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Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: I am Myles Brand, president of Indiana University, an eight-campus public research university administratively. I am also a professor of philosophy. It is my pleasure to appear before you today to testify in support of the fiscal year 1999 budget of $136 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). I am speaking on behalf of the Association of American Universities, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the American Council on Education.
The United States, like all great nations, possesses a culture of worldwide significance. If we are to preserve and advance that culture, we must protect and celebrate America's place in the world. NEH plays a vital role in that mission by preserving our national heritage because it promotes lifelong learning, strengthens our communities and makes the humanities available to all Americans.
The humanities include, among others, language and literature, philosophy and history. They encompass a world of stories, an ongoing dialogue about meaning and value. The humanities represent the endless human attempt to understand our world and our place in it. More than any other set of disciplines, the humanities embody the spirit of our civilization. As a university president, I cannot overemphasize the importance of research and study in the humanities, which provide am framework for clear thinking while producing good citizens and instilling in them a respect for history. In short, the humanities are at the heart of who we are.
NEH investments make a major impact on the nation's college and university campuses. Most important, NEH on a federal level sponsors significant research projects at institutions of higher education, and supports faculty through fellowship programs. In fiscal year 1998, NEH expects to receive approximately 2,100 applications for fellowships and stipends and to make 313 awards (183 fellowships and 130 summer stipends). At the fiscal year 1999 requested level, the program could support 183 fellowships and 132 summer stipends, a total of 315 awards.
I, myself, was fortunate enough to receive two research awards as a young faculty member. They made a major difference in my career and in my ability to bring the latest research in philosophy to my students. Similarly, faculty and students both benefit from NEH-funded research projects. Such projects become part of the learning environment, contributing not only to our knowledge base, but to the education of new generations of scholars. And as we approach the millennium and as we embrace the challenges of a global marketplace, we find ourselves increasingly relying on the fruits of research in the humanities, which deepen our appreciation of our ethical obligations to one another and increase the breadth of human knowledge. Another way in which NEH funding makes a critical difference is by fostering better teaching.
Each year, many colleges and universities, including my own, host summer seminars for high school and college teachers who spend six to eight weeks studying with leading scholars in their fields. These seminars provide an exhilarating boost to the participants, regenerate their enthusiasm and facilitate the transfer of new knowledge. In fiscal year 1998, NEH will be able to fund 51 seminars, out of 250 applications. These seminars will be attended by 950 teachers who reach approximately 142,000 students. At the requested level for fiscal year 1999, NEH would be able to make 70 awards, reaching more than 1,300 teachers, who will teach almost 200,000 students. At Indiana University, we look upon the summer seminars and institutes as an important way to partner with the schools and to enhance the education of the state's schoolchildren. By bringing teachers to our campuses, by involving them in the search for new knowledge and by sharing with them the results of our own on-going explorations, we become even more involved in the fabric of the educational community. It is one more way in which higher education can reach out to the schools and share our expertise and resources with all Americans. And let me remind you that this expertise is the best in the world.
NEH investments also make a crucial difference on the nation's college and university campuses in the support of long-term projects that might otherwise be lost. It is important to realize that in the humanities, NEH is the only source of national support. Thanks to NEH underwriting, compelling work is proceeding on projects such as bibliographies, encyclopedias, dictionaries and critical editions that are of national significance, but that are unlikely to be funded by any other institution, state or private corporation. Indiana University, for example, has received NEH support for its ongoing project to organize and publish the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), one of America's greatest philosophers, through the Peirce Edition Project.
Peirce, who spent much of his life in Pennsylvania, invented pragmatism, America's distinctive contribution to philosophy. His leadership in the pragmatic movement justifies the renewed attention given to his work. As a philosopher, of course, I have an abiding interest in the writings of Peirce, but the importance of his work supersedes any professional interest. A healthy and advanced society cannot afford to lose the hard-won intellectual achievements of great thinkers like Charles S. Peirce. He is part of our heritage.
NEH, of course, has always played a significant role at the community level through its State Councils, and it will continue to do so through the new regional humanities centers that are part of the initiative called "Rediscovering America: The Humanities and the Millennium," proposed by Chairman William Ferris. I am extremely pleased about Chairman Ferris' plans to involve America's colleges and universities in the new regional centers; indeed, it is a role that we are uniquely qualified to play, whether with assistance in course development, the systematic building of research collections or the preparation of research tools. Such endeavors are anchored in the academic tradition, and we look forward to having yet another opportunity to share our expertise with our citizens. At the same time, we have much to contribute to these centers. Indiana University, for example, has the country's best Folklore Institute, which encompasses a superb ethnomusicology program and an outstanding Archives of Traditional Music. This archives includes a collection of wax cylinder recordings rivaled only by the Library of Congress, the original compositions of Hoagy Carmichael and a vast collection of jazz and of original field recordings of the music of American Indians and American ethnic groups.
However, I must reiterate this important point: As good as the state programs are - and they are excellent - and as important as the State Councils are, the fact of the matter is that one of the most important undertakings embraced by NEH on a federal level is the sponsorship of significant research projects and the support of university and college faculty.
Most major NEH projects, such as the preservation of the papers of George Washington, Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain; the critical editions of our great philosophers, Charles Peirce, William James and John Dewey; the celebrated film series on the Civil War; and seminars and exhibitions on the Constitution, are important to the nation and to the world. Only an agency like NEH, with its federal funds, its broad vision and its long-term commitment, can support these kinds of projects. Shepherding and nurturing endeavors of this scale and this magnitude - in essence, preserving our heritage - is the government's trust and must remain at the federal level.
We in higher education certainly appreciate the budget constraints facing the nation. But we also would remind you that NEH plays a unique role in the United States, which is why it has enjoyed bipartisan support throughout its history. In calling for the creation of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Lyndon Johnson said, "A great nation, and a great civilization, feeds upon the depth of its scholarship, as well as the breadth of its education opportunity."
Nearly 20 years later, Ronald Reagan observed, "Our cultural institutions are an essential national resource; they must be kept strong."
Community colleges, state colleges, small private institutions and research universities all use NEH grants to preserve that national resource. They nurture the American heritage, enhance learning and education, bring the humanities to the community and expand knowledge through scholarship. Thus, today, we urge the Subcommittee to support fully the administration's fiscal year 1999 budget request of $136 million. With NEH support, we are preserving who we are -- our history, our traditions, our papers, our own American voices speaking to us over time and distance.
Thank you.
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