Troy University’s College of Communication and Fine Arts (CCFA) has been awarded a $449,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation that will focus on deepening the understanding of Alabama’s cultural identity to foster social justice through research, curriculum development, and community engagement. The initiative will involve students and faculty along with local community in place-based inquiries. This marks the largest grant in CCFA’s history and will be delivered through the University Honors Global Scholars Program (UHGSP.)
Written by Dr. Priya Menon with support from Dr. Michael Thrasher and Dr. Kirk Curnutt, the grant will engage undergraduate students and faculty of CCFA in a three-year interdisciplinary exploration of Alabama’s cultural history and social justice legacy through an innovative project. It will also provide opportunities to develop place-based courses, research fellowships, community partnerships with cultural organizations, and the digitization of cultural productions. These materials will be hosted by the Troy University Libraries in collaboration with the Encyclopedia of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
“The project is entitled ‘(Re)reading Alabama’s Cultural Archives: Connecting Place to its Multitudes.’ Alabama’s culture, shaped by its varied communities, holds a rich and complex history that is often oversimplified or overlooked,” said Priya Menon, Principal Investigator and Project Lead, Director of University Honors Global Scholars Program, former Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright Scholar Alumni Legacy Ambassador, and a professor of English. “This project aims to deepen understanding of Alabama’s cultural identity and confront the dominant narrative of lack in the state by exploring its rich artistic and cultural productions in literature, music, dance, theater, and art to highlight contributions from the many people that call Alabama home.”
“This funding will allow TROY to explore Alabama’s rich and diverse cultural identity while providing opportunities for scholarship and public dialogue,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins. Jr., Chancellor. “I would like to congratulate the outstanding faculty members who secured this grant. Their dedication, vision, and collaborative spirit exemplify the very best of Troy University.”
“Receiving a grant of this magnitude represents a pivotal moment in TROY’s institutional evolution,” said Dr. Kerry Palmer, Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs. “It validates our growing research capabilities and positions us firmly on the path toward becoming a more research-intensive institution.”
Dr. Michael Thrasher, Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, says that CCFA aims to be Alabama’s institutional leader in advancing arts and humanities education and achievement.
“This grant helps us to achieve that goal by exploring, documenting, and preserving works of cultural merit that have impacted our state and its people,” he said. “By examining works of literature, music, dance, theater, or art, particularly those created by Alabama’s immigrant and migrant communities, we will learn a great deal about our heritage. Most importantly, these works will be preserved so that they can be experienced by future generations.”
Community partners for this project include the Troy Arts Council, Johnson Center for the Arts, Birmingham Museum of Art, the Pioneer Museum and the Brundidge Historical Society. You can learn more about the CCFA Global Scholars Program here.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
