RCA's Bison Arts and Humanities Fund has already supported five faculty projects through designated funds for creative activity and scholarship, with another call for proposals soon going out to campus.
NDSU’s Office of Research and Creative Activity (RCA) has made new investments into scholarship and creative activities through the new Bison Arts and Humanities Fund awards. The projects supported by these awards are representative of a thriving and growing arts and humanities community at NDSU.
Vibrant arts and humanities studies and research at NDSU have long been a hallmark of the institution. These disciplines provide much value to students by helping them develop the skills and the tools required for them to understand the complexities of life and our collective human experience. Important public-facing engagement in the humanities allows an exchange of ideas and the nurturing of creativity; Dennis Cooley, Chair and professor in the School of Humanities and Director of NDSU’s Northern Plains Ethics Institute (NPEI), does this. Last academic year, NPEI ran a forum on the ethical dilemmas humanity faces in a quickly changing technological landscape.
“Supporting the humanities in higher education is important, as they illuminate the human condition, enrich our cultural heritage and equip students with the perspective needed to navigate an ever-changing world,” said NDSU Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Kimberly Wallin. “They inspire creativity, foster ethical reasoning and build bridges of understanding across cultures, which are essential for a thriving society.”
Funding is key for scholars
Internal funding forms a critical building block for scholars to compete for prestigious national external funding. The RCA Bison Arts and Humanities Fund is intended to play such a role as well complement other national awards that have supported NDSU scholars.
Amy Gore, NDSU assistant professor of English, was recently awarded the Reese Fellowship by the American Antiquarian Society. This Fellowship facilitates research in American bibliography and projects related to the history of the book in America and funds a one-month visiting research fellowship. Gore conducted archival research on her project which uses typography to examine the ways in which race and religious affiliation became embodied materially within Indigenous book history.
The Fulbright Program brings international recognition as part of its funding of intercultural exchanges in the arts, humanities, sciences and engineering. NDSU Professor of East European history John Cox received a Fulbright Scholar Award to conduct research in Serbia in 2023 and, in spring 2024, he received a Fulbright Specialist Program award to assist the Inter-University Center in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where he will advise on Balkan programming in the humanities and social sciences.
Cox, a recipient of the new Bison Arts and Humanities Fund for a project coming out of those exchanges, is an internationally recognized literary translator awarded the Serbian PEN Center award for his translations.
Federal funders, like the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH), fund faculty directly as well as partner with organizations to enable the support of scholars. The Massachusetts Historical Society used the latter approach, in awarding NDSU Associate Professor of history Donald Johnson a six-month fellowship to conduct historical research onsite in Boston for his book about the country immediately before July 1776. NEH Summer Stipends are an important direct support for faculty scholarship. Gore and NDSU Associate Professor of Religious Studies Anne Blankenship are both recent recipients of the Summer Stipend awards.
NDSU faculty have also received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support their work. NDSU Professor of sociology Christina D. Weber received an NEH award for her project “Telling Stories, Creating Community: Understanding the Legacies of War at Home.
NDSU Vice President for Research and Creative Activity Colleen Fitzgerald knows firsthand how important arts and humanities are to a student's education. RCA support for arts and humanities projects have included travel, conference and research support.
“Given my own disciplinary training in the humanities and social sciences, I know how incredibly valuable and meaningful these investments are for campus scholarship," she said. "For that reason, our office has a history of supporting work in these areas and plans to continue to do so moving ahead."
RCA Bison Arts and Humanities Fund supports NDSU faculty
RCA's Bison Arts and Humanities Fund has already supported five faculty projects through designated funds for creative activity and scholarship, with another call for proposals soon going out to campus.
The first iteration of the Bison Arts and Humanities Fund invited faculty members in visual or performing arts, design, humanities and relevant social sciences to submit proposals for up to $5,000 to be utilized for early-to late-stage humanities and art projects. Criteria to receive the funding included that their projects would directly support career progression and have the capability to bring national positive attention to NDSU.
- NDSU Associate Professor of English Alison Graham-Bertolini received a Bison Arts and Humanities Award for her work entitled "Illness and Dis/ability in Southern Women’s Literature."
- NDSU Professor of English Adam Goldwyn received a Bison Arts and Humanities Awards for his lecture entitled "Singing the Holocaust: Performing the Non-Survivor Poetry of Yitzchak Katznelson, Hannah Szenes, and Leyb Rosenthal."
- NDSU Associate Professor of anthropology Kristen Fellows received a Bison Arts and Humanities Award for an archaeology project entitled "Archaeological Investigations of Variation in Land Use on Colonial Plantations in Dominica."
- NDSU Assistant Professor of art, photography and design Meghan Duda received a Bison Arts and Humanities Awards for her photography exhibition entitled "Creative Research and Public Engagement: Photographing Future Forests of the Three Rivers Park District in the Minneapolis Metropolitan Region of Minnesota project."
- NDSU Professor of East European history John Cox received a Bison Arts and Humanities Award for his project entitled "Novels Without Wars: A Documentary Film."
"The Bison Arts and Humanities Fund awards continue the momentum of the thriving humanities and creativity on the NDSU campus,” Fitzgerald said. “These funds are only one indicator of the impactful creative activity and scholarship happening here at NDSU and we look forward to seeing what the second call for this funding supports in the coming year."
Philanthropy's major role
Philanthropy has played a key role in growing and nurturing these disciplines at NDSU. An example of this is the NDSU Challey School of Music, named to honor Robert and Sheila Challey’s financial support.
In addition to a history of supporting numerous endeavors across NDSU, including entrepreneurship and music scholarships, the Challey family is currently funding a 9,700 square-foot building addition to the northwest corner of Reineke Fine Arts Center, which will provide teaching studios for faculty, adjunct staff and graduate students; a rehearsal space, practice rooms, extra storage and locker facilities; and a recording facility to accommodate the music program’s massive growth in recent decades.
"Giving from generous donors like the Challeys has driven so much value to our humanities and arts programs," Wallin said. "They have helped students directly with financial support and they have improved our campus facilities."
While philanthropic giving is critical to supporting major projects, support from the RCA office either directly or in partnership with other funding sources has provided many opportunities for NDSU faculty.
In 2023, NDSU Professor of painting and drawing Kim Bromley had 24 paintings entitled “Kim Bromley: Monet’s Garden” displayed at the Charles H. MacNider Museum in Mason City, Iowa. RCA supported Bromley with funding to support travel to France to study Monet's work in person.
“It is critical to provide the needed support for a performance at a key venue, for the subvention needed for book publications, or for essential onsite research travel to an archive to analyze primary data," Fitzgerald said. “What’s more, these internal funding sources can enable our faculty to secure prestigious humanities and arts funding through external sources. In my role as a program officer at National Science Foundation, the partnership we had with the National Endowment for the Humanities gave insight into the longevity and return on investments through local university initiatives.”
RCA also has provided modest support for conferences and convenings, recognizing the significance those events play in the development of ideas and the production of scholarship, while giving NDSU a national and international profile. RCA’s new calls for funding will include this as a specific category of support, as well as continue the travel support program.
This support includes an upcoming event by the American Society for Ethnohistory annual meeting organized by NDSU Associate Professor of History Bradley Benton and an interdisciplinary international conference on disabilities in Eastern Slavic Literatures and Cultures in Paris, co-organized by NDSU Professor of English Anastassiya Andrianova.
“The arts and humanities bring a wider, humanistic lens, and different methodologies, but the same ability to develop solutions facing the major challenges that face North Dakota," Fitzgerald said. "Our scholars are doing meaningful work and dean Wallin is a terrific champion for these disciplines at NDSU. We are both excited to continue to raise the profile of what NDSU scholars are accomplishing.”
