Gaines Center taking applications for mini-grants for the 2023-24 academic year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 31, 2023) — The University of Kentucky’s Gaines Center for the Humanities is now accepting applications for its mini-grant program for the 2023-24 academic year. Now in its fourth year, the program provides grants of up to $500 intended to support humanities-related programming in the form of a speaker for a virtual, or in-person event or an interactive humanities experience for UK and/or the community.

Since its inception, the mini-grants have sponsored dozens of events across campus offsetting barriers and fostering new relationships in this hyper-digital era. Mini-grant awardees included a variety of campus departments, such as Anthropology, African American and Africana studies, Architecture, Behavioral Science, Mathematics, the College of Medicine, the School of Art and Visual Studies and the Graduate School. 

“This program has become a fixture in the Gaines Center’s commitment to humanities scholarship and teaching across the University,” Gaines Center Interim Director Richard Schein said. “We are always excited by the intellectual vibrancy that is the hallmark of these applications and we are proud to be able to support the programs that emerge from faculty, student, and staff interest in the humanities.”

The Gaines Center will award mini-grants to programs that meet the following guidelines:

• demonstrate a strong humanities focus;  
• allow for maximum participation of faculty, students and/or community members when possible;
• occur before May 1, 2024; and
• list the Gaines Center for the Humanities as a (co-)sponsor on all relevant announcements and marketing materials.

Individuals in any UK college or department are eligible to apply.  

Applications for the Gaines Center’s mini-grant program are due Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. To apply, click here.

Questions regarding the Gaines Center’s grant program may be directed to Chelsea Brislin, associate director of the Gaines Center, at 859-257-1537 or clbris4@uky.edu. 

Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK’s campus. The center is devoted to cultivating an appreciation of the humanities in its students and faculty. The Gaines Center embraces varied paths of knowledge and particularly strives to integrate creative work with traditional academic learning.