

In addition, IHC Board and staff will meet with author and activist Earl Shorris to discuss the role that a classic humanities curriculum can have in empowering Americans living in poverty. Shorris, a former advertising executive, now writes about issues of education and poverty and administers humanities-based education programs for Native Americans in their native languages and for the poor. Shorris’s many books include Latinos: A Biography of the People (W.W. Norton, 1992)and New American Blues: A Journey through Poverty to Democracy (W.W. Norton, 1997).

Following the Board meeting, a private reception and dinner honoring the retiring Board members will be held at the Atwood Café on State Street. Currently, 35 members comprise the Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors. They are:

John (Jack) A. Wing, Chairman (Evanston); John E. Balkcom (Evanston); James C. Ballowe (Ottawa); Peter V. Baugher (Wilmette); Marti Belluschi (Chicago); Charles W. Benton (Evanston); Erskine Carter (Port Byron); Mary B. Caskey (Rockford); Jean Bethke Elshtain (Chicago); Judith L. Everson (Springfield); Charles F. Fanning (Carbondale); John L. Fascia (Clarendon Hills); Honorable Beverly Fawell (Wheaton); Peter A. Fritzsche (Urbana); Thomas G. Getz (Moline); Kathy Glennon (Lake Forest); John O. Hallberg (Glenview); Ross Masao Harano (Chicago); Frederick E. Hoxie (Evanston); J. Paul Hunter (Chicago); Gary Koch (Springfield); John F. Kordek (Arlington Heights); Avis LaVelle (Chicago); Nancy J. Lindsay (Chicago); Donald Marshall (Wilmette); Joanne D. Maxwell (Naperville); Alfonso McMillian (Oak Park); Grayson Mitchell (Chicago); Constance Mortell (Chicago); Laurence O’Connell (Chicago); Honorable Kathleen K. Parker (Northbrook); Raymond G. Romero (Chicago); Bobette C. Takiff (Glencoe); Jose (Pepe) Vargas (Chicago); and Miriam Zayed (Orland Park).

The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized more than 25 years ago as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by the citizens of Illinois, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds. For more information, please visit prairie.org, the website of the IHC, at http://www.prairie.org.

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