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IU president awards first arts and humanities research grants
May 3, 2001
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University has awarded 31 faculty members and collaborative groups nearly $900,000 in arts and humanities research grants, as part of an initiative announced by IU President Myles Brand during his State of the University Address last October.
In a speech focused on the importance of the arts and humanities, Brand committed $4 million in funding to be awarded for research projects over the next four years. The funds were targeted for, but not limited to, professors in liberal studies fields. Brand appointed George Walker, IU vice president for research, to oversee the committees that would set guidelines and make recommendations for awarding the grants.
"The funding that President Brand has made available will allow IU to advance and continue to foster its liberal arts curriculum," Walker said. "A strong arts and humanities background is the key component of a complete and enriching education."
Walker in turn formed a pair of six-member committees comprised of IU faculty from IU Bloomington, IU East, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and IU South Bend to review the 84 grant applications filed by IU faculty. The group discussed and voted on proposals and then forwarded their recommendations to Brand for approval.
"It is evident from the recommendations I've received that Indiana University is most fortunate to have many talented faculty in the arts and humanities," Brand said. "The first round of awards has clearly been a success."
Brand said his reason for setting aside the funds was a dearth of external funding opportunities for scholars and artists in the humanities and arts.
"Funding for serious research and creative work is becoming unavailable from other sources, and IU must find ways to support its own scholars and artists," Brand said in his speech.
The recipients of the first round of grants included 20 faculty and collaborative groups from IU Bloomington, six from IUPUI, two from IU South Bend and one each from IU East, IU Kokomo and IU Northwest.
The following is a list of the recipients of the 31 Arts and Humanities project grants, followed by their campus affiliations and fields of study.
(Susan Dillman, 812-855-0850, sdillman@indiana.edu)