Montgomery College Awarded $159,406 NEH Grant To Study Black Diaspora In The US

Montgomery College (MC) has received a $159,406 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support the faculty institute, “Concepts of Black Diaspora in the United States: Identity and Connections among African, Afro-Caribbean, and African-American Communities.” This prestigious grant is part of the Institutes for Higher Education Faculty program. The MC project was one of 12 funded in this category, one of 239 funded in the summer cycle, and one of five awarded in Maryland. The NEH awards list can be viewed here (PDF, ) .

“MC’s summer institute will provide higher education faculty with strategies to assist in best telling the stories of these under-represented communities to promote a deeper understanding of their contributions to American history and culture in our respective humanities disciplines,” said Cinder Cooper Barnes, director of the College’s Global Humanities Institute and professor of English. Professor Barnes will serve as the summer institute project director.

The two-week residential institute, conducted with Howard University, will take place in June 2022 on the MC Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus, as well as at Howard University and several museums in Washington, DC. Institute faculty will introduce 25 participants from community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and other postsecondary institutions to the greater Washington area’s rich multicultural landscape and provide them with resources that they can use in their own humanities courses to make them more global, timely, and representative of the changing cultural fabric of the country.

“Montgomery College is proud to offer these experiences to faculty from around the country,” said MC Interim President Charlene Dukes. “The College’s Global Humanities Institute has been a leader in designing multicultural programs that allow disciplinary experts to enrich their knowledge with access to museums and diverse academic collaborations. MC is grateful for the visionary support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and for the partnership with Howard University.”

Dr. Mbye Cham, professor and former director of the Howard University Center for African Studies and former chair of African Studies, will serve as co-project director with Professor Barnes. Ellen Olmstead, MC professor of English, will be project manager, and James Murray, MC professor of English Language for Academic Purposes, will serve as faculty coordinator. Scholars from Howard University, Bennington, Delaware State University, Florida International University, The George Washington University, Lehigh University, Temple University, and Texas A & M University will contribute expertise on the topic of the African diaspora from a variety of humanities disciplines.

The 2022 Summer Institute is an initiative of the College’s Global Humanities Institute (GHI), which was established with an NEH Challenge Grant for Two-Year Colleges in 2012. For additional information, visit the GHI website.

NEH Policy Statement Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this press release do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The National Endowment for the Humanities and Montgomery College together: Democracy demands wisdom.

About The National Endowment For the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

About Montgomery College

Montgomery College is a public, open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College serves nearly 55,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit programs, in more than 100 areas of study.