Jefferson Lecture

The Jefferson Lecture is “the highest honor" that the government of the United States gives for very good work in a subject of the humanities.
The award began in 1972. It is given almost every year. The person who is chosen gives a lecture or long speech about his or her area of study. The leader of the National Endowment for the Humanities chooses the winner for each year. 
Jefferson lecturers have included such famous people as film director Martin Scorsese, playwright Arthur Miller, novelist John Updike, historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and poet Gwendolyn Brooks.