Congratulations to the URI Department of English, recipient of the NEH Next Generation Humanities PhD Challenge Grant. Their project, “Humanities At Large,” is led by Dr. Kathleen
Davis, and is aimed to rethink the traditional approach to graduate education in the humanities. Specifically, the planning committee will focus on four topics: 1) potential approaches to stimulate collaboration between programs, departments, and schools; 2) methods for initiating partnerships with non-academic institutions; 3) exploration of altered formats or requirements for the PhD dissertation; and 4) identification of humanities PhD alumni in various fields to advise or mentor graduate students.

In the overview of the project’s proposal, Dr. Davis describes the aims of the project as follows: “As the state’s flagship research university and a land and sea grant institution, the University of Rhode Island (URI) has strong historical commitments to the coastal environment and to the civic community. URI has recently extended such commitment to the health fields. Building on these strengths and working both on and off campus, the committee aims to secure partnerships, internships, new collaborations, and innovative curricular changes that will prepare our doctoral students to expand their career aspirations and to bring the fruits of humanities learning to all aspects of civic life.” One partnership which has already been secured is with URI’s Coastal Institute. Dr. Judith Swift, director of the institute, is providing a Fellowship for an English doctoral student for 2016-17.

The University of Rhode Island is one of only 28 institutions nationwide to receive this prestigious grant. For the latest updates, visit their website: https://web.uri.edu/nextgenphd/

 

Tweet them your congratulations @URI_English #HumanitiesAtLarge