Syracuse Initiatives

In June 2007, Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life moved from the University of Michigan to Syracuse University (SU).  As part of our commitment to the national agenda and to our organizational host, we join our many local colleagues in enhancing SU as a model for excellent public scholarship and practice.  Supported by Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor’s vision of Scholarship in Action, we are honored to be part of strengthening SU as what Cantor calls “an anchor institution” in this city and region. 

One of our first initiatives is The Imagining America Grant.  Launched in the fall of 2007, the IA grant supports new courses at Syracuse University that emphasize public scholarship and practice; benefit some component of the community and SU students; demonstrate the likelihood of becoming sustainable; incorporate the arts, humanities, or design; and serve a democratic purpose (e.g., encouraging community participation around a relevant issue, helping solve a shared problem, or modestly contributing to neighborhood revitalization).  A committee of four assessed the first round of proposals and included Lori Brown, Associate Professor, Architecture; Jan Cohen-Cruz, Director, Imagining America, and University Professor; Pamela Heintz, Director, Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public & Community Service; and Louise Wetherbee Phelps, Professor, Writing Program. 

Click here to read project descriptions of 2008 grant recipients.

For more information about Syracuse Initiatives, contact jmhaft@syr.edu.