NEW YORK, February 1, 2022 — Barnard College announced today that The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a four-year, $5,000,000 grant to support the Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective (CDSC), a group of scholars from five different institutions. Barnard College’s Kaiama L. Glover, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of French and Africana Studies and Faculty Director of the Digital Humanities Center, is a Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant. The Co-PIs are Alex Gil (Columbia University), Schuyler Esprit (Create Caribbean Research Institute), Kelly Baker Josephs (City University of New York), and Mirerza González-Vélez and Nadjah Ríos Villarini (University of Puerto Rico).
“This generous grant will enable us to spark conversations around wide-reaching questions—such as climate change, immigration, the preservation of diverse histories and cultures, and racial and ethnic tensions—and their unique manifestations when considered through the lens of Caribbean scholarship,” said Professor Glover.
Barnard College and its partner institutions will build capacity for digital humanities scholarship on Caribbean and diasporic history and culture in both the United States and the Caribbean through key initiatives, among which are an annual Caribbean Digital Conference; a Caribbean Digital Scholarship Summer Institute; undergraduate programs at the University of Puerto Rico and the Create Caribbean Research Institute; an annual artist’s residency; and at least 12 micro-grants awarded to scholars producing digital content in the field of Caribbean studies.
“The grant allows Barnard to expand its capacity as a gathering place for the burgeoning field of Caribbean digital scholarship, a role that is well suited to our location in New York City, one of the world’s great centers of migration and cultural diversity,” said Provost Linda A. Bell.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s support will enable members of the CDSC to sustain and expand ongoing projects that represent and provide spaces for collaboration among Caribbeanists, including a directory of digital resources concerning the Caribbean and its diasporas, the Carisealand project, and the peer-reviewed online journal archipelagos.
“We are delighted to have been recognized with this funding to support the research of the Caribbean region and its rich culture, and we’re excited to see the work that results from this endeavor under the leadership of Professor Glover,” said President Sian Leah Beilock.
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About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
About Barnard College
Barnard provides a singular educational experience, as a world-renowned college focused on excellence across the arts and sciences, with all the academic resources of Columbia University and the City of New York as an extended classroom. Founded in 1889, Barnard was one of the few colleges in the nation where women could receive the same rigorous and challenging education available to men. Today, Barnard is one of the most selective academic institutions in the country and remains devoted to empowering extraordinary women to become even more exceptional. For more information on Barnard College, contact Barnard Media Relations at mediarelations@barnard.edu. To learn more, follow Barnard on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.