Debut of Humanities Heart to Heart
By Kathleen Kuo
When Nevada Humanities first conceived of Humanities Heart to Heart in late April, the state of Nevada had been shut down and in a state of emergency for a little over a month. All of us bore witness to bewildering nationwide toilet paper shortages, the rise of Zoom and working from home, new additions to our lexicon such as “social distancing” and “flatten the curve,” a surge of crafting homemade face masks, workers deemed essentials on the front line of the pandemic, and more. Not knowing what the future would hold, we envisioned a 6-12 month timeline that would account for the evolution of our response to the pandemic as individuals, as communities, and as a society.
As I write this today in June, there have been nearly 15,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 500 deaths in Nevada. We have entered a first, and now second, phase of reopening. Humanities Heart to Heart was created with the coronavirus in mind, to document how the pandemic has affected our lives and communities. But now I think about how writing and reflecting on COVID-19 must inevitably take into account the nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ongoing struggle for racial justice. In Humanities Heart to Heart we bear witness to the pain and struggle faced by our communities, but also to our resilience. In the face of crisis, how do people and their communities respond? How is our humanity being tested? What are actions we can take that go beyond words, beyond a click of the mouse on the Internet?
The humanities offer a way for us to dissect and dismantle long-standing beliefs and institutions through critical reflection, education, and action. To this end, we want the stories and voices shared as part of this new project to change over time and take into consideration both past and current events to reflect the thoughts of Nevadans and their communities in this moment and beyond.
I am hoping Humanities Heart to Heart will capture and preserve the raw, candid, and very important voices of people across our state during this time of pandemic. Nevada Humanities’ mission states that we connect and transform communities by sharing and amplifying the stories, ideas, and experiences, and traditions of the diverse people of Nevada. Humanities Heart to Heart is one way to move forward and take that tangible action, to multiply and amplify voices that might not ordinarily be heard, connect us with other people in our state so that we may learn from them and their lived experiences, to broaden our definition of what it means to be Nevadan, and what it means to be human.
Nevada Humanities will launch Humanities Heart to Heart in July 2020. Be sure to check out weekly new additions on our website. You can also sign up for our Double Down blog and receive your weekly Humanities Heart to Heart update.
Kathleen Kuo is a Program Manager with Nevada Humanities charged with managing and curating Humanities Heart to Heart.
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