Grant Made Possible by Support from the National Endowment for the Humanities Supports Outstanding Publicly Engaged Humanities Programs
CSU San Bernardino in partnership with the MexiCali Biennial has received an ACLS Sustaining Public Engagement Grant, as part of a $3.5 million responsive funding program made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)’s Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative.
CSU San Bernardino has been awarded $66,906 for the MexiCali Biennial: The Land of Milk and Honey, which is a series of multi-disciplinary traveling arts and culture programs
presented by The MexiCali Biennial and partnering institutions located throughout the Californias and along the border region. Drawing inspiration from John Steinbeck, the program will provide audiences with a comprehensive look at expanded modern and historical views of Agriculture and related subtopics including labor, migration, and food security, through exhibitions, panel discussions, film screenings, music programs and community-based interactive projects. The members of the principal project team are Ed Gomez, Luis G. Hernandez, Rosalia Romero, Enid Baxter Ryce and April Lillard-Gomez.
The ACLS Sustaining Public Engagement Grants support public humanities programs based at accredited United States colleges and universities that have experienced staffing reductions related to pandemic conditions, programming setbacks, and/or loss of institutional capacity for publicly engaged work.
This project is one of 24 grantees, representing outstanding public programs based at a variety of public and private institutions from 18 states and Puerto Rico. Awarded programs have demonstrated a deep commitment to the co-creation of knowledge with diverse communities outside of academia and promising approaches to addressing the most pressing issues our society faces today.
“The National Endowment for the Humanities is grateful to the American Council of Learned Societies for administering American Rescue Plan funding to speed economic recovery within the higher education sector,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “Our colleges and universities are important centers for public humanities, with immense potential to serve their communities through educational resources and public programs that reach broad audiences. These ARP awards will expand public access to new information and discoveries in the humanities, and foster greater collaboration between academic institutions and community partners.”
“ACLS is proud to support these outstanding examples of publicly engaged, community-centered scholarship,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “Direct engagement with communities beyond the walls of academia is essential to the continued creation of knowledge for the public good. At the same time, these programs will help in expanding our definitions of humanistic scholarship and in contributing to solutions for a brighter future for all.”
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 appropriated supplemental funding to the NEH to provide emergency relief to cultural organizations and educational institutions and organizations working in the humanities that have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The Act recognizes that the humanities sector is an essential component of economic and civic life in the United States.
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