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CCA's Harris Appointed to CO Humanities Board

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Contributed by: Tracy Williams on 2/21/2008

Bernice Harris, Vice-President of Instruction at the Community College of Aurora, has been appointed to the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities (CH) for a three-year term.

The CH facilitates the exploration of ideas, appreciation for diverse cultural heritages and learning about Colorado history, literature and the ideas that shape our democracy.

Its goal is to enrich community life, improve education, and strengthen cultural institutions by providing humanities programs that respond to local educational and cultural needs, exploring and understanding human values and addressing issues of contemporary life. These programs, events and activities include teacher institutes, lectures, first-person historical character presentations (Chautauqua), symposia, public forums, and media (radio/video) productions.

As one of 56 state humanities councils affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), CEH is the only statewide 501(c) (3) organization in Colorado exclusively dedicated to supporting the humanities. The 20-member Board of Directors, including six governor's appointees, is comprised of individuals selected from throughout the state for their effective leadership, scholarly expertise, community involvement, and ethnic diversity that characterize Colorado.

"I'm very excited about getting Aurora more involved in the Humanities programs," said Harris. "It will be a lot of work, but I appreciate the NEH' mission and this new opportunity to engage the citizens of Aurora in this effort."

Harris' scholarly background--she has a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature--and her role as a Chautauquan in Wyoming in 1979, made her appointment to the CH a natural fit for her.

The original Chautauqua was an early twentieth-century movement that spanned many generations. It was a chance for the community to gather for three to seven days to enjoy a course of lectures, plays and music. Most important, the Chautauqua experience was critical in stimulating thought and discussion on important political, social and cultural issues of the day.

For the Chautauqua revival, which began in South Dakota and Wyoming in the late 1970s, Harris created a character (Aurelia Paez Jordan), which she later performed throughout Wyoming and in Montana, Oklahoma and the People's Republic of China. After each performance, Harris would engage in a discussion with the audience--first in character, and then as herself, the creator of the character.

"The character of Aurelia was born in Texas to a Mexican ranch hand and an Anglo mother," said Harris. "She was authentic in that her parent's union was one of many, many mixed marriages during that period in history."

Harris' portrayal of Paez Jordan was so convincing, many thought the character was real. Elderly people in her Wyoming audiences would ask her if she knew "the Harmon family on Salt Creek," for example.

Harris was hired by the Wyoming Council for the Humanities in 1981 and served as their Program Director and then Assistant Director until she returned to teaching at the University of Wyoming in 1984.

Her role on the CH Board will be to raise money for and carry out the mission of the CH, as well as encourage and facilitate the engagement of citizens in the appreciation of the humanities and literacy. She will also participate in the review and selection of CH grant proposals for funding.

It is this opportunity for outreach that invigorates Harris.

"If we have people who are well-educated in the humanities, let's use that for the benefit of public decision-making," she said.

"We can tap into that for the public good and to keep people engaged in civic dialogue."

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Tracy Williams

Denver , CO

Tracy Williams has posted 317 stories and 0 comments since joining on 11/29/2006. Tracy Williams 's average story rating is 4.75.

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