Troy University Receives Landmark Grant to Highlight Alabama’s Cultural Diversity
People gather at the unveiling of a historic marker at John Robert Lewis' Birthplace.
Troy University’s College of Fine Arts and Communications (CCFA) has received a landmark grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities.
The grant, entitled (Re)reading Alabama’s Cultural Archives: Connecting Place to its Multitudes, is intended to fund a three-year grant project worth $449,000, which will be utilized to support an innovative project to explore Alabama's cultural history and social justice legacy, constructed by Dr. Michael Thrasher, Dr. Kirk Curnutt and Dr. Priya Menon.
“We feel very fortunate that Mellon chose to recognize the need for this type of project in the south and in our state in particular,” said Curnutt, who is the chair of Troy University’s English Department. “This is a great opportunity to demonstrate that, we should refer not to STEM but to STEAM and integrate the arts (A) within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.”
The primary goal of this project is to become a major resource of arts preservation, providing scholars and community members access to a history of cultures that rarely makes it into “formal settings.”
“My own personal goal is to make the populations this grant will serve proud of our professional efforts,” Curnutt said. “It's not quite folklore, but it is the art of the folk.”
CCFA is looking to build an archive that will give students direct experience in the digital humanities by building a resource for appreciating under-documented cultures in Alabama.
This grant will aid in research, documenting, editing and storing works of cultural merit.
“We want to capture those things and preserve these works of art, making it available for future generations to access and experience,” said Thrasher, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts. “It elevates our standing in the academic community and will bring a lot of attention to our arts and humanities programs,.” Dr. Thrasher expressed the enthusiasm he had when he first heard the news Troy University received the Mellon grant.
“Success breeds success,” Thrasher said. “When you start to see we can do that, it’s like this locomotive of momentum that starts moving forward, and that’s what I wanted to cultivate in this college.
“We can compete with the best universities around the state and around the nation and get these kinds of awards you usually think of going to the flashy, name-brand type schools.”
Menon, Director of the University Honors Global Scholars Program was eager to receive the grant for CCFA.
“A grant of this scope will undoubtedly enhance Troy University's visibility as a prominent research institution,” Menon said. “I hope this grant will enable us to create a comprehensive repository of Alabama’s cultural life.”
Menon hopes the grant will challenge the perception that Alabama lacks culture and instead highlight its richness and complexity.
“Despite cultural and social differences, we are all connected by shared human concerns, enhancing the program’s global perspectives,” Menon said. “I’ll be thrilled if this grant can help highlight and celebrate varied cultural productions of our beautiful state.”
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