Martin Awarded NEH Fellowship For Book Project
Cathie Jo Martin, Director of the Center for the Study of Europe at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Professor of Political Science at Boston University, has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for research and writing leading to publication of a book on the influence of literature on British and Danish educational systems between 1700-1920.
Martin received the $30,000 fellowship for the project entitled “Literature, Society and Education in Britain and Denmark, 1700–1920.” Martin’s fellowship is one of only 84 awarded by the NEH in this cycle.
NEH is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. NEH promotes excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers. The grants and fellowships strengthen teaching and learning in schools and colleges, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources, andstrengthen the institutional base of the humanities.
Martin is a Professor of Political Science, Director of the Center for the Study of Europe, President of the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, and former chair of the Council for European Studies. Her book with Duane Swank, The Political Construction of Business Interests (Cambridge 2012) received the APSA Politics and History book award, and she has held fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Russell Sage Foundation, among others.
Martin’s most recent article (“Imagine All the People,” World Politics, July 2018) uses machine learning processes to analyze large corpora of British and Danish literature and to uncover the deep cultural roots of education reform. British literary narratives highlight benefits of schooling for individual self-growth (for upper/middle classes). The individualistic cultural slant to British stories have justified the neglect of marginal youth, because celebration of those conquering challenges with self-initiative make it easier to blame those who fail and to dismiss the youth that are left behind. Danish narratives justify schooling as a social investment to strengthen society and have driven Danish investments in educational innovations. Neglect of low-skill youth has been viewed as a waste of societal resources and a threat to social fabric. High socioeconomic equality has been a fortuitous but felicitous side effect of this mandate to educate all the people. Learn more about Cathie Jo Martin here.