The Center for 21st Century Studies is pleased to release the State of the Humanities MKE Report, a synthesis of insights from our recent panel discussion and community conversations. Hosted by C21 and moderated by Director Jennifer Johung, the event brought together Milwaukee-based humanities leaders from higher education to ask urgent questions about the present and future of humanities work in a moment of political, financial, and cultural uncertainty. Panelists included Michael Carriere (MSOE), Art Derse (MCW), Jodi Eastberg (MIAD), and Maggie Nettesheim Hoffmann (Marquette).
Following the panel, attendees participated in facilitated breakout discussions and completed a post-event survey. The report brings these voices together, offering a grounded, collective assessment of how the humanities are being sustained, challenged, and reimagined across Milwaukee.
Key Takeaways
- The humanities are not dying; outdated systems are. Participants emphasized that while institutional structures are under strain, people continue to seek meaning, context, and connection through humanities work both inside and outside universities.
- The current crisis is political, not cultural. Federal funding cuts, curriculum policing, and cultural erasure were widely understood as political decisions rather than evidence of declining public interest.
- The humanities are essential for survival, joy, and collective meaning. Panelists and participants alike rejected narrow economic justifications in favor of values such as dignity, imagination, and community care.
- The future of the humanities is local and collaborative. Respondents called for reciprocal partnerships among universities, nonprofits, artists, and community organizations rooted in Milwaukee’s existing cultural ecosystems.
- Sustainability requires collective care for labor. From graduate students to community practitioners, participants stressed the need for new funding models and shared responsibility that recognize invisible and precarious labor.
Additional Exploration
Read reflections from C21 Graduate Fellows Chloe Kwiatkowski and Jamee N. Pritchard.
View the full recording of the State of the Humanities MKE panel discussion on YouTube.
As the report notes, C21 is uniquely positioned to serve as a convener in this next phase through supporting follow-up conversations, collaborative projects, and shared infrastructure that reflect how humanities work already happens across the city. We hope this report serves not as an endpoint, but as an invitation to continued collective thinking, building, and care.