Grant Supports Arts And Humanities Collaborations, Projects

January 27, 2003

University Park, PA- The Penn State Institute for the Arts and Humanities's second challenge grant of $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help fund opportunities for a range of new programs such as a named lecture series, an annual symposium, collaborations with university museums, and civic and educational outreach.

The IAH fosters excellence in the arts and humanities through support of innovative, interdisciplinary work across the boundaries of departments, schools, and colleges at the University. This fall 2002, IAH co-sponsored the "Lewis and Clark: The Unheard Voices" scholarly conference, the affiliated art installation and the original musical drama production, "York," about the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark team.

For 2003-2004, groups co-sponsored by the Institute include "Europe Observed: Perceptions of Europe in the Early Modern World," "Tensions of Change: Writing and Making the American Landscape" and "Colloquy of Asia in the Era of Globalization."

The Institute must raise additional private or non-profit organizational funds to supplement the three-year $500,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The IAH also funds individual faculty research and faculty and graduate residencies. Laura Knoppers, director of the institute and professor of English, underscores the importance of bringing together faculty and graduate students from varied fields: "The most fruitful conversations are the result of interdisciplinary efforts. Such collaborations allow for critical reflection on creative works that might not otherwise take place."

The challenge grant will also make possible a number of outreach initiatives, which will serve to broaden the discussion of the humanities and arts beyond the university. Yvonne Gaudelius, associate professor of art education and women's studies and associate director of the IAH, notes "This new collaborative programming will take the Institute-and the arts and humanities at Penn State-up to a new level of visibility and impact. The most successful and thriving institutes around the country have endowments, often started by precisely this sort of Challenge Grant."

This grant is the second Challenge Grant received by Penn State. In 1985, the College of the Liberal Arts was awarded a Challenge Grant of $1 million that was used to hire new faculty in the core humanities disciplines, to support faculty and graduate student research, and to increase the visibility of the humanities at Penn State.

For more information, please see the Institute's website at www.research.psu.edu/iah, or contact the IAH at 814-865-0495 or at iah1@psu.edu.

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