News
New Brunswick English department eyes bright future with Mellon Foundation grant
Archived article from Oct 4, 2004
By Douglas Frank
The English department in New Brunswick will undertake significant new initiatives over the next several years thanks to a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation aimed at raising the national stature of the department.
Department Chair Richard E. Miller said the grant will fund three major projects:
recruitment of distinguished senior scholars in medieval, Renaissance and African-American literatures; $4,000 summer stipends over the next four years for 20 graduate students working on their Ph.D. dissertations; and hosting a national
conference in fall 2006 on "The Futures of English," inviting scholars from around the world to explore the directions literary studies may take in this new century.
The grant was approved in June by the Mellon Foundation, known for its many programs that have a special focus on strengthening research and scholarship in the humanities at select schools.
"We are thrilled to have this grant from the foundation and pleased with the support from President McCormick and FAS Dean Holly Smith that made our proposal possible," Miller said. President Richard L. McCormick’s initiatives emphasizing interdisciplinary research and excellence in education were part of what interested the Mellon Foundation in Rutgers as a possible recipient for a major grant, Miller added.
This particular grant is very new, according to Barry Qualls, dean of humanities for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in New Brunswick. Qualls said he knew of only one other such grant – at the University of Illinois. "The Mellon Foundation is supporting departments that they believe can reach an even higher level of national distinction," Qualls noted.
The graduate program of literatures in English at Rutgers was ranked 17th nationwide in the last National Research Council study, and English is one of the most popular undergraduate humanities majors at Rutgers. "One of the reasons that Mellon was so interested in working with the department is our remarkable track record in academic placements of graduate students, which continues to be one of the best in the nation,” Miller said.
Miller added that Rutgers-New Brunswick is the only English department among the top-ranked research universities that requires undergraduates to take a course in African-American literature, which is why one initiative involves hiring in that field.
The summer stipends will be an attractive proposition for students, Miller said. “This support is going to assist Ph.D. candidates in doing important original research,” Miller said. “Mellon is committed to encouraging students who can make scholarly contributions in the humanities."
Rutgers is the perfect place to host a national conference on the future of English as a discipline because of the department’s strength not only in traditional literary study, but also in emerging literatures, writing instruction and teacher training. Planning for this event will start later this year.
On a personal level, Miller said working with his colleagues and with the FAS deans on winning the grant was a great experience. “It was encouraging to see a such a broad understanding that the success of any great research university has to include excelling in the humanities.”
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