UMKC's School of Humanities and Social Sciences will co-host a public keynote by Shelly C. Lowe, Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on September 6. Dr. Lowe is the first NEH Chair to visit Missouri officially since the organization's founding in 1965.
Dr. Lowe's address will discuss the importance of the humanities and highlight how our collective "roots and routes" shape our individual experiences and our state and national stories.
This free event will start at 5:30 PM at Metropolitan Community College – Maple Woods. Registration is required.
Chair Lowe is a proud Navajo Nation citizen from Ganado, Arizona. Her background includes roles as the Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program, Assistant Dean in the Yale College Dean's Office, and Director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. Prior to these positions, she spent six years as the Graduate Education Program Facilitator for the American Indian Studies Programs at the University of Arizona. She was appointed to serve as a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities by President Barack Obama in 2015 and as chair of the NEH by President Joe Biden in 2021. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 2, 2022, and sworn into office on February 14. She is the first Native American to head the NEH.
