Penn awarded $1.533 million by Mellon Foundation for academic project

The Andrew W. Mellon foundation recently awarded $1.533 million to Penn to fund a five-year project called "The Inclusive City: Past, Present and Future."

The research project is an extension of the Humanities, Urbanism, and Design (H+U+D) Initiative that the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Design, and the Penn Institute for Urban Research jointly launched.  

The H+U+D Initiative allows students and faculty to investigate the history of 21st century cities, using humanities and design disciplines. This project will continue to serve as a model for the "The Inclusive City," with a focus on exploring the urban diversity and inclusion of cities. 

"The Inclusive City" is a multidisciplinary exploration, drawing on collaboration from numerous Penn departments including Architecture, City and Regional Planning, Fine Arts, Historic Preservation, Landscape Architecture, Africana Studies, and Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World. 

Penn IUR co-director Eugénie Birch expressed excitement to take part in the project. 

“We are really excited to continue all the wonderful work we have done over the past five years, with our thanks to the generosity of the Mellon Foundation,” Birch said. 

The grant from the Mellon foundation will also continue to fund undergraduate and graduate research programs, design and humanities lectures, seminars, and public lectures. 

David Brownlee, a Penn professor and historian of modern architecture, will be leading the initiative with Penn IUR co-director Eugénie Birch. 

Brownlee said in the Almanac that the project will not only aid the academic pursuits but it will also advance the social goals of the department.

“The project has twin objectives: to stimulate inter- and multi-disciplinary work on diversity and inclusion in the built environment and to build an increasingly diverse and inclusive community of scholars who do this work,” Brownless said.