The American Philosophical Association (APA) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a renewal of a previous grant from the foundation. The grant will provide $660,000 over three years (2018–2020) to continue to support and facilitate the expansion and development of the Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI) program and the development of infrastructure to support it and other undergraduate diversity institutes.
PIKSI was founded to encourage students from groups underrepresented in philosophy—people of color, LGBTQ people, women, people with disabilities, and people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds—to pursue advanced studies in philosophy and continue on to the professoriate. Through this renewal grant, the APA will provide three further years of funding to PIKSI-Rock, now in its twelfth year at Pennsylvania State University’s Rock Ethics Institute, and PIKSI-Boston, which was founded in 2015 thanks to the prior Mellon grant and additional support from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Boston.
In addition, the renewal grant will allow the APA to continue to provide infrastructure to support these and other undergraduate diversity institutes and their alumni through networking and professional development opportunities, outreach and promotion, and data gathering efforts.
Of the grant, APA Executive Director Amy Ferrer said, “The APA is delighted to be able to continue providing funding and other support to PIKSI and all undergraduate diversity institutes in philosophy, thanks to the generosity of the Mellon Foundation. We look forward to working with diversity institute leaders, alumni, and supporters in the coming years to help these important programs continue to grow and flourish.”
