Humanities award gives $1 million for research

A $992,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is to be distributed over six years for Tufts University post-doctoral fellows in the humanities.

"Grants of this size are few and far between in the humanities," Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences Kevin Dunn said. He added that the grant will "serve as a magnet, drawing some of the country's top humanities scholars to Tufts as post-docs."

The university wants to use the money to expand interdisciplinary studies by pairing Tufts' post-doctoral scholars with people outside their field.

"Tufts is now well positioned to be a training ground for the next generation of humanists who want to pursue cross-disciplinary research," Dunn said. "The importance of the humanities is critical, and it's a testament to Tufts' strength in this area."

The English, History, Language and Art departments expect to benefit from the grant. However, Dunn said the interdisciplinary focus of the grants will allow for the hiring of post-doctorate students in other departments, including psychology and political science, and pair them with a humanities specialist.

The grant hopes to break down divisions between departments and promote a more productive scholarly environment.

"The proposal was designed to bring young scholars to Tufts to work with more advanced scholars on research projects," Dunn said.

Another part of the Mellon Grant will allow eight Mellon Fellows to teach one course per term, including a team-taught course the first semester with a faculty mentor. These courses will allow for interaction between scholars and undergraduates, which could lead to research opportunities for undergrads -- a stated administration priority.

Dunn and Provost Jamshed Bharucha also hope to incorporate some aspects of the Mellon Grant with the recently-started Summer Scholars Program.

"It is likely that undergraduates participating in the summer program may be able to help with some of the fundamental aspects of the scholar's collaborative work," Dunn said.

While the prestigious grant will see new experts interact with the undergraduate community, students were largely unaware of the grant program and its possible applications.

"This sounds like a great opportunity for the University," Sophomore Meg Simpson said. "But as a psychology major, I'm not sure how much this will affect me."

This is not the first time the University has been awarded a grant from the foundation. The Friedman School of Nutrition has received several scholarships from the Population Program of the Mellon Foundation to support its Famine Center Summer Grant program. The Famine Center program supports graduate student internships, doctoral candidates and faculty research on issues related to the complex planning and displacement issues that surround famines.

The scholarships have been used to stimulate applied research in issues pertaining to complex emergencies, refugees, internally displaced people and famine, and to facilitate internships overseas for work on these issues.

Universities and institutions are encouraged to enter short proposals regarding the need, nature, and amount of their proposal. If the proposal is solicited by the Mellon Foundation, grantee institutions are then carefully reviewed; unsolicited applications are rarely receive grants.