Many scholars in humanities disciplines are becoming increasingly interested in creating public humanities projects and orientating their work through a public ethos since it provides ways to engage more deeply with communities, collaborate among scholars, and help them reach larger audiences. But public humanities scholarship can come with challenges in terms of ethics, accessibility, evaluation, and sustainability. 

Join us for a literature potluck* to discuss some of these issues through reading articles from the inaugural issue of the new open access journal Public Humanities. Behind-the-scenes histories of the public humanities in action appear alongside new theories that address public humanities activism, teaching, policy, publishing, infrastructure, funding, and writing. Meanwhile, leading thinkers shine new light on some of our most pressing social issues, including artificial intelligence, climate, democracy, race, gender, and empathy.

As always, the purpose of Munch and Mull is to provide a space for informally discussing digital tools, methods, issues, and trends and considering how librarians are and can be involved in ways that promote scholarship. All are welcome!

*What's a literature potluck?
The goal of a literature potluck is to expose us to a range of writings and issues around a topic while sharing the effort of reading and summarizing. For this literature potluck, we will all select and read an article of our choosing from the Manifesto issue of Public Humanities. (You can also opt to watch the launch webinar featuring the article authors sharing insights from their writing.) At the Munch & Mull meeting we'll each briefly summarize what we chose to read or watch: key takeaways and questions or ideas raised for you. If you're able to expound on how it informs our work as librarians, all the better.
If you’re unable to read or watch anything ahead of Friday’s M&M but are still interested in the topic, please still feel free to join, listen, and ask questions!