Featured image above: The Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Central Florida will host keynote speaker, indigenous (Mojave) and Latina Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, author, and language activist Natalie Diaz at the UCF Celebrates the Arts 2022 festival. Photo courtesy of Natalie Diaz Studio.

Florida Humanities is pleased to announce $63,800 in Greater Good: Humanities in Academia Grants for 16 projects at ten Florida colleges and universities in support of public humanities programming.

Still in its inaugural year, this second iteration of Greater Good: Humanities in Academia funding offered up to $5,000 to Humanities-related departments as well as Humanities Centers, Institutes, and Programs associated with Florida colleges and universities to support community programming (either in-person or virtual) that seeks to broaden the public’s awareness of what it means to be human. The awarded dynamic programs take these important humanities conversations beyond the campus and into the community.

Following are the list of awards, alphabetical by granted organization:

Eckerd College — Ancient Studies Program (Pinellas)
“Community COVID Time Capsule and Public Panel Discussion” – $2,000
Eckerd College will organize a community COVID time capsule to expand an existing display at the Eckerd College Library by including items submitted from the public that represent the diverse experiences of local community members.

Florida Atlantic University — Department of English (Palm Beach)
“Off the Page: Community Events for Readers and Writers” – $5,000
Florida Atlantic University’s Creative Writing Program will host authors Rion Amilcar Scott and Toni Jensen as well as an engaging Q&A in partnership with the Broward County Library System.

Florida Atlantic University — Department of History (Palm Beach)
“Monumental History” – $1,800
The Department of History at Florida Atlantic University will host a book club series focused on historicizing Confederate monuments with authors Dr. Thomas Brown and Dr. Adam Domby.

Florida International University — Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment (Miami Dade)
“Community Programming for the Greater Good” – $5,000
The Center for Humanities in an Urban Environment at Florida International University will organize two panel discussions: “Slavery: A Legacy” and “Dis/Ability: Ableism, Identity, and the Ethics of Ability.”

Florida State University —  Department of English, Literature-Media-Culture Program (Leon)
“Toni Morrison: Sustaining Community” – $5,000
Florida State University’s Literature-Media-Culture Program will organize a film screening, a children’s story hour and reading clinic, and a book discussion event featuring Toni Morrison’s work.

Florida State University —  Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (Leon)
“Between Hope and Dread: Lorna Goodison’s Dante” – $5,000
The Department of Modern Languages at Florida State University will host poet Lorna Goodison—in conversation with Dante scholar Dennis Looney— as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Dante Society of America Symposium/New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

New College of Florida —  Division of Humanities (Sarasota)
“Healing Dialogues” – $3,400
The Division of Humanities at the New College of Florida will organize three public conversations that focus on strategies for improving health in Black communities. These discussions will illuminate critical topics at the intersection of racial justice and public health through the lens of history, philosophy, music history, and sociology.

University of Central Florida —  Center for Humanities and Digital Research  (Orange)
“The Global Pandemic of 2020-2022: Historical Contexts and Current Perspectives” – $5,000
The Center for the Humanities and Digital Research at the University of Central Florida will host a panel of humanities scholars and community experts to assess the COVID pandemic and historical parallels, such as the Yellow Fever of 1793 and Spanish flu of 1918, and how this crisis is playing out nationally and in our local communities.

University of Central Florida — Department of English (Orange)
“A Critical Conversation About Race and History” – $3,200
University of Central Florida’s English Department will host authors Kiese Laymon and Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to discuss the origins of conversations surrounding race and history, using the humanities to foster a constructive dialogue on why this is a hotly contested topic, and how racial disparities have created socio-economic and political inequalities.

University of Central Florida — Department of Philosophy, Humanities and Cultural Studies Program (Orange)
“Understanding Folk and Cultural Traditions in Our Time: A Humanities Workshop” – $5,000
The Humanities and Cultural Studies Program at the University of Central Florida will organize a two-day workshop that aims to bring awareness and advance the public’s understanding of folklore and cultural traditions as an important part of humanities.

University of Central Florida — Department of Writing and Rhetoric (Orange)
“UCF Celebrates Indigenous Expression” – $5,000
The Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Central Florida will host keynote speaker, indigenous (Mojave) and Latina Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, author, and language activist Natalie Diaz at the UCF Celebrates the Arts 2022 festival. The presentation will be online and in-person, and will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Jeremy Carnes and Q&A with the audience.

University of Miami — Center for the Humanities (Miami Dade)
“Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Civic Activism, and Environmental Justice in Contemporary South Florida” – $4,900
The Center for the Humanities at the University of Miami will organize a panel discussion to highlight the connections between the history of the environmental movement and the fight for racial justice through the work of author Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

University of North Florida — Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville (Duval)
“Ideas of Our Time: Legacy Russell” – $2,000
The University of North Florida’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville will organize a virtual lecture and Q&A with curator, writer, and artist Legacy Russell. The lecture will connect with the exhibition Techno-Intimacy, which explores the ways that the digital realm has become central to the formation of our identities, particularly for the younger generation.

University of South Florida —  Department of Women’s & Gender Studies (Hillsborough)
“Re-Imagining the Humanities: Cultivating Attitudes of Anti-Racism and Allyship” – $5,000
The Department of Women’s & Gender Studies at the University of South Florida will organize three community engagement presentations that will focus on how racism, sexism, homophobia, and other systems of oppression impose on what it means to be human.

University of South Florida — Florida Studies Programs (Pinellas)
“America’s First Literature: Writing Early Florida, Beginnings to the Seminole Wars” – $4,500
The Florida Studies Programs at the University of South Florida will create six short videos featuring leading national scholars to dive into the early literature of Florida, expanding upon the resources available through the Early Visions of Florida literature website. The project will launch with an in-person and virtual panel discussion.

University of West Florida — UWF Historic Trust (Escambia)
“Admiring the Hush Arbor Program Support” – $2,000
The University of West Florida Historic Trust will organize a program that engages participants in an exploration of African American culture, resistance, and experience within the framework of hush arbor practices, while shedding light on this historic practice and incorporating broad concepts related to African American culture and experience during the antebellum period.

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Questions? Please contact:
Stephanie Chill
Grants Coordinator
[email protected]