The Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln was recently awarded funding from the Mellon Foundation.

The Mellon Foundation granted $100,000 to the program at Nebraska, as part of the foundation’s new Affirming Multivocal Humanities Initiative, which addresses the continuing need for nuanced scholarship on the breadth of the human experience.

The funding will support Gender Unbound: The Counter-Stories Project, and coinciding curricular development for a new 200-level course.

“We are thrilled about the funding,” Shari Stenberg, director of the program, said. “Our project centers counter-stories — narratives by minoritized people that challenge and complicate dominant histories — that deepen our understanding of the rich tapestry of human experience. We are excited about this project because stories and storytelling make the intersections among us visible and tangible, and they point us toward necessary change.”

The project will also include undergraduate research and experiential learning. The Women’s and Gender Studies program will create an oral history project that will allow students to highlight local and national voices. Curriculum on interviewing, storytelling methods, and digital platforms will prepare them.

“We look forward to undertaking research with students to gather stories from community members that may serve as catalysts for conversation, connection and change,” Stenberg, also Adele Hall Chair of Professor of English, said.

A webinar series for community, state and national outreach will connect national speakers to students in the women’s and gender studies programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and University of Nebraska at Kearney. The process and outcomes will be shared at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference.

Established in 1976, the multidisciplinary program within the College of Arts and Sciences offers an undergraduate major and minors and a graduate specialization and minor, organizes and sponsors events and supports student endeavors with funding.

Nebraska’s program is among 95 public college and university programs nationwide that received funding.