The 21st season of Nevada Humanities’ Great Basin Young Chautauqua program begins Jan. 17, 2013, with an information session and introduction to the program for parents and young people interested in participating in the after-school workshops. The information session will be held Thursday, Jan. 17 from 6:30-8:30 p.m at the University of Nevada, Reno in the Continuing Education Building, Room 107, 1041 N. Virginia Street, Reno. Young Chautauqua workshops begin Feb. 7 in Reno and will meet approximately every other week and run through June. Registration in the Young Chautauqua workshops is ongoing until Feb. 9. For more information contact Nevada Humanities at 775-784-6587 or visit http://nevadahumanities.org.
Great Basin Young Chautauqua is an intense program of scholarship, research, rehearsing and performing. Young Chautauquans select a historical character to portray and spend six months reading biographies, learning stories and rehearsing their characters at workshops twice a month. Great Basin Young Chautauqua, which was founded by Nevada Humanities in 1993, is the youth adjunct to the weeklong Nevada Humanities Chautauqua festival held each June in Reno.
Nevada Humanities is also pleased to announce the return of Anita Watson, Ph.D., coordinator of the Young Chautauqua program. Watson is a seasoned scholar and Chautauquan, having performed at the Nevada Humanities Chautauqua festival and for the Humanities on the Road program, adopting the characters of Emma Nevada, Mary McNair Mathews and Mary Oxborrow. Watson earned her doctorate in history at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she also taught. She has worked in the museum education field in Nevada and Minnesota, and published on the topics of Nevada women, Nevada medicine and Nevada history for middle school students.
“I’ve been involved with Chautauqua in Nevada for nearly 15 years and I’m excited to work with Young Chautauquans,” Watson said. “Young Chautauquans bring something special to the Chautauqua experience. Their enthusiasm, their openness, their willingness to go out on a limb, to question, and then search for the answers, all of this is a critical part of the essence of Chautauqua, and the essence of a lively and dynamic education experience.”
Created and founded by Nevada Humanities, Young Chautauqua has grown into a nationally recognized and award-winning youth program. In 2002, Nevada Humanities received a Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities for creating and developing Young Chautauqua. Young Chautauqua has spread to other Nevada communities and has been adopted by other states for use in classrooms and communities around the nation.
“Nevada Humanities has provided quality Young Chautauqua educational opportunities statewide,” said Christina Barr, executive director of Nevada Humanities. “Young people who have graduated from the program have become engaged in a variety of meaningful and creative pursuits, including becoming attorneys, journalists and teachers. Many former Young Chautauquans credit Great Basin Young Chautauqua with helping them gain self-confidence, courage, research and speaking skills, and a deep appreciation for history and scholarship that has stuck with them through all of their interests and adventures. We are proud to be part of these young peoples’ lives.”
Great Basin Young Chautauqua 2013 culminates with a special event held during Nevada Humanities Chautauqua week in June. The 22nd annual Nevada Humanities Chautauqua festival will take place June 24-27, 2013, at Bartley Ranch Regional Park, Reno.
Nevada Humanities is Nevada’s independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. With offices in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada Humanities creates public programs and supports public projects statewide that define the Nevada experience, feature local culture and heritage, and facilitate the exploration of issues that matter to Nevadans and their communities. For more information visit http://nevadahumanities.org and http://onlinenevada.org.
