NEH Chairman Jim Leach Continues the American Civility Tour in Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina

National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Jim Leach continues his American Civility Tour with stops in Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina during the week of January 11–15, 2010.

Leach launched a fifty-state tour in November 2009 to call attention to the need for civility in public discourse. “Civilization requires civility,” says Leach. “Words matter. Polarizing attitudes can jeopardize social cohesion.”

Leach’s next stops are:

• Tuesday, Jan. 12, in Tallahassee, Fla.: The Florida Humanities Council and Village Square welcome Leach to the Challenger Learning Center on Kleman Plaza. The event is from 7 to 8 p.m., free, and open to the public. For more information or to RSVP, call 850-509-5236 or visit www.tothevillagesquare.org/.
• Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Columbia, S.C.: The University of South Carolina hosts Leach as part of university president Harris Pastides’s initiative on civility and discourse. Leach’s lecture begins at 7 p.m. in Gambrell Hall Auditorium.
• Thursday, Jan. 14, in Charlotte, N.C.: The Levine Museum of the New South opens its doors for a talk by Leach that begins at 6 p.m. The event is co-hosted by the North Carolina Humanities Council and free and open to the public. Seating is limited, and reservations are required. To make reservations, call 704-333-1887, ext. 501, or e-mail @email.

Leach began his four-year term as NEH chairman in August 2009 after serving 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a congressman representing southeastern Iowa, he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus.