Environmental Humanities Grant Overview

This grant program funds projects that center the humanities in the study of environmental problems and the climate crisis. Incorporating social and cultural approaches into environmental and climate discussions can help critically examine taken-for-granted concepts from multiple angles and generate new forms of knowledge production. See the call for applications for more details.

This grant program is part of the Center for Science and Society's Co-Production of Knowledge Initiative. Funded by the Mellon Foundation.

2025 Grants Awardees

Recipients

  • Ton-Nu Nguyen, Graduate Student in History
  • Quynh Luong, Graduate Student in East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Description

  • A multidisciplinary approach to the study of rivers and the intersection of environmental engineering and nation-building. 
  • Artists and researchers will create an archive of essays, oral histories, performance, and research about the Hoa Binh hydroelectric dam in Vietnam. 

Recipients

  • Catherine Fennell, Associate Professor of Anthropology
  • Andrew Bauer, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University
  • Marcus de la Fleur, Landscape Architect
  • Rebecca Graff, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Lake Forest College
  • Shemuel Israel, President of North Lawndale Greening Committee

Description

  • Uses anthropological and environmental methods to analyze the history of residential demolitions and its impact on the urban environment in Chicago. 
  • A public-facing excavation will also gather historical, environmental, and local histories. 
  • Local students will be trained in excavation methods.

Recipients

  • Taylor Mitchell, Graduate Student in Anthropology
  • Crina E. Tañongon, Assistant Professor of Communications at University of the Philippines Cebu

Description

  • Helps to combat climate change and food insecurity through the revitalization of traditional food systems in Cebu, Philippines.
  • Creation of an online seed archive documenting the techniques, cultures, and stories about Indigenous food practices through art, poetry, and research.