The Institute for Advanced Study is coordinating proposals from the University of Minnesota for the new Mellon Just Futures Initiative. Grants of up to $5 million for 2–3 years are available.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites proposals from multi-disciplinary teams that include  scholars from the humanities, arts, and humanities-inflected social sciences for the Mellon Just Futures Initiative competition. The program will provide funding to support visionary, unconventional, experimental, and groundbreaking projects in order to address the long-existing fault lines of racism, inequality, and injustice that tear at the fabric of democracy and civil society. This call for proposals seeks to support teams whose work focuses specifically on and addresses racial inequality and its many manifestations. This competition is overseen by the Foundation's Higher Learning program.  

Grants of up to $5 million with a 2-3 year duration will be awarded to multi-disciplinary collaboratories with the intention of generating innovative research, projects, pedagogies, and curricula. We also encourage the formation of multi-institutional teams that may include partners from across the sectors of higher education and from outside the academy.

There is no limit on the number of proposals that the University can submit, but they must meet the guidelines laid out by the Mellon Foundation, that is, involve multi-disciplinary teams “whose work focuses specifically on and addresses racial inequality and its many manifestations.”

The internal deadline for Expressions of interests is August 28, and September 17 for completed proposals. The IAS must submit all proposals to Mellon by noon on September 23.

There will be an information session for potential applicants on Friday, Aug. 21, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (via Zoom), with opportunities to talk with other interested people and potential team members. 

More information—including the full Call for Proposals —can be found here.