The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation pledged more than $12 million to 26 U.S. colleges and universities working on social justice-related research or curricular projects.
Dr. Phillip Brian Harper
In Spring 2022, the foundation had invited proposals from institutions – accredited, non-profit, four-year liberal arts degree-granting U.S. schools with more than 1,000 full-time degree-seeking undergrads and multiple humanities degree programs – on civic engagement and voting rights, race and racialization in the U.S., and social justice and the literary imagination.
“This call is designed to highlight the essential role of the humanities—including those disciplines concerned with the interpretation of expressive culture—in addressing our society’s most salient social issues, past and present,” said Dr. Phillip Brian Harper, program director for Higher Learning at Mellon. “We seek to support not only incisive analytical work, but also projects that creatively envision more just and equitable futures.”
The 26 schools who had their proposals funded per Mellon’s 2022 Higher Learning Open Call include the likes of Bard College; Clemson University; Morgan State University; Northwestern University; St. Catherine University; University of California at Los Angeles; University of Houston – Downtown; and Texas A&M University-San Antonio; among others.
