New York Council for the Humanities: Speakers in the Schools

The New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Schools program offers FREE top-notch lectures on a wide variety of humanities subjects to high school communities across New York State.

The Council offers humanities lectures by a renowned and diverse group of scholars. These scholars are available to you and your high school community! Browse our list of lectures and enrich your students’ and colleagues' learning by inviting a Speaker into your school. This program supports a New York state standards-based education.

If your application is successful, the Council will cover all costs associated with the program, including the Speaker’s honorarium and travel expenses.

How to apply to host a lecture

Select a Lecture/ Speaker

Browse presentation listings to find the right topic for your students, school community and curriculum. Find a Lecture/Speaker >

Contact the Speaker to arrange a date and time

Get in touch with the Speaker you have selected, using his or her listed contact information. Browse Speaker directory >

Apply to the Council
Once you have completed steps 1 and 2, submit the Speakers in the Schools application. Apply >

Plan your event

As soon as you receive notice of Council approval, start planning your event, including pre- and post-lecture activities. View Planning Tips >

Follow-Up

Submit your Lecture Coordinator Evaluation and Legislative Contact Letters to the Council. Access Coordinator Admin >

Need more information about Speakers in the Schools?

View answers to Common Questions >

Speakers in the Schools is made possible by funding from the New York State Legislature.

Celebrate the Fourth of July with an American History Topic

Feet, Hooves, and Rails: Transportation in Nineteenth Century America

J. Ward Regan
This lecture follows the development of transportation technology from the pre-industrial period to the combustion engine in the early twentieth century. The Transportation Revolution, as it is sometimes called, encompassed a wide range of successes and failures. Accordingly, the talk examines the multiplicity of changes wrought in America's transportation infrastructure.

"One Is Not Fond of Overripe Pears": Conduct Literature and the Call for "True Womanhood"

Denise D. Knight
Through an examination of various depictions of women, Knight will discuss the cultural imperatives for women to attain beauty, practice deference, and exercise self-control.

View more America Through the Centuries Lectures >

Offer a series of Medicine, Science and Technology lectures in August

Illustration courtesy of Kyle Green, Digital-Tutors/PL Studios

Alluring Androids and Robots in Film, Photography and Art

Julie Wosk
The Stepford Wives, Lara Croft, and today’s ultra-realistic female robots are among the many images that reveal our fascination with artificial women who seem alive.

Designer Children

Ellen M. McGee
There are now more than thirty ways to have a baby, ranging from the administration of fertility drugs to the possibility of cloning. This presentation offers some principles for ethical analysis of assisted reproductive technologies. McGee looks at examples of controversial cases and practices to examine the uncertainties and ethical debates...

View more Medicine, Science and Technology Lectures >

Don't see what you're looking for? Apply for funding to create your own program. Read more >