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Applicants should explain how their project is related to and unique from other projects in their topic area.  If their project is part of a larger project, explain the interrelationships. 

(1)

“What’s Going On?” grew out of an earlier effort to explore this topic.  While the confrontations of 1967 were a pivotal chapter in the history of Newark, the events have received little scholarly attention and have never been the subject of an exhibition – a fact that became clear in the Historical Society’s 2004 collaboration with the Institute for Race, Ethnicity and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University.  The project, entitled The Long Hot Summers in Retrospect: Urban Unrest in 1960s New Jersey, resulted in a call for papers and subsequent conference by community members and scholars to explore issues related to race, economics, the media, culture, politics, and the urban environment.  The event drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 160 people – the largest on record for any single Historical Society educational program.  Many in the audience lived through the 1967 unrest in Newark.  During the conference, several noted that this was the first time a public forum on the topic had been offered.  The urban violence of those years is seldom examined within the context of the times in which they occurred and therefore are often misunderstood, yet their impact is still felt by city residents today and remains visible in Newark’s physical landscape.  Members of a community advisory group grew out of The Long Hot Summers conference confirmed that these topics resonate with state residents and that there is genuine interest in exploring them in public forums.  As with the 2004 conference, the planning phase of “What’s Going On?” has enjoyed enthusiastic participation from the scholarly community.  The fact that we have developed the project in concert with institutional partners and a group of community advisors who lived through the unrest makes us confident that we will produce a critical and engaging presentation. 

(2)

ReEntry is a theatrical play based on interviews with marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their friends, families, and loved ones.  This play is about coming home.  During times of conscription, it is likely that the average citizens will have a relative or friend in the military.  But given that our armed forces are currently all-volunteer, the gap between those citizens who have a personal connection to the military and those who do not have never been wider.  For those without a personal connection to war, it can be tempting – and fairly easy – to turn one’s gaze away, especially when the realities can be painful to endure.  ReEntry builds a bridge over that gap, creating a work of art that welcomes back those who have turned away.  In association with this play, Two River Theater Company, in collaboration with Monmouth University, will be hosting a series of humanities events, titled ReEntry: FYI.  Each event will look more closely at the subjects that sit at the heart of a dialogue about our service men and women’s experiences and our responsibility to them once they’ve returned.