Edwin P. Menes (February 2, 1939 - August 25, 2018)

Born in Gary, Indiana, Edwin Peter Menes grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Stricken with polio when he was three, Ed was always fiercely independent and never let his disability slow him down.

He graduated from St. Ignatius High School at fifteen years of age (1954)—the youngest graduate in school history and class valedictorian. He next attended Xavier University, earning his A.B. in the Classics Honors Program (1958). His M.A. (1960) and Ph.D. (1968) were from Princeton, the latter completed with a dissertation on Propertius (Cynthia as Symbol: Love, Patriotism, and Poetry in the Elegies of Propertius). Meanwhile he spent two years (1960–1962) teaching at Tabor Academy, Marion, Massachusetts, before accepting a position in the Department of Classical Studies at Loyola University Chicago (1963).

He taught at Loyola's Rome Center of Liberal Arts (now the John Felice Rome Center) three times and traveled all over Europe, most notably on a Vespa through Eastern Europe; the scooter caught fire in Belgrade, putting an end to that adventure and forcing him to take a train back to Rome. Back in Chicago he served as associate director of the Rome Center (1975–1979) and chairman of the Department of Classical Studies (1984–1995). He retired in 2009.

(The following is an excerpt from the National Humanities Alliance quarterly column sent to scholarly societies, and shared here with permission)

To highlight the public impact of the humanities in higher education, the National Humanities Alliance recently launched Humanities for All: a website that documents the past 10 years of publicly engaged humanities research, teaching, and programming in universities and colleges across the U.S. The website presents a cross section of over 1,400 projects, searchable, sortable, and illustrated with 51 in-depth profiles. When viewed together, these initiatives illustrate the broad impact of the humanities beyond higher education.

Humanities for All not only seeks to broaden narratives about the humanities in higher education but also to deepen the practice of public engagement in the humanities. We at NHA have a stake in encouraging more of this work, which provides more opportunities for members of the public to have humanities experiences and appreciate the significance of the humanities in higher education. In addition, when integrated into coursework, engaged humanities projects can provide meaningful and practical learning experiences that prepare students for the workforce. To this end, we present these examples as a resource for all who would like to begin or deepen their practice of public engagement.

The Humanities Without Walls (HWW) Consortium is pleased to announce that the Call for Applications for the 2019 National Predoctoral Career Diversity Residential Summer Workshop is now available at the HWW website.

These workshops showcase opportunities beyond the walls of the academy and encourage humanities doctoral students to think of themselves as agents of the public humanities. In summer 2019, HWW is holding its second national, in-residence summer workshop for doctoral students interested in learning about careers outside of the academy and/or the tenure track system.

We invite applications from doctoral students pursuing degree in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to participate in this three-week, in-residence summer workshop. This is a limited-submission application. Eligible doctoral students must be nominated for this fellowship by their home institutions, and only one nomination may be made to HWW by each university. To be considered, interested doctoral students must submit their applications to their home universities’ humanities center director, graduate college dean, or equivalent by September 30th, 2018.

Learn more about the HWW Career Diversity Workshop