Following the award of a grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Willson Center invites proposals from faculty involved in publicly engaged humanities work.

“Imagining the Coast” brings together students, community members, faculty, artists, museums, and historical societies to discuss the importance of the Connecticut coastline and seas to our understanding of the region’s history, culture, ecology, and identity, including its global connections.

A $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will enable the Willson Center to expand its Global Georgia Initiative, a public humanities program in place since 2013.

Christy Desmet, a beloved and highly accomplished member of the UGA department of English faculty for more than three decades, passed away on July 25. The following tribute was written by her dear friend, longtime collaborator, and fellow professor of English, Sujata Iyengar.

The Willson Center will welcome Rebecca Rutstein, an artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, installation, and public art and explores abstraction inspired by science, data and maps, to the University of Georgia as the third Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding.

The annual national conference of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) will be held on the UGA campus and in other Athens, Ga. venues Nov. 1-3, with the theme of Arts Environments: Design, Resilience, and Sustainability. The full schedule and registration information are available at the a2ru website.

Stephen Mihm, associate professor in the department of history, is one of 22 recipients of grants from the Public Scholar program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which helps to fund “well-researched books in the humanities intended to reach a broad readership.”

Scholars, policy experts and journalists from around the world will meet in Berlin this month to consider issues related to contemporary transnational Europe, thanks to a new joint initiative by the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame. The inaugural Berlin Seminar in Transnational European Studies, which will be held from May 27 to June 2, is made possible in part through support from the Max Kade Foundation as well as by a State-of-the-Art Conference grant from the Office of the Provost at UGA.

The seminar is directed by Martin Kagel, A.G. Steer Professor of German and associate dean of the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; William C. Donahue, the Rev. John C. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Professor of the Humanities and chair of the department of German and Russian languages and literatures at Notre Dame; and Nicholas Allen, Franklin Professor of English and director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at UGA.

“Our goal in creating the Berlin Seminar was to provide a professional development opportunity for UGA and Notre Dame faculty and graduate students centered around European studies,” Kagel said. “Our hope is that we can bring both the focus and energy of our discussions in Berlin and the ideas that emerge from the meeting back to campus to continue the conversation here and have the experience result in instructional innovation and new research projects.”

UGA participants include Ph.D. students and faculty from three different colleges and seven different departments.

In addition to six days of programs for registered participants, the seminar will include two public events: a conversation on “Transatlantic Relations in a Trumpian World” led by Cas Mudde, associate professor in UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs and a columnist for The Guardian, with Sudha David-Wilp, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund, and CNN European correspondent Atika Shubert; and a lecture on “Brexit and the Crisis of Belonging” by writer Fintan O’Toole, winner of the 2017 European Press Prize for commentary.

A complete schedule and details for the seminar are available here.

The UGA College of Education’s Kristen Morales has written an excellent article about the Putnam County, Ga. local history program that is being supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to the Willson Center.

2018 has been a banner year so far for UGA faculty in the humanities and arts seeking external grants and fellowships.

The Willson Center has awarded its 2018-2019 Research Fellowships to members of the UGA faculty in the humanities and arts. These fellowships are awarded in partnership with the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

UGA to host a2ru National Conference in November 2018, call for proposals now available
The University of Georgia will host the 2018 National Conference for the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) Nov. 1-3, 2018 on the theme of “Arts Environments: Design, Resilience, and Sustainability.” The conference will be held in partnership with the UGA Arts Council and in conjunction with the November Spotlight on the Arts festival. The a2ru conference call for proposals is now available. The deadline for proposals is April 6. Please share the CFP with colleagues at other institutions.

UGA faculty, departments, and offices are encouraged to incorporate the conference themes into their curriculum and programming, including partners in the creative and performing arts, engineering, technology, environment and design, ecology, sustainability, and in other departments, who have an interest in intersecting with the arts. The conference is an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to engage in a conversation about the arts, environment, and technology.

a2ru is a partnership of more than 40 institutions committed to ensuring the greatest possible institutional support for the full spectrum of arts and arts-integrative research, curricula, programs, and creative practice for the benefit of all students and faculty at research universities and the communities they serve.

Willson Center now accepting UGA proposals for new round of a2ru Research Cluster grants, and proposals for special projects connected with the conference
In coordination with the a2ru conference the Willson Center’s a2ru Faculty Research Cluster is accepting proposals from full-time, research-budgeted faculty to support extraordinary arts-oriented research projects to be featured during the time of the conference. Projects may be creative or scholarly in form, and they may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary in scope. A limited number of grants up to $1,500 will be awarded to projects that align with the theme and timing of the a2ru conference. A one-page proposal describing the project and its significance should be sent, along with a detailed budget, to the Willson Center at wcha@uga.edu. Please note “UGA a2ru Cluster CFP” in the subject line. Applications will be reviewed by a representative panel of faculty in the arts and will be judged on proposal quality and alignment with the conference theme. Please contact Isabelle Loring Wallace, associate professor of contemporary art in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and associate academic director for arts and a2ru in the Willson Center, with any proposal questions. Funding for proposals selected by the committee will be available July 1, 2018 (Deadline: March 22. Notification: April).

In addition to the UGA a2ru Research Cluster call, the Willson Center invites proposals from faculty, students or offices interested in connecting special projects (programs, exhibits, community engagement, etc.) with a student focus to the Nov. 2018 a2ru National Conference. A limited number of grants up to $500 will be awarded up to projects that align with the theme and timing of the a2ru conference. A one-page proposal describing the project and its significance should be sent, along with a detailed budget, to the Willson Center at wcha@uga.edu. Please note “UGA a2ru special projects proposal” in the subject line (Deadline: March 22. Notification: April). Please contact Mark Callahan, artistic director of Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE), with any proposal questions. Projects will be reviewed by a representative panel of faculty in the arts and will be selected based on proposal quality and alignment with the conference theme.

Students who are interested in volunteering during the conference should contact Mark Callahan. Student volunteers will be recruited through early fall semester.

Proposals selected from both the UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP and special projects submissions may be presented as posters or exhibits and will be branded and advertised in conjunction with the conference and coordinated to best align with the formal conference schedule.

Q & A

Should I apply to the a2ru National Conference CFP, the UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP, or both?
Faculty or groups of colleagues can apply to one or both. Decisions about the national conference CFP and formal conference schedule are based on a2ru’s call guidelines and decided by a2ru’s executive committee. The UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP regarding UGA projects in conjunction with the conference will be decided by a representative panel of UGA faculty in the arts and based on the quality of the proposal and alignment with the conference theme.

Proposals selected from the UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP may be presented as posters or exhibits and will be branded and advertised in conjunction with the conference and coordinated to best align with the formal conference schedule.

Is funding available for both the UGA Research Cluster CFP and the special projects call? What is the difference?
Funding of up to $1,500 is available to faculty proposals selected as part of the UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP. Funding of up to $500 is available as part of the special projects call funded through the ICE Research Cluster. Special project proposals may be submitted by students, faculty, or staff.

Proposals selected from both the UGA a2ru Research Cluster CFP and special projects submissions may be presented as posters or exhibits and will be branded and advertised in conjunction with the conference and coordinated to best align with the formal conference schedule.

What is the formal conference schedule?
The conference will take place Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 1-3. The final schedule will be posted on the a2ru website this summer.

How do I register for the conference?
Registration for the conference will be available this summer. UGA faculty and staff will be able to register at a reduced rate.

I am a student. Can I attend the conference?
UGA students who volunteer and meet a minimum number of hours worked for the conference will receive free registration to all conference events. Please contact Mark Callahan, Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE), if you are interested in volunteering.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance have announced the 2018 National Humanities Conference, which will take place in New Orleans November 8 – 11, 2018.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will present a Regional Application-Writing Workshop on February 28, 2018 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, Georgia.

The Willson Center has been awarded $100,000 in matching funds by the National Endowment for the Humanities towards “An American Literary Landscape: Life, History, and Memory in Putnam County, Georgia.”