At a time when many smaller colleges and public institutions are facing budget constraints in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACLS remains proudly committed to supporting the development and advancement of humanistic scholarship.
NEW YORK (PRWEB) May 11, 2020
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce 15 new awardees for its Project Development Grants program.
For the third consecutive year, these ACLS grants will provide seed funding to support faculty at teaching-intensive colleges and universities whose proposed research projects have the potential to significantly advance areas of humanistic study. Each grantee will receive $5,000 to cover summer salary or course buyouts, travel expenses for and assistance in research, and other research- or project-related expenses.
Among the timely and topical projects supported by the grants this year are:
- The Sword Outside, the Plague Within: Influenza, War, and Religion, 1918-1920, which explores the cultural impact of the 1918 pandemic on rural communities in Europe to better understand popular perceptions of science, religion, and folk cures at the beginning of western medicine’s “golden age.” (John Eicher, Assistant Professor, History, Pennsylvania State University, Altoona)
- In the Name of Innovation: Law and the Political Economy of Reproductive Futures, which examines complex bioethics issues surrounding the use of non-invasive prenatal tests and other recent biotechnologies. (Jennifer M. Denbow, Assistant Professor, Political Science, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)
- Creating European Communities Against HIV/AIDS: Activism, Socialized Health Care, Scientific Research, and Education, a study of the research, treatment, policy, activism, and public education undertaken during the first 20 years of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Western Europe. (Louie Dean Valencia, Assistant Professor, History, Texas State University, San Marcos)
Learn more about each of the ACLS Project Development grantees and their projects here.
“At a time when many smaller colleges and public institutions are facing budget constraints in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACLS remains proudly committed to supporting the development and advancement of humanistic scholarship,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “We are especially pleased to recognize the promising work of these talented scholars whose dedication to classroom teaching ensures that new generations can benefit from the insights gained through their research.”
Project Development Grants are a component of the ACLS Fellowship program. The program is funded by the ACLS endowment, to which many individuals and institutions have contributed, including The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Arcadia Charitable Trust, the ACLS Research University Consortium and college and university Associates, former fellows, and individuals and friends.
About the American Council of Learned Societies
Formed in 1919, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations. As the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences, ACLS holds a core belief that knowledge is a public good. As such, ACLS strives to promote the circulation of humanistic knowledge throughout society. In addition to stewarding and representing its member organizations, ACLS employs its $140 million endowment and $35 million annual operating budget to support scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and to advocate for the centrality of the humanities in the modern world.