Vanderbilt University and Berea College Partner on Humanities Initiative


Berea College is partnering with Vanderbilt University to establish a new faculty development initiative to support specialized training for new Vanderbilt Ph.D.’s in preparing students for teaching at liberal arts colleges and historically black colleges and universities.

The Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Initiative, funded by a $1.475 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will also fund a postdoctoral and faculty exchange that will support faculty development and undergraduate education at the partner schools.

The faculty exchange program is designed to promote the sharing of ideas and perspectives, as well as provide opportunities for research. It will involve campus visits to Vanderbilt from faculty at partner schools and campus visits to those schools by Vanderbilt faculty members.

Also participating in the partnership with Vanderbilt University is Tennessee State University and Tougalo College. Three Vanderbilt Ph.D.’s will receive Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships and teach at Berea, Tougalo or Tennessee State University beginning in fall 2014 with the program set to last two years.

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Tags: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Mellon Partners For Humanities Education Initiative, Vanderbilt

Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College only admits academically promising students with limited financial resources—primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia—but welcomes students from 41 states and 76 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of nine federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work 10 hours or more weekly to earn money for books, housing and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” speaks to its inclusive Christian character.