CT Humanities Awards $410,000 in Partnership Grants, Funds to Revise Social Studies Standards, Expand Content at International Festival of Arts & Ideas
February 17, 2022 • Grants, Press Release

For Immediate Release
February 18, 2022
Contact: Aimee Cotton Bogush | abogush@cthumanities.org | 860-937-6648
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CT Humanities Awards $410,000 in Partnership Grants, Funds to Revise Social Studies Standards, Expand Content at International Festival of Arts & Ideas

MIDDLETOWN – At their December meeting, the board of directors of CT Humanities (CTH) awarded $410,000 from the CT Cultural Fund to further support statewide collaborations with humanities and arts organizations. The CT Cultural Fund is administered by CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

“A primary goal of the CT Cultural Fund is to connect K-12 teachers and students to strong humanities and arts content and to increase access to that content throughout the state,” says Dr. Jason Mancini, executive director at CT Humanities. “Funding the collaboration between the Connecticut Democracy Center and the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, and our partnership with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, helps all three organizations make great strides in doing this work within a framework of equity and inclusion, benefitting Connecticut’s teachers and students and growing engaged and informed participants in the civic arena.”

The organizations receiving two-year partnership grants this round are:

Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) in coordination with the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies (CCSS) (Hartford/Milford, $250,000), CTDC/CCSS Social Studies Investment Partnership and International Festival of Arts & Ideas (New Haven, $160,000), Ideas Partnership: 2022-2023.

The Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC), in coordination with Connecticut Council for the Social Studies (CCSS), will employ an equity lens to usher a revised set of social studies standards, offer professional development, provide funding for sustainable partnerships between cultural institutions and schools, and modernize the web presence for CCSS.

“This partnership will invest in the critical infrastructure needed so the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies can better advocate and build capacity for high-quality social studies by providing leadership, services, and support to educators in our state,” says Tony Roy, president of CCSS and teacher at Global Experience Magnet School in Bloomfield, CT.

Relevant materials from the partnership will be made available via CTH’s Teach It website and the standards will be available to all educators at no cost.

According to Sally Whipple, executive director at Connecticut’s Democracy Center at Connecticut’s Old State House, “This award is significant because it enables our groups to work together to support and enrich social studies in our state. By helping teachers, we’ll help students, and I can’t think of a better investment.”

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas seeks to expand, diversify, and broaden the content and reach of their Ideas series–the flagship humanities component of the Festival for more than 26 years. This funding enables the Festival to work towards furthering their goals of inclusion, access, and the creation of high-quality humanities programming that reflects the whole of Connecticut.

Shelley Quiala, executive director at The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, explains, “The Festival has benefitted from Connecticut Humanities’ partnership over the years in building a vibrant Ideas series featuring diverse speakers from across Connecticut and the world. This transformational award will make it possible for us to adapt content for schools and universities, connect with our growing statewide population of Spanish-speaking residents and build out year-round content on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, immigration, and the role of the arts in transcending stereotypes.”

About CT Humanities
CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH promotes civic engagement and connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. For more information, visit CTHumanities.org.

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