Our Work

Currents

Read. Discuss. Engage.

Currents is a turnkey book club program developed and funded by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH). The program offers libraries and other community-based nonprofits the tools they need to host themed reading and discussion programs centered on timely humanities topics. 

Currents host sites receive: 

  • An LEH programming grant to cover site coordination, facilitator honoraria, book purchases, and program publicity 
  • Reading and discussion guides developed by the LEH and humanities scholars 
  • Scholar-facilitator training that encourages thoughtful dialogue  
  • Customizable publicity kits for print and digital program promotion 
  • Audience evaluation tools 

Applications to host a Currents program are currently closed. To stay updated on future opportunities sign up for LEH’s newsletter here.

Currents Series

Who Gets to Vote? Conversations on Voting Rights in America fosters conversations about the history of voting—and efforts to suppress the vote—in the United States. The series is part of the special NEH initiative, “A More Perfect Union,” which is designed to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation and support projects that help Americans commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. 

Themes include: 

  • the expansion of voting rights since the country’s founding 
  • the electoral process 
  • the women’s suffrage movement 
  • historic and contemporary voter suppression practices 
  • the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
  • the 2013 Supreme Court decision that invalidated key portions of the Voting Rights Act 
  • the disenfranchisement of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Americans 

East Carroll Parish Library
109 Sparrow Street, Lake Providence, LA 71254

Programs will be held virtually on the following days:

  • Tuesday, January 31, 6 p.m.: The Embattled Vote in America
  • Tuesday, February 21, 6 p.m.: Bending Toward Justice
  • Tuesday, March 21, 6 p.m.: Vanguard
  • Tuesday, April 25, 6 p.m.: One Person, No Vote

Register by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] or by calling (318)559-2615.

Lafayette Public Library
6101 Johnston St, Lafayette, LA 70503

Programs will be held both virtually and in-person on the following days:

  • Thursday, January 26, 6 p.m.: The Embattled Vote in America
  • Thursday, February 23, 6 p.m.: The Woman’s Hour
  • Thursday, February 23, 6 p.m.: Bending Toward Justice
  • Thursday, March 9, 6 p.m.: One Person, No Vote

Register here: https://lafayettela.libcal.com/event/9782937

 

Witness to Change: Conversations on Coastal Impacts incorporates history, memoir, and fiction and engages members of the general public in conversations on the beauty of and challenges faced by coastal communities.  

 Themes include:  

  • what makes a place a home 
  • experiences of flooding 
  • hurricanes 
  • family roots and connection to place 
  • land loss and dislocation 
  • scarcity and adaptation 
  • risk and relocation

Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast, by Mike Tidwell (Vintage Books, 2010)

Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury, 2011)

The Water Knife, Paolo Bacigalupi (Penguin Random House, 2015)

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore, by Elizabeth Rush (Milkweed Editions, 2018)

Gallier House
1132 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70116

Programs will be held in-person on the following days:

  • Wednesday, January 11, 6 p.m.: Rising
  • Wednesday, February 8, 6 p.m.: Bayou Farewell
  • Wednesday, March 22, 6 p.m.: The Water Knife
  • Wednesday, April 12, 6 p.m.: Salvage the Bones

Register here:  https://hgghh.org/events

 

St. Tammany Parish Library
1112 W. 21st Avenue, Covington, LA 70433

Programs will be held in-person on the following days:

  • Monday, January 30, 6 p.m.: Rising
  • Monday, February 27, 6 p.m.: Salvage the Bones
  • Monday, March 27, 6 p.m.: The Water Knife
  • Monday, April 25, 6 p.m.: Bayou Farewell

Register here by emailing [email protected]

 

Shreve Memorial Library – Broadmoor Branch
1212 Captain Shreve Dr., Shreveport, LA 71105

Programs will be held in-person on the following days:

  • Monday, January 23, 6 p.m.: The Water Knife
  • Monday, February 27, 6 p.m.: Bayou Farewell
  • Monday, March 27, 6 p.m.: Salvage the Bones
  • Monday, April 24, 6 p.m.: Rising

Register by emailing [email protected].