Resources

Interested in reading more about Public Humanities and the Arts, see these helpful collections.

Journals

Professional Development

Reports

  • "Arts & Economic Prosperity 6" (Oct 2023) - In 2022, nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences generated $151.7 billion in economic activity—$73.3 billion in spending by the organizations, which leveraged an additional $78.4 billion in event-related spending by their audiences. The impact of this economic activity is far reaching, supporting 2.6 million jobs, generating $29.1 billion in tax revenue, and providing $101 billion in personal income to residents. AEP6 sends a strong signal that when we support the arts, we are investing in both economic and community well-being.
  • "New Data Reveal How Adults Participated in the Arts During COVID-19," National Endowment for the Humanities (Oct 2023) - Between July 2021 and July 2022, more than half of all adults created and/or performed art—similar to findings in 2017, the last time the survey was conducted. During the same time period, just under half of all adults attended in-person arts events, a significant drop from 2017. A separate survey shows that 82 percent of respondents watched or listened to arts activities through digital media between 2021 and 2022. 
  • "Equity Challenges in California's Arts Ecosystem [pdf]" (Oct 2023) - The report provides information, root cause analyses, and recommendations to promote equity in a field in which the vast majority of financial resources go to a small percentage of organizations, and in which organizations centering Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and rural organizations are significantly underrepresented in access to those resources. The field scan includes multiple statewide and national data sets to analyze arts organization funding in California and features an interactive geographic map of the distribution of arts organizations across the state.
  • "State and Local Policies that Fund the Humanities: A Clearinghouse [pdf]" National Humanities Alliance (Oct 2023) - This clearinghouse is designed to support advocates in identifying ways to increase funding for the humanities at the state and local level. 
  • "Documenting the Impact of Public Humanities in Higher Education," National Humanities Alliance (May 2023)
  • "Creating Healthier Places with Art and Artists [pdf]." The Kresge Foundation recently launched a new creative placemaking resource to use when meeting with decision-makers. It outlines how creative approaches work, examples from the field, and action steps to enhance creative local solutions. 
  • In the new American Association of Colleges and Universities report “The Effects of Community-Based Engagement in Higher Education: What We Know and Questions that Remain,” the authors focus on the effects of various forms of community-based and civic engagement in higher education, identifying positive outcomes across six broad areas: increased personal and social responsibility; development of positive mindsets and dispositions; improved graduation and retention rates; learning gains; improved intellectual and practical skills; and increased career-related skills.

Articles & Books

Anthologies

  • Aagje Swinnen, Amanda Kluveld and Renée van de Vall, eds. Engaged Humanities: Rethinking Art, Culture, and Public Life (2022) is a new volume edited by Aagje Swinnen, Amanda Kluveld, and Renée van de Vall and published by Amsterdam University Press. This work presents accessible case studies that demonstrate what humanities scholars contribute to concrete and pressing social debates about topics including adoption, dementia, hacking, and conservation. These “engaged” forms of humanities research reveal the continued importance of thinking and rethinking the nature of art, culture, and public life. 
  • Cameron Cartiere and Anthony Schrag, eds.The Failures of Public Art and Participation (2022) is a new Routledge, Taylor and Francis volume edited by Cameron Cartiere and Anthony Schrag. The anthology brings together practicing artists, curators, activists, art writers, administrators, planners, and educators from around the world to offer differing perspectives on the many facets of failure in commissioning, planning, producing, evaluating, and engaging communities in the continually evolving field of art in the public realm. The volume includes case studies from the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Cuba, and Denmark, as well as discussions of digital public art collections.
  • Suzanne Lacy's edited collection, Mapping The Terrain: New Genre Public Art (1994) and "New Genre Public Art" an overview by the Tate Museum
  • Bartel, Anna Sims and Debra A. Castillo, eds. The Scholar as Human: Research and Teaching for Public Impact. Cornell UP, 2021.
  • Smulyan, Susan, ed. Doing Public Humanities. Routledge, 2020.

Organizations

Journals

SJSU Resources

SJSU offers other opportunities for service learning and engaging with the surrounding community to serve those underrepresented or underserved communities.