A Scholar with glasses reads an ancient manuscript

Research & Funding

The Society for the Humanities conducts several grant competitions for research, writing, and travel throughout the year. These grants are intended to foster the excellence in humanities research and writing for which Cornell faculty and graduate students are known. The Society places particular emphasis on innovative, interdisciplinary projects that involve Cornell colleagues from across the various disciplines of the humanities. In addition, the Society is proud to provide funding for humanities events organized by Cornell’s distinguished faculty as well as sponsor six-eight Visiting Fellows each year.

Person holds a beaded national belt of the Haudenosaunee

Rural Humanities

Rural Humanities is an Andrew W. Mellon-supported initiative in public and engaged humanities that uses the tools of the humanities to critically approach, learn from, make visible, and support the realities of rural America, particularly in Central-Western New York: its histories, cultures, challenges, and futures.

Society’s Rural Humanities initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, features a Radically Indigenous focus in the academic year 2021-22, collaborating with the American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program, Cornell faculty, and local community partners to offer a Spring Seminar and a Summer Practicum that address the past, present, and future of Indigenous lives in Central New York and beyond. Additionally, students and faculty can apply for funding to support radically Indigenous research projects.