In support of the university’s Call for Action on Racial Justice, the Global Arts + Humanities offered a 1:1 matching funds opportunity in conjunction with the Seed Fund for Racial Justice for proposals that foreground arts and humanities methods, orientations and interventions. We are proud to announce that two projects supported by GAHDT have received grants from the ODI/OR Seed Grant for Racial Justice: Arts-Based Anti-Racist Initiatives in High Schools and Hidden Figures Revealed: Dynamic History and Narratives of Black Mathematicians at The Ohio State University.

Arts-Based Anti-Racist Initiatives in High Schools

This team plans to build upon pilot efforts in anti-racism and DEAI (diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion), using the Wexner Center for the Arts’ international, contemporary programming — films, art, performances, readings — to spark important conversations and integrate anti-racist efforts into curricula.

Lead PI: Johanna Burton (pictured, left), Wexner Center for the Arts
Community Partner: Big Walnut High School
Co-Investigator: Joni Boyd Acuff, Associate Professor, Arts Administration, Education and Policy

Hidden Figures Revealed: Dynamic History and Narratives of Black Mathematicians at The Ohio State University

Nearly 200 mathematicians have earned degrees in mathematics at Ohio State who identify as Black, and many have become prolific researchers, authors, high school teachers, economists, department chairs, lawyers and university presidents, yet they remain “hidden.” This case study will be the first comprehensive historical study of Black mathematicians at a single U.S. institution.

Lead PI: Ranthony Edmonds (pictured, left), Department of Mathematics
Community Partners: Jerolyn Barbee, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center of the Ohio History Connection; David Goldberg, The National Math Alliance
Co-Investigators: Cathy Ryan, Department of English; Jasmine Roberts, School of Communication; Elizabeth Newton, Battelle Center/Integrated Systems Engineering, Public Policy; Joshua Edmonds, Office of Diversity and Inclusion