The SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University has awarded its first-ever SNF Agora Faculty Grants, which will fund 10 projects during the 2021-2022 academic year.
The grants, which were awarded to faculty from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Advanced International Studies, and the School of Education, will fund research and other activities, including an art installation, video projects, and the creation of an interdisciplinary lab focused on public ethnography.
The projects will explore a range of topics related to civic engagement and global democracy, including civic engagement in foreign policy, the Green New Deal, the recent incidents of gendered Asian hate crimes, U.S. immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexican border, and the participation of incarcerated citizens in democracy.
“We are delighted to announce the recipients of SNF Agora’s new Faculty Grants program,” says SNF Agora Inaugural Director Hahrie Han. “This program will allow for Johns Hopkins faculty to pursue innovative approaches to address public problems and will amplify uncommon perspectives on issues plaguing democracies today. We look forward to the many ways these projects will advance the mission and work of the SNF Agora Institute.”
Launched in fall 2020, the SNF Agora Faculty Grants program was established to support and amplify faculty work that is complementary to the institute’s mission. By providing grants, SNF Agora aims to foster interdisciplinary collaborations across and the university and support SNF Agora efforts to reinvigorate global democracy and the civic spaces that fuel it.
As a part of this newly established program, SNF Agora will accept applications for faculty grants annually. Applicants can propose new projects or seek funding to supplement ongoing projects that are closely connected to SNF Agora’s mission. If you are interested in applying for an AY 2022-2023 Faculty Grant, please visit in the SNF Agora website in January 2022 for additional details.
The recipients of the 2021-2020 SNF Agora Faculty Grants are:
“Building Anti-Racist Coalitions and Intersectional Knowledge in the Face of Anti-Asian Violence” will address gendered anti-Asian violence and will seek to create an anti-racist community at Johns Hopkins and in the surrounding community by offering public-facing programs, building anti-racists coalitions, and cultivating relationships with community partners.
- Erin Chung, Associate Professor of East Asian Politics, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Clara Han, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Graduate Studies, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- H. Yumi Kim, Assistant Professor of History, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Communities Affected by Anti-Black Racism Discuss Democracy in Maryland, D.C., and Liberia” is a video project that will explore barriers to democratic participation in communities impacted by Anti-Blackness through dialogue.
- Laura Quaynor, Assistant Professor, School of Education
“Democracy Confined: Using the American Prison Writing Archive to Understand Civic Exclusion and the Lived Experience of Democracy” will consist of a series of events and trainings centered around the American Prison Writing Archive and the democratic participation of incarcerated citizens.
- Stuart Schrader, Lecturer and Assistant Research Scientist, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Vesla Weaver, Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Democracy in Translation, Translation as Democracy” will be a collaborative workshop that invites international scholars to explore how to broaden and refine the concept of democracy to includes it various iterations across the globe.
- Satoru Hashimoto, Assistant Professor of Comparative Thought and Literature, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Establishing a Public Ethnography Lab at Johns Hopkins University” will establish an interdisciplinary ethnography lab at Hopkins. It will also offer a series of public virtual seminars featuring experts in public ethnography and will culminate in a graduate workshop in spring 2022.
- Anand Pandian, Professor of Anthropology and Department Chair, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“A Green Deal in Red States? The Politics of Energy Transition in Rural America” will conduct research on the politics behind a green energy transition in rural America and offer a public forum on the “Green New Deal” for the Hopkins community.
- Michael Levien, Associate Professor of Sociology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Hostile Terrain 94” will bring “HTP4,” an art installation illustrating the impact of U.S. immigration policy at the U.S. Mexico border, to the Milton S. Eisenhower Library in fall 2021.
- Alessandro Angelini, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Sanchita Balachandran, Associate Director of Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum and Senior Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Intellectual Humility, Mutual Recognition, and Democratic Expression” will include two public workshops to explore the question, “How to build into religion and politics the practice of intellectual humility without asking the believer, scientist, or citizen to sacrifice their most deeply held commitments?”
- Dean Moyar, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
“Mobilizing Against the Odds” will consist of research, academic articles, public commentary, and a workshop on civic engagement in foreign policy and the challenges of democratizing foreign policy decision-making.
- Nina Hall, Assistant Professor of International Relations, School of Advanced International Studies
“Race of the Invisible Color Lines” will establish a new undergraduate sociology course that will examine the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) movement and will be available beginning in spring 2022.
- Huei-Ying Kuo, Associate Research Professor of Sociology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences