A new collaborative project at UC Merced will bring together graduate students in the humanities and community organizations to investigate local issues in the San Joaquin Valley. The project seeks to strengthen ties between the university and community partners while giving scholars valuable experience and skills for careers in and outside academia.

A new two-year project at UC Merced aims to bring academic and non-academic researchers together to recast the role of the humanities in public policy and, ultimately, improve the lives of San Joaquin Valley residents.

The collaborative project, entitled “Building Research Partnerships in the San Joaquin Valley: Community Engaged Research and Graduate Mentorship in the Interdisciplinary Humanities,” involves scholars and community organizations.

A theme will be chosen each year, and together the researchers will focus on questions of shared interest in the public sphere and illustrate how humanities research beyond the academy can affect the local, regional, and national dialogues on key issues, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts Dean Jill Robbins said.

The Henry Luce Foundation has funded the $280,000 proposal, one of the largest humanities grants the campus has received.

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