University of Michigan National Center for Institutional Diversity calling for applications for ‘Anti-Racist Digital Research Institute’
The grant is worth $5,000.
The University of Michigan’s National Center for Institutional Diversity is calling for applications for anti-racist mini-grants to increase research contributing to anti-racist thought.
The mini-grant program is called the “Anti-Racist Digital Research Institute,” and researchers must apply by Friday, December 20. Applicants are eligible to receive $5,000. Any University of Michigan faculty, staff, or graduate students who wish “to advance the work of anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and social justice” are eligible to apply.
“Awardees will gain a deeper understanding of anti-racist digital research methods and develop a learning community of anti-racist digital researchers and practitioners,” the program description says. “Throughout the institute, you’ll work with peers and digital scholarship technical and methodology experts to develop an ethical, sustainable, and justice-oriented digital project proposal and plan.”
Successful applicants for the Anti-Racist Digital Research Institute must participate in summer classes and other activities over a twelve-week period to receive the grant money. Proposals must demonstrate “strong evidence of anti-racist (ethical, collaborative, participatory, reparative) principles in the project design” and “potential for impact in the proposed field of study.”
According to its website, the National Center for Institutional Diversity’s mission is to “produce, catalyze, and elevate diversity research and scholarship” in order to “create a more equitable and inclusive society.”
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Campus Reform has previously reported the Center’s efforts to encourage anti-racist research. In 2022, the Center partnered with the University of Michigan’s Office of the Vice President for Research to award $450,000 for research into “persistent racial disparities embedded in [various] systems.”
Many other colleges and universities have similar mini-grant programs. For example, the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Art’s Dean has a program to award students diversity, equity, and inclusion grants of up to $3,000.
Meanwhile, Elon University in North Carolina gave faculty and staff members up to $500 this semester for DEI. The I-Excel Mini-Grant is “designed to support faculty and staff members at Elon University in enhancing their self-awareness and critical consciousness in matters of diversity, equity and inclusion,” the description says.
Other initiatives have appeared at Drexel University, Stanford University, Northwestern University, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Rhode Island.
Campus Reform contacted the University of Michigan and the National Center for Institutional Diversity for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
