Tulane University's School of Liberal Arts awarded $2.05 million in grants
Tulane University has received two million dollar grants to further strengthen and support faculty recruitment and research in core programs of the School of Liberal Arts.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded Tulane $1.05 million to fund nine postdoctoral fellowships in the humanities, while the Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust has given $1 million in funding to support faculty research through education or civic engagement grants within the School of Liberal Arts.
"These two generous gifts will greatly enhance the educational and research mission of Tulane"s School of Liberal Arts which houses diverse and vital disciplines ranging from art to economics and is the bedrock of a classical education," Tulane President Scott Cowen said.
The Mellon grants will be used to further strengthen the research and education capabilities of the humanities in the School of Liberal Arts.
The Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows, which are temporary research or teaching positions held by individuals who have completed their doctoral studies, will serve as a bridge as the departments build back to full capacity and work toward developing new or improving doctoral programs in the aftermath of Katrina, while enabling existing programs to expand course offerings. Mellon Fellows will be assigned to one of five departments within the School of Liberal Arts: French/Italian, Spanish/Portuguese, English, History or Philosophy. The Mellon fellows would first begin teaching in the Fall 2009 semester.
The grants come at an exciting time for the school, which is under the new leadership of Dean Carole Haber, who started in July. The school has aggressively recruited new faculty and strengthened interdisciplinary programs during the past two years.
Haber said the latest grants are recognition of an energized and refocused School of Liberal Arts at Tulane. “I think it¹s a sign of confidence in the school and the quality of our departments,” Haber said. “These postdoctoral fellows will offer an invaluable resource and add depth to departments and interdisciplinary programs within the humanities.”
The School of Liberal Arts consists of 15 departments and 22 interdisciplinary programs including anthropology, art, classical studies, communication, economics, English, French and Italian, Germanic and Slavic Studies, history, music, philosophy, political science, sociology, Spanish and Portuguese and theatre and dance.
