Welcome to the Gregory J. Grappone Humanities Institute where, inspired by the life of Greg Grappone ’04, we dedicate ourselves to making known the enduring consolations and wisdom that spring from the humanities, so that we may all better understand the meaning and purpose of their lives.
In the brief years since our founding, the GGHI has grown its programs and outreach in a variety of creative ways that help animate the humanities in people’s lives, including:
- Our weekly COME FRIDAY forums, which bring students, faculty, staff, and guests together once a week to discuss a different question about our shared humanity.
- Our annual BIG THOUGHT series which treats an important aspect of all our lives in a year-long series of lectures, discussions, and workshops
- Our student-produced podcast, HUMANITY EXAMINED, where each month a new guest describes how their lives have been shaped by the humanities.
- Our ongoing engagement across the curriculum, the campus, and the community with interested partners to help inspire the work of the humanities in a variety of innovative ways.
Now, after several years of creative efforts on the part of many people, we are in the process of transforming an historic building at the center of the Saint Anselm campus into a permanent home for the Grappone Humanities Institute. We invite you to join with us in this exciting project which will:
- Allow for the innovative Institute programs currently taking place in improvised locations throughout campus to be consolidated into a central designated space from which we can extend hospitality to the campus population in the name of the humanities.
- Extend this same hospitality to people in the surrounding communities, and to Saint Anselm alumni and stakeholders, who wish to join with the Institute in elevating and enlivening the humanities in creative ways in New Hampshire and beyond.
- Solidify the identity of the humanities on the Saint Anselm campus and thereby generate interest and enthusiasm from prospective and current students who have an inclination towards the rich and varied thought expressed in the humanities.
- Transform an underutilized campus structure into a premier academic and co-curricular facility with interior and exterior spaces that invite communal gatherings, extemporaneous conversations, and personal reflection.
We look forward to being able to welcome you to our new home! In the meantime we hope that you will engage with us through one of our programs, or even join Bob and Bev Grappone and many others who have lent their generous support to create a legacy for Greg Grappone that extends his love of books and the wisdom they contain into the lives of young people for generations to come.
Please feel free to contact me personally with any questions or ideas about how you or your organization can enliven the mission of the Gregory J. Grappone Humanities Institute.
Let’s carry on the conversation together!
Gary Bouchard