Humanities Works
From classrooms to communities, from research to industry—the arts and humanities spark ideas, drive innovation, and transform the world. Discover how the arts and humanities intersect with Civic Engagement, Education, Industry, and Research to drive innovation and societal impact.
Watch it in action in our intro video below!
In partnership with our colleagues in the Humanities Institute at Penn State, Humanities Works is an initiative that demonstrates the ongoing value of a humanities education. Our video stories—honored with Golden Quill Awards, Bronze and Silver Telly Awards, and a Bronze Anthem Award—spotlight the people who apply the skills and knowledge of the humanities to address real-world challenges and create more thoughtful, sustainable solutions.
Explore the powerful connections between creative expression, critical thinking, and societal progress. The arts and humanities cultivate essential capacities—like empathy, communication, ethical reasoning, and adaptability—that drive innovation across every sector and enrich our communities.
These strengths form the foundation of Humanities Works and come to life across four key areas of engagement: Civic and Community Engagement, Education and Lifelong Learning, Industry and Enterprise, and Research and New Knowledge.
Humanities Works
The Pennsylvania State University campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations.
As a land grant institution, we acknowledge and honor the traditional caretakers of these lands and strive to understand and model their responsible stewardship. We also acknowledge the longer history of these lands and our place in that history.