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University Press of Colorado awarded a SHARP Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

October 27, 2021

Louisville, CO--The University Press of Colorado (UPC) has been awarded a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (#SHARP) grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The NEH announced earlier this month $87.8 million in American Rescue Plan funding to nearly 300 cultural and educational institutions to help them recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. Grants awarded are supported by $135 million in supplemental funding allocated to NEH by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

UPC was awarded $56,250 to support a new humanities position that will enable the press to continue developing the University of Wyoming Press imprint, a project that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will support the hiring of an acquiring editor for the Wyoming imprint who will acquire books in the public humanities, environmental humanities, and projects that deepen our understanding of the quality of democracy in the United States.

University Press of Colorado Director, Darrin Pratt, said, “The University of Wyoming joined the UPC’s institutional membership in July 2019, with the understanding that we would build an imprint for the university. We were well on the way to delivering on this promise when the pandemic disrupted our plans. This #SHARP grant will allow us to jump-start that process and get back on track adding to the permanent scholarly record in key humanities areas.”

Wyoming’s membership in UPC is a strategic initiative of the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries, who will likewise oversee the forthcoming imprint. “Historically, the University of Wyoming has never had an academic press imprint in its 135-year existence,” said David Kruger, UW Agricultural Research Librarian and Project Director on the #SHARP grant. “Naturally, UW Libraries is very pleased that this NEH grant and our ongoing membership in UPC can finally make that Wyoming imprint a reality for the state and its flagship university.”

Founded in 1965 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership corporation, the University Press of Colorado, including our Utah State University Press, University of Alaska Press, and University of Wyoming Press imprints, exists to advance and disseminate knowledge globally by publishing significant scholarly works and making them accessible. In addition to facilitating communication among scholars, we also strive to provide the peoples of the states we serve and the larger region with a fair assessment of their histories, cultures, and resources.

For more information about University Press of Colorado—including Utah State University Press, University of Alaska Press, and University of Wyoming Press—please visit https://www.upcolorado.com/.

For more information about the University of Wyoming Libraries, please visit https://www.uwyo.edu/libraries/.

For more information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and the NEH SHARP grants please visit https://www.neh.gov/news/neh-awards-878-million-arp-relief-funding.

University Press of Colorado University of Alaska Press Utah State University Press University of Wyoming Press