The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the 2023 awardees of the ACLS Project Development Grant Program. Project Development Grants are designed to support scholars in teaching-intensive roles whose research agendas can make important advancements in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.

“Supporting the scholarly ambitions of faculty in teaching-intensive roles is a key strategic priority of ACLS,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “We are excited to recognize the promising research of these scholars, who will bring the insights of humanistic inquiry into undergraduate classrooms and diverse communities across the United States.”

The winning projects illuminate issues of critical importance to society, such as the complex interactions of religion, law, and politics; the roles of race in the formation of national identities; and the ethical treatment of animals in agriculture. This year’s awardees are:

  • Edward Brudney, Assistant Professor, History, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
    Changing the Rules of the Game: Labor, Law, and Citizenship in Argentina, 1973-1983
  • Francisco Chen-López, Assistant Professor, World Languages and Cultures, Spelman College
    Mapping the Chinese Diaspora: Chinatowns in Latin American Narratives
  • Adam Lee Cilli, Assistant Professor, Behavioral Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg
    Necessary for My Release: Racial Policing and Criminal Justice Reform during the Great Migration
  • Christabel Devadoss, Assistant Professor, Global Studies and Human Geography, Middle Tennessee State University
    Rust Belt Representation: Race, Rurality, and Everyday Experiences
  • Nick Dorzweiler, Visiting Assistant Professor, Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies, Wheaton College (MA)
    On Air: Harold Lasswell, NBC Radio, and the Psychotherapy Program for the American Masses
  • Gaby Greenlee, Adjunct Faculty, Art History, Santa Clara University
    Inka Borders and the Power of Volatility: at the Fringes and Edges of Textile and Territory
  • Larissa Kopytoff, Associate Professor of Instruction, History, University of South Florida
    Contested Claims: Law, Islam, and Citizenship in French Colonial Senegal
  • Juan Pedro Lamata, Assistant Professor, English, California State University, Los Angeles
    Masterless Renaissance: Rogue Form from Utopia to Hell
  • Judith Mansilla, Instructor, History, Florida International University
    The Legal and Social Limits of Corruption and Dishonest Behavior in Early-Modern Lima, Peru
  • Nicholas McLeod, Assistant Professor, History, Rider University
    Practicing Pan-Africanism: West Indians, Governance, and Nation Building In Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, 1949-1966
  • Diana Moore, Adjunct Associate Professor, History, City University of New York, John Jay College
    Navigating the Culture Wars: Religion and Feminism in Late Nineteenth-Century Italy
  • Josh Mund, Visiting Assistant Professor, Philosophy, Tulane University
    The Ethics of Humane Animal Agriculture
  • Osama Rehan Siddiqui, Assistant Professor, History and Classics, Providence College
    A Science of Society: Indian Economic Thought in the Age of Liberalism and Empire
  • Monica Styles, Assistant Professor, World Languages and Cultures, Howard University
    Afro-Peruvians in the Colonial Latin American Literary Canon
  • Mimi Winick, Affiliated Scholar, English, Virginia Commonwealth University
    Ecstatic Inquiries: Religion, Literature, and the Feminist Mythological Imagination, 1870-1980
Meet the Grantees and Learn About Their Projects
2023 ACLS Project Development Grants

Each grantee receives $5,000 which may be applied to any costs that will support their project, including travel to the field or collections; research assistance; course buyout or summer salary; child- or eldercare; and other research- or project-related expenses.

Project Development Grants are competitive and awarded as a component of the ACLS Fellowship Program. The program is funded by the ACLS endowment, to which many individuals and institutions have contributed, including the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Arcadia Charitable Trust, the ACLS Research University Consortium, ACLS Associate member network, former fellows, and individuals and friends.

Recent ACLS Award Announcements

ACLS Fellowship and Grant Programs