Can Humanities Grants to Universities Be a Bridge to Something Bigger? Mellon Foundation Backs Humanities
The humanities are on a roll.
Perhaps it's some perverse byproduct of the Trump effect, but recent developments suggest that funders increasingly view the humanities as something that's not simply relegated to the hallowed halls of academia, but a concept that can benefit individual communities, job seekers and society as a whole.
This isn't news to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sure, much of its work in the humanities space aims to redefine the field across university campuses. That type of work, as we'll soon see, continues. But Mellon has always intended for its work to reach the larger population.
Take news out of Maine. "At a time of deep division in the country," said Kate McCormick of the Morning Sentinel, "some institutions are turning to the arts and humanities to bring people together in conversation about the fundamental qualities—and questions—that make us human." . . .