The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Cornell's Society for the Humanities a grant of $1,330,000. The grant is in two parts: $330,000 to continue initiatives in the short term and $1 million contingent on Cornell raising an additional $2 million to support a permanent endowment for humanities programs at the society.

"The grant is an incredible vote of confidence in the society by the Mellon Foundation," said Peter Lepage, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, "but it also is a challenge from Mellon to generate financial support from our alumni and friends. Cornell is focused on raising funds for the humanities -- we are building Klarman Hall and hiring superb faculty. By encouraging others to contribute funds, the Mellon challenge will further strengthen our highly valued humanities programs."

In the near term, grant funds will cover support for two annual graduate student fellowships, continuing Mellon's 10 years of special funding to the society for this purpose. The grant will also fund special projects in collaborative faculty writing and international collaboration with other humanities centers, as well as seed special initiatives in the humanities that foster new faculty recruitment and retention. Once fully funded, the endowment will generate the support needed to cover such projects in perpetuity.

"These initiatives will lead to the growth of new undergraduate course offerings in areas such as digital humanities, humanities and the environment, art in a digital age, and law and the humanities," said Timothy Murray, the society's director. "We are deeply grateful to the Mellon Foundation for its support and acknowledgement of the society's international leadership role in supporting scholarship and emerging programs in the humanities."

The Society for the Humanities was established in 1966 as one of the first humanities institutes in North America. It plays a crucial role at Cornell in fostering interdisciplinary opportunities in the humanities, sponsoring numerous research grants, writing groups and workshops, as well as hosting more than 100 annual lectures, workshops, colloquia and conferences organized by Cornell's faculty.

The society's renowned fellowship program has served as the model for humanities centers around the world, says Murray, and has fostered path-breaking interdisciplinary dialogue and theoretical reflection on the humanities at large.

In addition, says Murray, classes offered by the society on its focal themes have played an important role in stimulating undergraduate curriculum in emergent areas of scholarship such as sexuality studies, media studies and critical race studies. This year's theme is "Risk @ Humanities."

The society also serves as Cornell host to the Central New York Humanities Corridor, a collaboration with Syracuse University and the University of Rochester that is also supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Linda B. Glaser is staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.