News

In a testament to its dedication to academic excellence and community engagement, the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida has been selected as a recipient of a prestigious ‘Affirming Multivocal Humanities’ grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The funding, awarded during the fall 2023 semester, marks an important milestone for the department and underscores its contribution to innovative scholarship in the humanities.

The ‘Affirming Multivocal Humanities’ grant will advance the department’s mission by supporting various curricular and co-curricular initiatives over the next two years, including community-engaged student research, a career pathways series, and efforts to promote public understanding of the field.

“We’re thrilled that the Mellon Foundation is recognizing and supporting the work that we’re doing here at UF,” said Bonnie Moradi, chair of the department and professor of psychology. “Experiential learning and community engagement have been longstanding strengths of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. This grant builds on these strengths to provide students with rich research and career readiness opportunities that serve communities and benefit the social good.”

Annually, the department places over two hundred students in more than thirty internship and practicum sites. With the grant’s support, the department plans to establish an alumni mentoring network for students, further expanding its experiential learning program.

According to Moradi, students have responded enthusiastically to grant events and opportunities. Through Mellon grant events, students are engaging with scholars, practitioners, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and alumni across various fields.

Moreover, students have joined research teams funded by the grant, collaborating with faculty on community-engaged research projects. These mentored projects allow students to develop critical skills while providing service to community centers, education programs, health clinics, victim services, and other settings.

“Students are telling us that these experiences are a distinctive part of their UF experience that they will remember and carry forward,” said Moradi.

The grant will also help the department elevate platforms for students and alumni to share the impact of their education in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.

“Our students have inspiring stories about what they’re learning as Women’s Studies majors and how they’re benefiting communities in Florida and beyond,” said Moradi.

Through project activities, participants will reflect on their learning and create accessible and public communications using narrative-building and storytelling techniques. These narratives will not only serve to highlight the personal and professional growth of those involved but will also underscore the significance of their education in fostering positive change within the communities they serve.

Moradi looks forward to leveraging the funding to enhance the department’s intellectual environment and promote broader advancement of knowledge in the field.

“The legacy of this grant will be to capture and share our students’ stories about their learning, accomplishments, and professional pathways as Women’s Studies majors,” said Moradi. “We are thrilled about the student opportunities we can create and we’re proud of our students’ work.”

The Mellon Foundation has granted over $18 million to 95 public colleges and universities across 66 institutions through its ‘Affirming Multivocal Humanities’ initiative. This funding supports activities advancing the study of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Grants were awarded based on institutions’ contributions to gender and ethnic studies. Explore the initiative here.