The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, or IPRH, has been awarded a six-year, $1.25 million grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Grants are awarded to U of I graduate students and faculty by application committees created by the IPRH.

For each year, two Fellows will be selected. Those selected must have recently completed a humanities discipline doctoral degree and possess expertise in either race and diaspora studies, the history of science and technology, empire and colonial studies, or memory studies.

The Fellows will be expected to teach four courses, whether undergraduate lecture or graduate seminars, during their two-year terms. Mellon Fellows will be presented with a wide range of opportunities, including a senior faculty member as their mentor, departmental activities, IPRH programs, and campuswide collaborations as they engage in research.

The director of IPRH, Dianne Harris, said that the U of I was singled out by the Mellon Foundation to award the grant. “We are enormously grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for this opportunity,” said Harris. The grant will further research and teaching within the University.

Chancellor Robert Easter expressed his pride in the department. “We are well aware of our prize-winning authors, historians, anthropologists, and other gifted scholars that comprise the humanities here. A grant of this size can only be interpreted as recognition by others of our strengths in areas across the humanities,” said Easter, according to the Illinois press release.