America 250 Course Development Grants
Applications are now open for Penn faculty interested in developing undergraduate and graduate courses that engage directly with America 250 and its themes.
The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, also being referred to across the country as America 250, provides the Penn community with an ideal opportunity to re-examine one of the founding documents of our country from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts is offering course development grants to Penn faculty interested in developing undergraduate and graduate courses that engage directly with America 250 and/or the broad themes it inspires us to reflect on, including (but not limited to) democracy, freedom, and citizenship. Applicants should make a case for how the course advances campus and community-wide conversations around America 250. Proposals from all disciplines are welcome.
Proposed courses should draw substantively on collections held by the Kislak Center, University Archives, Library at Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and/or other Penn Libraries repositories. The Kislak Center will provide teaching space and curatorial support for course development and implementation. Five grants of $3,000 each will be awarded for courses offered in spring and fall 2026. The award will be deposited directly into the faculty member’s research fund.
America 250 course development grants have been made possible through the generous support of Vincent S. Marron W'09, a member of the Penn Libraries Young Alumni Board, and Alexandra Solomon.
To Apply
Please send a course title and description along with an explanation of how the course will use primary resource materials held by Penn Libraries to kislakclasses@pobox.upenn.edu. Proposals should not exceed 2 pages in length. Applicants are encouraged to consult with Kislak Center curators and librarians on relevant collections prior to submitting proposals.
Preference will be given to proposals received by March 31. After that date proposals will be considered on a rolling basis depending on the availability of funds.