Hall Center panel discussion offers insights on careers in applied humanities

LAWRENCE — Leaders from Kansas City-area cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations offer practical advice on obtaining careers in “applied humanities” at the Hall Center from 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. March 26.

In a panel discussion and follow-up breakout sessions, senior executives from the Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City PBS affiliate KCPT, the Truman Library Institute, ArtsKC, the Central Exchange and the Belger Arts Center will discuss tactics and strategies that graduate students in the humanities and social sciences can follow to apply their intellectual interests and scholarly skill sets to pursue productive and satisfying careers outside the university.

“People with graduate degrees in the humanities are ideal candidates for an enticing range of positions in museums, archives, foundations, public and digital history undertakings, arts organizations and entrepreneurial ventures,” said Victor Bailey, director of the Hall Center. “We’ve brought together senior executives with MAs and PhDs in the humanities plus younger up-and-comers not that far removed from graduate school for an afternoon designed to help grad students crack the code for getting non-academic jobs.”

Panelists will sketch out the terrain of the public humanities, including types of positions available, possible career paths and job satisfaction, demonstrating why choosing to work in the public humanities is anything but a Plan B. Additionally, they’ll detail what employers are looking for, how to find positions that are a good fit with one’s academic background and what to expect in the job-hunting process. The concluding breakout sessions will enable personal opportunities for individual follow-up questions.

Pursuing Careers in Applied Humanities will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Hall Center. A wine and cheese reception with the panelists begins at 5 p.m.