Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities awards grants to projects that best supports its mission: To connect people with ideas that broaden perspectives, enrich lives and strengthen communities. Our grants humanities programs encourage the movement of knowledge beyond academic settings and support public involvement in conversations important to our communities today and looking into our possible futures.
We fund projects that are engaging and innovative for diverse Hawaiʻi communities, that strengthen and celebrate our history, culture, and other humanities in Hawai‘i, that help us connect over deep questions and relevant issues.
Our grant support comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities funding for state humanities councils. According to NEH, state humanities councils are the public humanities in action. We offer a wide array of thought-provoking programming that makes rich humanities ideas accessible for general public audiences, fosters discussion, and promotes civic engagement.
We offer two types of competitive grants:
- Does your project tell stories of Hawaiʻi to our community?
- Are you planning a humanities program that brings together Hawaiʻi communities to explore and share ideas?
This is our broadest ranging grant. We hope this incites creative approaches and we actively invite exciting and engaging programs that seek to promote deep thinking, conversation, and connection on issues that impact our communities here in Hawaiʻi.
Preservation and Access Grants
- Does your project tell stories of Hawaiʻi to our community?
- Are you working to preserve cultural material that remembers our history?
These grants are designed to support the preservation of existing state and community resources and to make these cultural resources readily accessible to the larger community. Examples of cultural resources include historical documents, photos, and film; transcribing existing oral histories; and translating important documents. Applicants will need to show how cultural resources supported by this grant will be made accessible to the public via a library, archive, etc.
We encourage all applicants to visit Some of Our Fabulous Grantees section to gain a broader perspective on the type and range of grants made in recent years.
We are happy to consult with applicants one-on-one about your project idea, or any questions you may have. Ours is a competitive grant award process. If you are interested in a consultation about applying for a grant, we encourage you to contact Director of Community Grants Stacy Hoshino at shoshino@hihumanities.org, (808) 469-4551.
For more information, you can also check out our FAQs page.
