The Five College Consortium in western Massachusetts has received a $2.5 million grant to enhance Native American and indigenous studies.
Awarded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the grant is one of the largest received by the consortium in its more than 50-year history.
The four-year grant will be used to develop expanded curriculum, hire more faculty, recruit more Native American students and put on special programs, according to UMass Amherst professor Laura Furlan, the chair of the Five College’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Committee.
She spoke with WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill.