Two new grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), totaling $1.63 million, will encourage collaboration between scholars at minority-serving institutions and other institutions. The grants were secured by Dr. Najja K. Baptist, an assistant professor of political science and African American studies at the University of Arkansas.
The larger of the two grants, worth $1.16 million, will fund study into how organizations and social movements influence politics and policymaking. Titled "Transformative American Politics," the research grant will involve collaboration between the U of A, Howard University, North Carolina Central University, Georgia State University and Emory University.
The second grant, worth $509,767, will examine the relationship between COVID-19 and Black trauma, using qualitative interviews through the South about the Black politic experience. Titled "The Intersection of Race, Mental Health, and Politics," the grant is a collaborative project between the U of A, Jackson State University, the University of Michigan and Mississippi Valley State University.
Both grants are part of the NSF's Build and Broaden 2.0 program which works “to increase proposal submissions, advance research collaborations and networks involving MSI scholars, and support research activities in the [social, behavioral and economic sciences] sciences at MSIs,” according to the NSF.