Who's a Washingtonian? Grant To Bridge DC's Invisible Divides

Grant Requires New Collaboration Between Two or More Geographic or Cultural Groups

Who's a Washingtonian? Grants ($5000) Current Deadline - Proposals Due: September 1

Visit http://www.wdchumanities.org/grants/deadlines to register for a FREE Humanities Council grants workshop or visit http://grantapplication.wdchumanities.org to begin an online application now.

The Humanities Council requests proposals for grant projects that actively seek to spark dialogue between groups of residents that have historically been isolated from one another either geographically or culturally. Using the humanities disciplines as lenses, these projects will help Washingtonians better understand the ties that bind them such as music, literature, history, religion, and language. 

Each "Who's a Washingtonian?" grant proposal must feature the following three components...

1. A clearly articulated effort to link two geographic or cultural groups in the city that rarely come in contact with one another.

2. A clearly defined theme, explored through the humanities disciplines, that the two groups will explore collaboratively. 

3. A "civic reflection" component. 

Civic reflection discussions have three elements – a group of people, the civic activity they are involved in, and an object (usually a short reading, image or video). We begin by talking about the object in front of us, the thing we share and have in common, and gradually open up into larger questions of civic engagement, social justice, and the work we do in the world. 

- From the Center for Civic Reflection (civicreflection.org)

Examples of potential projects may include:

• Two geographically distant neighborhoods may simultaneously create traveling exhibits on their history and culture and trade them with one another upon completion.
• Long time residents and recently arrived residents may produce an oral history project through which they seek to examine one another’s goals, motivations, and cultures.
• Several religious organizations may host an interfaith conference during which they may discuss their perspectives on the challenges currently facing the DC community
• Book clubs from different neighborhoods may create a project wherein they celebrate their mutual appreciation of a particular work or genre