Humanities to take center stage in Oct.

The humanities discipline, which includes history, philosophy, and literature, will take center stage in October, with the declaration of the month as CNMI Humanities Month.

Acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente made the declaration yesterday, saying that, by embracing and appreciating the humanities, people in the CNMI will be better aware of their own identity, thereby making it easier to relate to and learn from other traditions.

“Each year, our islands become more enriched with ethnic and cultural diversity… [By embracing the humanities] we will be able to envision the world and events from different perspectives, giving us the experience and wisdom for a more fulfilled life. We will be able to pass on these experiences and knowledge to our children, so that they may also embrace humanities in their lives through appreciation and contribution,” Benavente said.

The month of October has been recognized as National Arts and Humanities Month by thousands of arts and cultural organizations, communities, and states across the United States, as well as by the White House and Congress for several years now. The month-long celebration grew out of National Arts Week, which began in 1985 by the National Endowment for the Arts and Americans for the Arts.

As an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Northern Mariana Islands Council for the Humanities takes the local lead in organizing this awareness campaign and educating the islands’ citizens about the importance of the humanities.

The NMI Council for the Humanities is a private, non-profit corporation established in the Commonwealth in 1991. It has taken a leading role in promoting and enhancing the humanities in the Commonwealth through a variety of annual programs and financial assistance awarded to local groups and organizations through its Community Grants Program.

As part of activities in October, the council and the Office of the Governor, through the 2004 Governor’s Humanities Month Award, will recognize outstanding individual contributions in the humanities, as well as the contributions made by donors, partners, and former members of the council’s board of directors who have sustained and strengthened humanities programming in the past two decades.

The humanities are those branches knowledge concerned with human thought and culture, such as history, philosophy, and literature.

President George W. Bush said, “Capturing the diversity and richness of human experience, [the humanities]…allow us to explore ideas and emotions and to better understand our history, culture, and beliefs.”

During National Humanities Month, Benavente said people of the CNMI should reflect on the contributions of these creative and intellectual traditions to the quality of life, and to participate in activities that celebrate the spirit and cultures of the islands.

The proclamation signing was held at the conference room of the Office of the Governor.