Mission & History
Mission
For more than thirty years the mission of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) has been to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth by creating learning opportunities for all Virginians.
Our purpose is to bring the humanities fully into Virginia's public life, assisting individuals and communities in their efforts to understand the past, confront important issues in the present, and shape a promising future.
History
VFH provides public humanities programs across Virginia. Thanks to a host of connections to Virginia's universities, cultural organizations, and schools, the foundation undertakes a host of activities conceived, developed, and carried out by VFH staff and board, including more than 2,500 grant projects that have included scores of seminars and related programs for teachers and more than 200 individual and collaborative fellowships. In all, since its founding in 1974, VFH has sponsored more than 40,000 humanities programs serving communities large and small in every region of the Commonwealth.
Priorities
VFH makes connections between the great books and ideas of the past and the challenges of contemporary life. Our public programs bring together people of differing backgrounds and viewpoints--interested citizens, scholars, community leaders, and experts from many fields--creating an environment in which new ideas are encouraged and new ways of thinking are possible.
Through direct funding, through working partnerships with other organizations, and through our own statewide and national initiatives, VFH reaches out to all Virginians, using the humanities as tools for addressing issues that directly affect people's lives. The priorities of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities are:
- Books, Reading, and Literacy--the importance of the text as a means of transmitting, exploring, and broadening our understanding of the human experience.
- Media and Culture--the global influence of electronic media on culture, how the media may promote or undermine positive social change, and how media may influence individual perception and creative thinking.
- Violence and Culture--the roots of violence and personal dislocation, and the struggle for individual survival and self-determination within systems of violence.
- Rights and Responsibilities--the still-evolving American traditions of self-government and justice, and the special role Virginia has played in shaping the concept of freedom worldwide.
- Science, Technology, and Social Change--advances in science and technology, the challenges and opportunities they create, and how they are redefining culture and community life.
- Virginia History--the stories of Virginia, its people and institutions, with particular emphasis on the history of minority communities in the state.
