USD’s College of Arts and Sciences receives one of two prestigious NEH grants awarded in San Diego

SAN DIEGO – Following a rigorous and highly competitive review process, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) selected USD associate history professor Dr. Thomas Barton to receive a $60,000 fellowship, one of the largest NEH research grants ever received by USD’s College of Arts and Sciences. 

The grant will fund a twelve-month research leave to support the completion of Dr. Barton’s third book, From the Hands of the Infidels: The Christianization of Islamic Landscapes in Premodern Europe.

The book seeks to enhance our understanding of European expansionism during the high and late Middle Ages by exploring how the invading Christians within Iberia, established their ecclesiastical institutions and networks on territories wrestled from Muslim control through the formation of dioceses, parishes, and monastic houses.

“I’m so grateful to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Sponsored Programs for supporting me with my application. The fact that the National Endowment for the Humanities is willing to fund researchers at a teacher-scholar institution like USD speaks volumes about how much our research profile has grown over the years.” Said Dr. Barton.

Dr. Noelle Norton, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences echoed the excitement. “Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities are rare, but we're not surprised that Dr. Barton was selected. His research is stellar."

For more than fifty years, the NEH, an independent federal agency, has underwritten hundreds of the nation’s most significant humanities projects through its fellowship programs. This year, NEH awarded a total of $14.8 Million for 253 humanities projects nationwide, which represents only eight percent of the Fellowship proposals received.

About the University of San Diego

The University of San Diego sets the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanity’s urgent challenges. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. USD recently concluded our successful $317M Leading Change: The Campaign for USD, which represented the most ambitious fundraising effort in the history of the university. In September 2016, USD introduced Envisioning 2024, a strategic plan that capitalizes on the university’s recent progress and aligns new strategic goals with current strengths to help shape a vision for the future as the university looks ahead to its 75th anniversary in the year 2024.