A Garden and a Library
The Great Lakes Institute of Public Humanities promotes the study of the liberal arts and sciences within the framework of a regional, environmental ethic. We seek to embody the union of labour and intellectual reflection, by which both are revitalized through mutual engagement and confrontation with adversity and persistence. We strive to cultivate a community of scholar-workers with a committed relationship to the land, the ability to think lucidly and constructively, and a dedication to practices of aesthetic witness.

Research by People
GLIPH seeks to create a space in which study of the liberal arts can be constructively undertaken outside the university context. The critical function of the institute is to instill in participants a habit of conceptualizing and contextualizing their working relationship with the world, through the disciplined study of history, philosophy, political theory, environmental studies and related fields. It is our conjecture that the humanities have always been environmental, and that the surest way to ground our conceptual language is to be engaged in practice and relation.
We prioritize vernacular approaches to learning and practice. It is our belief that by working together, we can sidestep the dehumanizing demands of capitalist-imperialist institutions. Vernacular modes of working and thinking have the distinct advantage of being pleasurable and of making space for attention to the aesthetic aspects of cultural production.

A Place of Crossing
The Great Lakes region has been a crossroads for millenia. Like all crossroads, it has been an incubator for the exchange of ideas, goods, skills, and relationships. Our goal is to highlight the potential of mixture, hybridity, and collaboration offered in this important place and at this critical moment. We adopt a vision of pluralism that exposes the multiplicity of historical voices, Indigenous and in transit, to point toward a shared future. It is a core principle of the research undertaken here to recognize the material and natural conditions for intellectual activity (in both form and content), and particularly, the influence of the local landscape and climate on the development of culture. Hence the name of the institute reflects the importance of the unique ecology of the Great Lakes watersheds.

Influences
The Great Lakes Institute is influenced by many historical, contemporary, and imaginary institutions:

CIDOC, Deep Springs College, Tuskegee Institute, Albertian Order of Leibowitz, Institut d'études martiniquaises, Cairo Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Halifax Humanities (Clemente Schools), Vivarium, Collège de France, South Harmon Institute of Technology, Institute for Advanced Studies, Alcoholics Anonymous, Order of Cistercians.