“The Affirming Multivocal Humanities grant provides an incredible opportunity to expand our ongoing work of challenging gender, sexuality, and race-based systems of oppression.”
— Carole McCann, Principal Investigator and Professor of GWST
UMBC’s Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies (GWST) department is excited to announce that we received a $100,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation as part of the ‘Affirming Multivocal Humanities’ initiative. This funding will help us stay aligned with our commitment to inclusive excellence and community-focused education in gender and sexuality studies. The grant supports three dynamic projects that will enhance our community outreach, deepen academic engagement, and expand skill development for our students in GWST.
Projects Funded by the Mellon Foundation Grant
1. LGBTQ+ Oral History Project
This project provides hands-on training for undergraduate students in oral history interview skills. Students will work directly with Baltimore and Washington, D.C. community groups, including the Charm City Kitty Club, Prettyboi Drag, and queer UMBC community members. The oral histories collected will be preserved in UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Special Collection, which helps create a valuable resource for future Baltimore queer history researchers.
2. Korenman Lecture Series
The grant supports the expansion of our Korenman Lecture series, which brings leaders, activists, and artists to our campus. Over the next three years, GWST will host lectures on topics like transgender sexual politics, reproductive justice, decolonizing health, and sexuality and the carceral state. These lectures will include interactive student workshops, which will enrich student learning and engagement in these critical areas.
3. Social Change-Skills Development Workshops
A series of six workshops will give students and faculty some practical tools to spark social change. Topics will include running for political office, identifying and addressing social justice issues, zine making, and using social media for activism. These workshops are intended to empower participants with skills that will help with advocacy in their communities.
This grant fuels our department’s vision to challenge gender, sexuality, and race-based systems of oppression through education and community collaboration. We are incredibly grateful to the Mellon Foundation for supporting our mission and helping us bring these meaningful projects to life.
