SINCE 1980, the Dallas Institute has conducted public programs aimed at discovering what the humanities have to offer to the cultural life of the city.
THE DALLAS INSTITUTE MISSION
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture is a nonprofit educational organization whose purpose is to enrich and deepen the practical life of the city with the wisdom and imagination of the humanities.
The Dallas Institute accomplishes its purpose through programs for school teachers and principals, general courses of study, public and professional seminars, publications, conferences, and civic involvement.
Pictured on the left: Institute faculty members with Lynne Cheney, at a celebration of the Institute’s 20th anniversary.
THE DALLAS INSTITUTE VISION
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture exists to care for the actual things of the urban world. In some instances, these things are visible—the city, education, architecture, medicine, art, technology, money. Equally important are the invisible forms within which life takes place and has meaning—friendship, the soul, taste, imagination, community, intellectual life, ritual, leadership. Through its courses of study, public seminars, publications, conferences, and civic involvement, The Dallas Institute brings thought, imagination, language, and sensibility to bear on the convergence between the visible shaping of the world and the permanent values necessary for the crafting of culture.
OUR HISTORY
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture was established in November 1980 as a nonprofit organization by Drs. Donald Cowan, Louise Cowan, Gail Thomas, James Hillman, Robert Sardello, and Joanne Stroud. Once colleagues at the University of Dallas, these Founding Fellows brought their common spirit to the heart of Dallas to imagine what the humanities might mean for the shaping of a modern city.
The Founders’ belief in the vital importance of classic literature and concern for public education led to the creation of The Teachers Academy in 1983, which has had an enduring influence on thousands of teachers, administrators, and students.
Dr. Gail Thomas was the Institute Executive Director from its beginning until 1997, when Dr. Larry Allums succeeded her as the Institute's second Executive Director. Under his leadership, the Institute maintains its strong commitment to offering the vision of the humanities to all areas of urban life. In 2004, Dr. Claudia Allums was named Director of the Teachers Academy and continues to foster the ideals that have made its perennial work with teachers "a model for the nation," according to the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2007, Dr. Jana Rentzel joined the Institute as its Director of Development.