Bernardin Grants and Haskell Awards

Francis M. Bernardin Research Development Grants

Each year, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences awards five Bernardin Grants to promote faculty research. These grants provide course buyout monies for faculty applying for research grants, allowing them to prepare, complete and submit research proposals.

Haskell Distinguished Teaching Award

In recognition of the Haskell family and their significant contributions to UMKC, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences allocates awards to support the completion of a scholarly project or creative work conducted by faculty.

How to Apply

Visit the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) to learn more about these grants and awards and find out how to apply.

Cafe Faculty Awards page

Past Grant Recipients

Bernardin Research Development Grant

John Barton, Department of English
Lynching Plots: African American Literature & Anti-Lynching Activism, 1835-1935

Lyn Elliot, Department of Media, Art and Design
Short film Charming Tales of Illegal Immigration which examines family stories about ancestors who came to the U.S. illegally

Elijah Gowin, Department of Media, Art and Design
Visual art book on black self-taught artist Lonnie Holley and his art environment in Birmingham, Alabama

Joseph Hartman, Department of Media, Art and Design
Eye of the Hurricane: Politics of Art, Architecture, and Climate in the Modern Caribbean book-length study exploring how hurricanes have shaped the political, cultural, and visual landscapes of the Caribbean in the twentieth century

Diane Mutti Burke, Department of History
Archival research for a large-scale book project that explores the experiences of diverse refugee populations throughout the US South and Border States during the Civil War

Jeff Rydberg-Cox, Department of English
Research questions that describe Marc Chagall’s 1975 illustrated edition of Homer’s Odyssey describing the book and its eighty-two lithographs as a physical artifact

Haskell Research Development Grant

Rebecca Best, Department of Political Science and Philosophy
Co-author with Professor Jeremy Teigen on investigating whether Americans receive messaging about the effect of DEI policies on military effectiveness differently from different messengers

Brian Frehner, Department of History
The impact of allied bombing on Naples’ cultural heritage and the role of the Monuments Men

Sirisha Naidu, Department of Economics
Industrial Food Systems and Economic Wellbeing — studying food chain workers in the animal slaughtering and processing industry and the impact in rural Kansas and Missouri through a feminist political economy lens

Erik Olsen, Department of Economics
Studying firm growth using Form 5500 under different types of ownership structures, specifically employee-owned and conventionally owned firms

Debra Leiter and Benjamin Woodson, Department of Political Science and Philosophy
Survey Kansas voters to establish attitudes, preferences, and knowledge levels of the courts and how campaigns can shape this information

Bernardin Research Development Grant

Matthew Edwards, Department of World Languages and Culture
Publication subvention for Toward Dissent: Accessing Political Struggle Across the Americas

Zachary Frazier, Department of Media, Art and Design
Participation in New York Art Book Fair and research into discrimination in the field of graphic design

Caitlin Horsmon, Department of Media, Art and Design
Documentary film that examines technology, colonialism, and climate change through the lens of three common houseplants

Massimiliano Vitiello, Department of History
The last Pagan women of Rome

Mel Sangyi Zhao, Department of Media, Art and Design
Location scout and visual research in Vancouver for Cougar, a fictional short film

Haskell Research Development Grant

Deja Beamon, Department of Race, Ethnic and Gender Studies
Ohio against the world: community-supported infrastructures and affective belonging in Columbus during COVID-19

Brian Frehner, Department of History
Italian immigrant coal miners: transitioning from coal to oil

Jessica Gantt-Shafer, Department of Communication and Journalism
Documenting reproductive justice activism in Ireland, the U.S., and beyond

Marijana Kotlaja, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Support interview components to evaluate the programs funded under the Violence Prevention Fund

Zhongjin Li, Department of Economics
The dynamics of digital platform companies and their effect on the global economy

Bernardin Research Development Grant

Jennifer Frangos, Department of English

David Freeman, Department of History

Gwen Nally, Department of Political Science and Philosophy

Hyeyoung Shin, Department of Media, Art and Design

Deborah Smith, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Ben Woodson, Department of Political Science and Philosophy

Haskell Research Development Grant

Misty Campbell, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

J. Antonio Molinar and Greg Vonnahme, Department of Political Science and Philosophy

Ye Wang, Department of Communication and Journalism

Joseph Workman, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Bernardin Research Development Grant

Dale Dan-Irabor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Jessica Gantt-Shafer, Department of Communication and Journalism

Marijana Kotlaja, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Lori Sexton, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Michelle Smirnova, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Haskell Research Development Grant

Zachary Frazier, Department of Media, Art and Design

J. Antonio Molinar, Department of Political Science and Philosophy

Greg Vonnahme, Department of Political Science and Philosophy

Whitney Terrell, Department of English

David Trowbridge, Department of History