The Humanities Institute is pleased to announce grants received by two of its centers from the recent COVID-19 Special Grants Initiative through the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme office!

Center for Folklore Studies director Katey Borland (Comparative Studies) and recent PhD and former CFS graduate associate Rachel Hopkin received $25,000 for their proposal Covid Conversations: Life in a Time of Corona, a podcast to be produced by Dr. Hopkin that will feature conversations between Ohioans who are professionally and/or personally involved with the arts and humanities and their paired counterparts around the globe. Covid Conversations will be archived at the Folklore Archives and made available on the FolkOhio website and other media channels. Dr. Hopkin is a BBC-trained journalist and award-winning radio producer whose reports and documentaries have been broadcast on media outlets around the world, including the BBC, National Public Radio in the US, and national networks in Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, and Ireland. The first podcast is expected to air early in the fall.

What does Religion Sound Like in the Age of COVID-19? Center for the Study of Religion associate director and American Religious Sounds Project co-PI Isaac Weiner (Comparative Studies) and ARSP content producer Lauren Pond were funded with $15,000 in support of a collaborative, sonic-based exploration of American religious life in the age of COVID-19. Building on a special initiative of the ARSP, they will gather audio recordings documenting how religious practice is changing during a time of social distancing and church closings. These recordings will be integrated into the project’s existing digital archive, and there are plans to create an interactive digital exhibit based on what is learned, which will be featured on the website and in a sound installation at the Urban Arts Space in Summer 2021.