Funded Projects Query Form
104 matches

Summer research and writing on Art History and Criticism, History of Religion, and Medieval Studies.

The Last Judgment, the moment in Christian theology when Christ will separate the Blessed and Damned, was depicted in no less than 20 monumental sculptural programs in thirteenth-century France. Unlike the rare twelfth-century examples at Autun and Conques, these dramatic portals do not emphasize judgment, but rather the potential for salvation: Christ shows his wounds instead of pointing to Heaven or Hell. This book places the novel imagery of the Last Judgment in the context of the new, practical literature for pastoral care, which spread from the University of Paris through clerical networks and--it is argued--was made visible in sculptural programs at the cathedrals of Chartres, Paris, Reims, and Amiens. Perhaps of greatest significance, the book opens up a new way for thinking about sculpted program as works of visual exegesis. This methodology highlights the importance of intellectual history and manuscript studies for the understanding of portal sculpture--and vice versa.

My planned book explores how Americans rethought wrongdoing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as many traditional frameworks for explaining sin--such as blaming passions, self-interest, or natural depravity--came under attack. Difficulties explaining wrongdoing helped drive an intellectual wedge between evil and "ordinary" sin; moralists contrasted good people’s "mistakes" with evildoers' intentional villainy. Historians have charted changing ideas about particular vices, but they have been less interested in shifting views of what constitutes a moral failing, why human beings commit them, or how people could understand themselves as flawed but not evil. By historicizing concepts of sin, my research intersects with questions in philosophy and theology about human nature, sin, and the problem of evil; with literary studies on seduction novels and other narratives of wrongdoing; and with interdisciplinary work on the gendered construction of morality.

A two-year archival digitization, faculty-student research, and course development project on the work and legacy of Booker T. Washington, to take place at Tuskegee University.

This project seeks to strengthen humanities education and scholarship at Tuskegee University by re-examining Booker T. Washington's influence in education, politics and civil rights, business, and literature and the arts. Although considerable scholarship on Washington already exists, the extent of his regional, national, and global impact has not been fully explored. The project will include faculty-student research collaborations; enrichment of existing English and History courses; development of a new interdisciplinary, team-taught course; a public symposium; creation of a new section of the Tuskegee University Archives Web site to include previously unexplored archival materials on Washington's life and work; and initiation of an ongoing Humanities Institute.

My planned book explores how Americans rethought wrongdoing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as many traditional frameworks for explaining sin (such as blaming passions, self-interest, or natural depravity) came under attack. Difficulties explaining wrongdoing helped drive an intellectual wedge between evil and "ordinary" sin; moralists contrasted good people's "mistakes" with evildoers’ intentional villainy. Historians have charted changing ideas about particular vices, but they have been less interested in shifting views of what constitutes a moral failing, why human beings commit them, or how people could understand themselves as flawed but not evil. By historicizing concepts of sin, my research intersects with questions in philosophy and theology about human nature, sin, and the problem of evil; with literary studies on seduction novels and other narratives of wrongdoing; and with cross-disciplinary work on the gendered construction of morality.

I am applying for funding to support 2 months of summer research that will comprise an integral part of my larger year-long project to revise and expand my dissertation into a book-length manuscript for publication at a university press. For two months during summer 2012, I will work intensively to bring my study of Charles Taylor more fully up to date, following his most recent publications, A Secular Age (Harvard UP, 2007); and Dilemmas and Connections (Harvard UP, 2011). I will draft an entirely new final chapter titled, "Democracy, Diversity, and the Sources of Secularity," which will examine how Taylor’s responses to the challenge of postmodernism and multiculturalism shift from the 20th to the 21st C to include religion and secularity. This new chapter will extend my analysis to examine what continuities and shifts his latest treatment of modernity evidence in light of the history of his work.

Two one-week workshops for eighty school teachers on labor history and the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, Alabama.

Two one-week workshops for eighty school teachers on labor history and the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, Alabama. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) offers a workshop on Birmingham, tracing its history as an industrial center and its role in the civil rights movement. The workshop begins with an examination of post-Civil War labor relations and the rise of Birmingham as an industrial center before turning to discussion of the role of labor in the civil rights movement. Participants then turn to an in-depth examination of civil rights activism in Birmingham, which includes a panel discussion with veterans of the movement. They visit a variety of sites around the city: Sloss Furnace; Red Mountain Park, where the remnants of several mines are located; Bethel Baptist Church; the Smithfield neighborhood, where residential segregation was challenged in the 1950s; and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. In addition to the project director, presenters include Glenn Eskew (Georgia State University), Calvin Woods (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), Robert Corley (University of Alabama, Birmingham), Horace Huntley (University of Alabama, Birmingham), and G. Douglas Jones (former U.S. attorney), as well as site curatorial staff. Readings are drawn from Eskew's But for Birmingham, Charles Connerly's The Most Segregated City in America, Douglas Blackmon's Slavery by Another Name, and Andrew Manis's biography of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, as well as collections of oral history interviews and primary sources from the BCRI's archives. Participants also view two documentaries: The Barber of Birmingham and NEH-funded Slavery by Another Name.

America’s Music is a six-week public program featuring documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions about twentieth-century American popular music. The grantee will present six programs on these uniquely American musical traditions: blues and gospel, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and country, rock, and mambo and hip hop. It will also encourage scholar-led discussion about the documentary films and the project’s major humanities themes.

Purchase of storage equipment to rehouse the Buten Wedgwood Collection, which consists of almost 8,000 pieces of ceramics dating from the inception of the Wedgwood Company in 1759 through the 1980s. Harry and Nettie Buten began collecting Wedgwood in 1931 and opened their museum in Merion, Pennsylvania to the public in 1957. The collection, which includes some of the most unique Wedgwood wares, was acquired by the Birmingham Museum of Art in 2008, a gift from the Buten family through the Wedgwood Society of New York.

The NEH Preservation Assistance Grant would provide funds for re-housing the Buten Wedgwood Collection. Recognizing the importance of this comprehensive collection of almost 8,000 pieces, the Birmingham Museum of Art has developed a comprehensive plan to properly address the safety, security, and access to the Buten objects. Approximately three-quarters of the Buten Wedgwood Collection will be designated for movement to the newly constructed Buten Storage Area for long-term storage. This storage area will consist of heavy-duty industrial shelving outfitted with decking allowing objects to rest on padded, open shelves or in archival trays contained in an outer archival box. The remaining one-fourth of the Collection will be stored on open shelves in Museum storage cabinets in the Museum's Small Object Storage area. The NEH grant would support the purchase of storage trays, tissues, and additional cabinet shelves and hardware.

A two-day conference in Birmingham for fifty K-12 teachers to study America's transition from an agricultural to an industrial society as reflected in American art.

The proposed conference, Field to Factory: The Changing Face of the American Landscape, will closely explore the United States' gradual shift from an agrarian to industrial society, and how that change is reflected in American Art. The subject matter will have particular resonance in our state and community, as Birmingham rapidly became a major center of iron and steel production after the Civil War. Using images from the Picturing America program, as well works in the Museum's permanent collection, we will examine this shift first on a national, then on a local level, discussing its social, economic, and cultural impact. The goal of this conference is to enable Alabama educators to incorporate the Picturing America resources into their curricula for teaching both United States and Alabama History.

"Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible" is a traveling exhibition based upon an exhibition developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D. C., and the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. The exhibition will give public audiences the opportunity to explore the surprising story of the origins, creation, and impact of the King James Bible, including its influence on English and American Literature, and its multifaceted impact on culture and society to the present day. The exhibit will travel to forty public, academic, and special libraries; a planning seminar for librarians and related educational materials support the tour.

With an NEH Summer Stipend I will conduct archival research for, and begin to write, a monograph entitled, "Midwifery and Society in Early Modern England". In it I explore the social history of midwifery prior to the rise of male authority over childbirth in the eighteenth century. The goal of my research is not simply to describe midwives in greater detail, but to apply my findings to a broad range of historical subjects, including childbirth, gender and medicine. Using records from religious and secular courts, the book will explore four main themes: the social identity of midwives and how a woman's status shaped her medical practice; the relationship between midwives and mothers, both married and unmarried; the place of midwives in the medical marketplace and their relationships with other medical practitioners; and, the role of midwives in parish society, both as key figures in the community of women, and as participants in (and beneficiaries from) patriarchal rule.

To support three teacher institutes on "The Freedom Rights Movement in Alabama: From the 13th Amendment through the Voting Rights Act of 1965," "Humanities and Human Rights," and "The Last Great War: Teaching World War II through Art and Literature." Funding will also support the speakers bureau, the "Journey Stories" traveling exhibition, and grants.

The Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) proposes to use its We The People (WTP) grant to: (1) conduct three teacher institutes, (2) underwrite presentations in our speakers bureau program, which relate to American (including Alabama) history and culture; (3) partially assist our Museum on Main Street "Journey Stories" exhibition; and (4) promote our grants program with increased emphasis on WTP.

A preservation assessment of the university archives and special collections documenting the history of the university and women's education in Alabama. The records also include the Olmstead Brothers' original design for the campus, a designated National Historic District.

The Library proposes to hire a Preservation Services Librarian, from SOLINET (Southeastern Library Network), as a consultant. This consultant will spend one and a half days evaluating Carmichael Library's preservation practices and policies. Also, the consultant will evaluate the condition of materials housed in the University Archives and the area used for housing. As a result of the visit, the consultant will produce an extensive report and submit it to Carmichael Library's Archivist and Director. The Archivist and Director will work to order supplies and equipment and to institute new practices recommended by the consultant. The goal of this visit is to facilitate Carmichael Library's creation of a functional research Archives, both physical and digital, and to insure each items longevity.

The 1,000-square-foot panel exhibition examines baseball as a reflection of race relations in the United States, asking how baseball has shaped, and been shaped by, national identity and culture. Photographs, broadsides, team rosters, scorecards, and other baseball memorabilia would tell the story of black participation in baseball, from the integrated amateur leagues of the nineteenth century and the creation of segregated Negro Leagues in the Jim Crow era to Jackie Robinson's now-famous breaking of the color barrier in 1947.

The development of programs that include regional and cultural history for public audiences through the Road Scholars Speakers' Bureau; two teacher professional institutes - "Slavery in Alabama: Public Amnesia and Historical Memory" and "American Literature: From Discovery to the Civil War;" and bringing the "Journey Stories" travelling exhibition to rural communities.

The Alabama Humanities Foundation (AHF) proposes to use its We The People (WTP) grant to: conduct two teacher institutes, 'slavery in Alabama: Public Amnesia and Historical Memory and American Literature: From Discovery to the Civil War; underwrite presentations in our Road Scholars speakers bureau program, which relate to American (including Alabama) history and culture; partially assist our Museum on Main Street "Journey Stories" exhibition; and promote our grants program with increased emphasis on WTP.

General operating support for state or territorial humanities council

speakers bureau presentations, a teacher institute on the history and culture of Alabama's Gulf coast, the Museum on Main Street exhibition "New Harmonies," "We the People" grants, and the development of programming for "Picturing America."

The Alabama Humanities Foundation proposes to use its "We The People" (WTP) grant to: underwrite presentations in our Road Scholars speakers bureau program, which relate to American (including Alabama) history and culture; partially fund a one-week teacher institute, "History and Culture of Mobile and Alabama's Gulf Coast," partially assist our Museum on Main Street "New Harmonies" exhibition, promote our regrants program with emphasis on WTP, and develop programming for Picturing America.

"John Adams Unbound" is a traveling exhibition based upon a larger exhibition of the same name developed by the Boston Public Library. The exhibition uses the lens of John Adams's personal library of 3,500 volumes -- deposited in the Boston Public Library in 1894 -- to reveal and examine for a national audience how the intellectual content and the historical context of Adams's reading reflected, shaped, and informed his world and revolutionary views. The story told in the exhibition is that of a great man committed to a lifelong scholarly humanistic endeavor that profoundly influenced his beliefs and actions. The exhibition travels to 20 public and academic libraries; a planning seminar for librarians and related educational materials support the tour.

To support speakers bureau presentations on Alabama history and culture, a teacher institute on Alabama's Black Belt, the "New Harmonies" traveling exhibition, and a special We The People grant initiative.

The Alabama Humanities Foundation proposes to use its “We The People” (WTP) grant to: underwrite presentations in our Road Scholars speakers bureau program, which relate to American (including Alabama) history and culture; partially fund a one-week teacher institute, “Prisms of Place II: Alabama’s Black Belt;” partially assist our Museum on Main Street “New Harmonies” exhibition; and boost our regrants program with a special initiative on WTP.

A workshop on environmental monitoring for the staff of 13 historic sites across Alabama, which are managed by the Alabama Historical Commission.

General operating support for state or territorial humanities council

My project focuses on the collection and patronage practices of Caterina Sforza and cultural production and consumption within her court. I argue that visual and material culture was fundamental in Sforza’s self-creation as a magnificent and indomitable regent in late 15th-century Italy. Within my analysis, I reveal the complexities and paradoxes of Renaissance women’s agency and sexuality; argue that provincial courts provide information crucial to our understanding of the relationship between politics and culture; and demonstrate that a comprehensive study of the princely courts requires a broad range of visual and material sources and interdisciplinary methods. I am seeking support for the final stage of work on this book project.

No project description available

The AHF will direct its disaster relief programming and funds to small libraries and cultural institutions in the affected areas of Mobile County and southwest Alabama. This may include book purchases, Motheread programming, and oral history initiatives.

Moundville Archaeological Park, a unit of the University of Alabama, requests an NEH Planning Grant of $40,000 to develop new interpretive exhibits at this National Landmark site. Funding is requested to support a one year planning period during which staff from Moundville Archaeological Park will work closely with an advisory group to further develop exhibit themes, select artifacts, and pose key questions that the new exhibits will seek to answer, or in many cases, pose questions to be presented in the exhibits for contemplation by visitors. While a broad exhibit concept has been developed for the museum exhibits, this expanded planning process will flesh out themes and turn the broad concept into a fully developed exhibition plan.