Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Southern University, the historically Black educational institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to research quality assurance of 3D-printed products. The goal is to provide both manufacturers and consumers confidence and assured safety of products made with 3D-printed parts. Patrick Mensah, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the College of Sciences and Engineering at Southern University, will serve as the principal investigator.
A digital humanities project at the University of Southern Mississippi received a $353,956 grant from the National Science Foundation that will make it possible for 30 students to live and work in Hattiesburg over the course of three summers to map the process of emancipation in Mississippi during the Civil War and through the period of Reconstruction to visualize freed- people’s paths to citizenship. The grant will provide for a paid, eight-week research experience ($600 per week + $250 in travel expenses per person), in addition to housing and dining, for 10 undergraduate humanities students from any Mississippi school starting in the summer of 2023 and continuing through the summer of 2025.
The department of art history and archaeology at Columbia University in New York City recently received a major grant from the Getty Foundation for the multiyear project, Black Mediterranean. The project’s mission is to reconsider the histories and historiographies of the Mediterranean, paying particular attention to African influences on Mediterranean cultures. The project encompasses the major centers and routes between Europe and Africa along the Mediterranean coasts, while also exploring routes and crossroads connecting central Africa to the Mediterranean.
The Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was recently awarded a two-year $499,359 grant from Reboot Representation to support the IDS Leadership Academy for students from groups traditionally marginalized in tech and engineering. The IDS Leadership Academy is a year-long virtual and interactive program, open to students from throughout the U.S., that creates a supportive cohort where students develop strong relationships with peers and mentors from similar backgrounds who are forging pathways in tech and engineering. The program consists of three components: a six-week synchronous online summer program; a speaker series; and an industry mentorship program during the academic year.
