Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities
The arts and the humanities enrich our lives and are essential to education, research, scholarship, and public engagement across the University of Illinois System. Instruction in these fields prepares students for a life of conscientious citizenship and creative contributions in every economic sector. Research and creative breakthroughs in these arenas help us imagine new approaches to today's social problems, drawing from deep historical experience, finely honed craft, and expertise in collaboration and improvisation.
In 2019, the U of I System launched the Presidential Initiative to Celebrate the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities. Nearly $2 million was invested in fourteen collaborative projects across the system's three universities. Two years later, in 2021, the second system-wide initiative provided an opportunity aimed at highlighting and amplifying the public good flowing from the arts and the humanities, the initiative, Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities, gave an additional ten projects received a combined round of funding of $1.54 million.
The challenges we face today underscore how crucial it is that we embrace work in these fields. The COVID-19 crisis could not have been tackled, for example, without confronting the historical lessons from previous pandemics and the ethical dimensions of health disparities. Enhancing social equity requires a deep understanding of how racism intersects with cultural norms and practices in our communities. And during times of upheaval, the arts and the humanities help nurture the human spirit by offering inspirational new experiences, a renewed connection to records of the past, and frameworks for valuing difference and cultivating informed debate.
Currently, the program is being reviewed and additional information will be forthcoming for additional call for proposals.
2021-2022 Proposals Funded
2019-2020 Proposals Funded