The Division of Education Programs works to strengthen humanities education through programs that serve both individuals and institutions. The division offers opportunities for individual teachers to strengthen their mastery of the subjects that they teach: for example, intensive summer programs of reading and discussion with recognized scholars in history, philosophy, literature and languages, world cultures, art history, and political science. These residential programs encourage schoolteachers and college teachers to study together, visit collections in libraries and museums, exchange ideas about the art of teaching, and share insights and materials with their colleagues and students. Other division programs benefit institutions, by supporting, for example, initiatives to improve humanities education at colleges and universities attended by large numbers of African American, Native American, or Hispanic students. Among other subjects, these initiatives have enabled faculty at such institutions to consider the relationship between literature and law, the history of minority communities, and Native American archaeology.

William Craig Rice is the Director of the Division of Education Programs. Before coming to NEH in 2007, Bill served as the president of Shimer College, a college dedicated to the study of the great books. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Writing Award and the Brubacher Prize in the History and Philosophy of Education, and taught expository writing for many years at Harvard. He is the author of Public Discourse and Academic Inquiry (1996).

3,877
Summer Seminars and Institutes offered, 1967-2008

80,000
Participants in Summer Seminars and Institutes, 1967-2008

139
Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops offered, 2004-2008

57
Institutions at which Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops were offered, 2004-2008

10,000
Participants in Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops, 2004-2008

450
Lesson plans available (estimated) on the NEH-administered EDSITEment Web site

400,000
Visits to the EDSITEment Web site each month