Humanities Montana's Gather Round toolkits now available

From Humanities Montana

Humanities Montana’s newest program is Gather Round, a free, limited-edition DIY humanities toolkit designed to inspire discussions centered on the themes raised in Hearth: A Global Conversation on Community, Identity and Place, an anthology edited by Missoula authors Annick Smith and Susan O’Connor.

The toolkit contains everything needed to create a do-it-yourself conversation with friends or family. Contents include: The anthology “Hearth,” a humanities card deck, a portable hearth, Montana Gold tea, collectible pins, a bookmark and easy instructions for hosting.

“A hearth is many things: a place for solitude; a source of identity; something we make and share with others; a history of ourselves and our homes,” writes authors Smith and O’Connor.

“It is the fixed center we return to. It is just as intrinsically portable. It is, in short, the perfect metaphor for what we seek in these complex and contradictory times — set in flux by climate change, mass immigration, the refugee crisis, and the dislocating effects of technology.”

Internationally renowned authors Debra Magpie Earling, Chigozie Obioma and Carl Safina headlined the sold-out program launch at Chico Hot Springs Saturday, April 20.

People can learn more about Gather Round and order a toolkit at http://www.humanitiesmontana.org/gatherround. Toolkits will be available starting April 20.

Humanities Montana is the state’s independent, non-profit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1972, Humanities Montana has provided services and grants to hundreds of Montana organizations in support of public programs in history, literature, civil conversations, and public issues. Among its many programs are its grants, Montana Conversations, Speakers in the Schools, Hometown Humanities, Community Conversations, Letters About Literature, and the Governor’s Humanities Awards.