PERICLEAN FACULTY GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Project Pericles invites faculty at Periclean institutions to apply for two Periclean grant opportunities for Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 courses. Funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Eugene M. Lang Foundation, these grants provide up to $4,500 to support faculty in developing or enhancing courses with civic engagement, community partnerships, and/or public scholarship.​ Selected faculty will receive funding for course development, faculty or student stipends, research, travel, and/or community-engaged projects and join a national network of scholars dedicated to advancing civic engagement in higher education. 

Two Grant opportunities

Option A: Mellon Periclean Faculty Leadership (PFL) Grants ($4,500 award)
  • Faculty will develop, teach, and evaluate a new or significantly revised course integrating civic engagement. The course will incorporate:
    • A project where students apply their academic knowledge to address a real-world challenge faced by the community.
      • As part of our commitment to fostering community-engaged learning rooted in mutuality and reciprocity, faculty are expected to provide evidence that the proposed community partner(s) support the idea of the proposal. This may include documented conversations, a narrative detailing the nature of the correspondence, or letters of support. 
  • A dialogue on current civic issues related to course content that prompts students to consider how voting and/or advocacy influences the elected officials who shape the solutions to these issues. 
    • For example, a course could explore themes around housing insecurity, with students engaging in a structured dialogue about local housing affordability and a related policy. Through this discussion, the class would explore the role of elected officials and voting in shaping these programs and policies.
    • ​PFLs are encouraged to draw upon the Project Pericles Civic Engagement Resources—particularly the Deliberative Dialogue module—to guide discussions on civic issues related to the course.  Faculty are encouraged to use the “How to Vote” and “Why Voting Matters” modules to raise connections between their own perspectives on issues and voting for elected officials who make policy decisions. 
  • Proposals must be for the development of a new course, or the substantial revision of a current course. Incorporating a community-engaged project into a course that did not previously have one qualifies as a significant revision.
  • Periclean Faculty Leaders (PFLs) are expected to make their work available beyond the classroom. This can be through organizing an event separate from their course that engages a diversity of campus and community members on issues related to the course (e.g. symposium, performance, or advocacy project), a web page, or a more traditional scholarly format like a conference presentation or paper.  ​
Option B: Mellon Periclean Course Enhancement (PCE) Grant (Up to $3,000)
Faculty will enhance an existing course through one of three tracks:
​
  • Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
    • ​Build students’ civic identities and/or contribute to the democratic health of the community. This may include advocacy, experiential learning, inviting speakers on relevant social justice issues, and civil or deliberative dialogue. 
  • Student Research
    • ​Involve students in a publicly-engaged scholarly project or research that matters to your campus community and the broader public. This includes projects with civic themes that address issues of public interest and use a community-engaged scholarship approach. Ideally, projects will be collaborative and involve diverse stakeholders (including community members) in mutually beneficial ways.
  • Sustaining Community Partnerships
    • Bolster existing community partnerships or community-based projects.
    • Previously funded PFLs who taught courses prior to Fall 2023 and need additional funding to continue an established community partnership are eligible to apply for this track.
    • Note: Faculty interested in developing new community partnerships may qualify for the Mellon PFL program.

​Application 

There are no formal application limits, though we recommend each institution submit no more than two per program or four overall each round regardless of categories.  

Interest in these programs is expected to be high, as are our expectations for high quality work that has impact. Please note that we may not be able to fund all proposals, but we are committed to supporting as many strong endeavors as possible in this critical time.
​
If you have any questions, please email Arielle del Rosario, Associate Director at [email protected]. 
​Deadline
For a a course taught in Fall or Spring 2025, applications must be submitted to Project Pericles by Monday, April 14, 2025. Awards will be announced in June 2025.

For a course taught in Spring 2026, applications must be submitted to Project Pericles by Friday, October 3, 2025. Awards will be announced in December 2025.

Applicant details

Overview
At a time when fostering civic-minded leadership is more critical than ever, Project Pericles is committed to empowering faculty to engage students in meaningful, inclusive, and collaborative civic learning. We believe the humanities and arts provide powerful tools for interrogating contested concepts, generating knowledge, and building intellectual communities to address today’s pressing societal challenges.
Project Pericles invites applications from faculty from Periclean institutions for two complementary opportunities aimed at strengthening connections between course content, community-engaged learning, and civic skill-building. 
Courses must have a humanities orientation or incorporate humanistic inquiry. However, they do not need to be housed within arts and humanities departments.
Selected faculty will:
  • Join a community of scholars across the nation dedicated to civic engagement 
  • Contribute their work to Project Pericles online curricular resource database
  • Serve as advocates and thought leaders for civic engagement activities at their institution
  • Advance public scholarship across higher education and share their work with colleagues across the nation. 
This program is generously funded by the Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the Eugene M. Lang Foundation.
Eligibility
  • The following faculty are eligible to apply: Those from a Periclean member college or university who are tenured, tenure-track, or long-term non-tenure track faculty expected to teach beyond 2026.
  • Please work with your campus Project Pericles Program Director regarding details of submission from your specific campus.
  • Faculty from all disciplines at Periclean Institutions are eligible to apply.
    • Courses should have a humanities orientation and/or draw upon humanistic inquiry, but do not have to be in the arts and humanities. 
    • Performing and visual arts qualify.
    • Course proposals that center humanities approaches to learning and research will be considered more competitive applications by the outside evaluators.
    • Faculty outside the humanities might benefit from drawing upon a brief illustrative statement by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences under the heading, “The Humanities in American Life” to describe humanities competencies and activities in their proposal:
      • strive to promote the intellectual development and lifelong education of citizens;
      • respond to the need, in a democracy, for programs that help citizens more fully understand their nation's government, history, culture, and principles; and/or
      • promote citizen reflection on ways of responding to the world
  • Project Pericles Program Directors, if they meet the above faculty requirements, are eligible to apply.
  • Courses may be taught in conjunction with another faculty member from their college or university. The institution can determine how it will handle sharing the $4,500 award with the other faculty member. A co-taught course is considered as one application package.
Mellon Periclean Faculty Leadership (PFL) Program
  • Previously funded Periclean Faculty Leaders are not eligible to apply. They are, however, eligible to apply for Course Enhancement Grants.
Course Enhancement Grant
  • Faculty who currently have an active Periclean Faculty Leader (PFL) Program grant are not eligible to apply.
  • PFL alumni may apply.
Award Use and Distribution
Mellon Periclean Faculty Leadership [PFL] Program
  • Award Amount
    • $4,500 for each PFL course
  • Administrative Honorarium
    • $500 which can be used at the Project Pericles Program Director’s discretion
  • Use of Funds 
    • Member institutions will have latitude for determining how these funds are used to advance the goals of the course, address community needs, and support civic engagement related work
    • The funds can be used for faculty development and to support departmental priorities related to community-based projects and the work of the PFLs
    • Funds may be used for community partners, PFL course expenses and supplies, faculty support, as well as administrative and travel expenses
  • Grant Distribution 
    • Half of the grant will be mailed within two weeks of the award announcement and official acceptance of the grant and terms.
    • Half will be awarded after all required activities are completed, including submitting all evaluation materials
    • All materials must be submitted to Project Pericles 60 days after the end of the course, or by June 1, 2026, whichever comes first. 
Course Enhancement Grant
  • Award Amount
    • Up to $3,000 for each course
  • Administrative Honorarium
    • An additional $250 will be awarded per grant to be used at the Project Pericles Program Director’s discretion
  • Use of Funds
    • Member institutions will have latitude for determining how these funds are used to advance the goals of the course, address community needs, and support humanities related work
    • Funds are to be used for supporting civic and community engagement activities including community partner or speaker honoraria, faculty and student stipends, research expenses, transportation, books and materials, and conference/travel expenses. 
  • Grant Distribution
    • Half of the grant will be mailed within two weeks of the award announcement and official acceptance of the grant and terms
    • Half will be awarded after all required activities are completed, including submitting all evaluation materials
    • All materials must be submitted to Project Pericles 60 days after the end of the course, or by June 1, 2026, whichever comes first. 
Additional Notes for Program Directors and Internal Administration: Administrative honoraria may be used toward Program Directors salary, conference expenses, or other campus civic engagement activities. Program Directors may also re-allocate the administrative honorarium to support faculty grantees. 
Program Directors are responsible for ensuring that the grants are used appropriately, and that the evaluation materials are submitted in a timely manner. Extenuating circumstances or substantial diversion from the approved application should be addressed by the Program Director in discussion with Project Pericles.

Selection Criteria
Fellows will be selected by a panel of academic experts serving as external evaluators, including college presidents, foundation leaders, and Project Pericles staff. Selection will be competitive.

Overall Criteria:
  • Academic rigor
  • Centering humanities approaches to learning/research 
  • Previous success and/or evidence of capabilities in developing curricula that incorporates community-engaged academic work.
  • Creativity and feasibility
  • Evaluation and articulation/measurability of concrete goals/impact 
  • Sustainability and transferability to future courses and other colleges 
  • Connection to civic responsibility

Mellon PFL Program-specific Selection Criteria:
  • Quality of the community-engaged project or research
  • Evidence of a promising mutually beneficial community partnership
  • Quality of dialogue and potential voter engagement elements 

Course Enhancement Grant-specific Selection Criteria:
  • The degree to which the course enhancement empowers students to understand how they can make positive civic and social change


Program Requirements

Learning Communities and Professional Development Opportunities
  • Project Pericles will organize webinars and online knowledge exchanges for grantees to share their work along with open questions and ways to extend and strengthen projects.
    • These will provide a chance to share resources, work through challenges, and create community among civically engaged stakeholders.
    • PFLs will be encouraged to participate in at least one convening.
Reflection Form and Course Assessments
  • Faculty will fill out a post-grant reflection form and submit their course syllabus and assessments collected throughout the course.
  • Course projects, initial teaching, learning, or research findings, and related materials will be submitted to be featured on the Pericles website and through social media to convey the impact of awardees’ work.
This program is part of a three-year initiative, “Curricula for Social Change: Empowering College Faculty, Students, and Communities through Voter Engagement.” This is funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation with additional support by The Eugene M. Lang Foundation (see the press release for more information). The initiative supports faculty to integrate voter education and social justice issues into humanities curricula through deliberative dialogue and community-initiated projects. By incorporating academic content with civic issues students are passionate about, this initiative will transform the lives of hundreds of faculty, thousands of students, and more than 50 communities by empowering them with the skills and resources necessary to build a more inclusive and equitable society. 
​
For a discussion of the PFL Program and examples of successful civic engagement courses, see our White Paper,  "The Periclean Diamond: Linking College, Campuses, Communities, and Colleagues via Social and Civic High Engagement Learning," which discusses the first cohort of Periclean Faculty Leaders. 

Questions?

Reach out to Arielle del Rosario at [email protected] for any support.
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