Three UC Davis College of Letters and Science departments were awarded a total of $300,000 in grants from the Mellon Foundation to support advancing the study of humanities.
The Department of Asian American Studies, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, and Department of African and African American Studies each will receive $100,000 in funding as part of a new set of grants from the Mellon Foundation. The grants recognize the importance of studying race, ethnic, gender and sexuality.
“The study of race, gender, and sexuality has become ever more central to work in the humanities over the last thirty years or so,” said Mellon Foundation Director of Higher Learning Phillip Brian Harper, “and it is important that inquiry in these areas — which is of perennial interest to students — continue to enjoy robust support.”
UC Davis was one of 66 higher education institutions across the U.S. that were awarded the “Affirming Multivocal Humanities” grants. More than $18 million was awarded to a total of 95 public college and university programs, according to the foundation.
The Department of Asian American Studies plans to use part of the funding to host a two-day symposium on “The Future of Asian American Studies at UC Davis and Beyond,” which will invite panelists to speak on issues around the theme of abolishment. Part of the funding will also be used for a half-day symposium focused on outreach and networking, bringing together faculty, alumni, local students and Asian and Pacific Islander leaders.
Both the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and the Department of African and African American Studies plan to use part of the funding for curriculum development, including the introduction of several new courses.
The Department of African and African American Studies also plans to expand its undergraduate internship program with the California Legislative Black Caucus, which was piloted during winter 2023. It will also use part of the funding to continue to advance the “New Directions in African American Studies” speaker series.
The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies plans to launch a similar speaker series, “New Directions in Chicano/o Studies.” Focus areas may include reproductive justice, U.S./Mexico border studies, immigration law and Chicanx/Latinx poetry. Additionally, the department plans to use part of the funding to support undergraduate research.