Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) was recently given a $600,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support its humanities programs.
The university is one of only five University of North Carolina System schools, and one of the few public historically Black colleges and universities in the country to receive a grant during the foundation’s 50-year history, according to a WSSU release.
Dr. Elwood RobinsonThe grant, which will run over the course of three years, will support faculty development and restructure the curriculum for at least 54 courses in English, music, art and visual studies and history.
“We are thrilled that the Mellon Foundation recognizes the incredible work being done here at WSSU and the potential for us to deliver transformative change,” WSSU chancellor Elwood L. Robinson said. “We are honored to be among the few schools to receive a significant award from an organization as prestigious as the Mellon Foundation.”
The restructuring strives to create strong and relevant programs that attract scholars in their fields to join the faculty, increase the number of WSSU humanities majors, develop a faculty leadership structure that supports a “teacher-scholar model” that attracts curiosity and discovery into the classroom and create support to increase the number of students who pursue graduate studies in the humanities.
