Whittier College receives $1.5M from Mellon for interdisciplinary humanities curriculum  innovation

California’s Whittier College has announced a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a multiyear curricular initiative embedding humanistic inquiry across its liberal education program. The award will fund the creation of the Hub for Humanistic Inquiry and Practice designed to drive faculty development, interdisciplinary teaching, and course redesign. The goal is to sharpen critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills while linking humanities methods to career readiness and community engagement. The initiative includes expanded research, internship, and experiential learning opportunities for students under a updated liberal arts framework.