Cornerstone: Learning for Living

The Teagle Foundation's "Cornerstone: Learning for Living" initiative seeks to revitalize the role of the humanities in general education across American institutions of higher education. Recognizing the declining interest and morale in humanities fields, the initiative addresses the critical need for integrating the humanities into the broader undergraduate experience. The foundation emphasizes that general education should not be a collection of disjointed courses but rather a coherent program where students engage deeply with literature, philosophy, and the arts—developing critical skills such as close reading, clear writing, and thoughtful engagement with diverse perspectives. At the core of the initiative is a curricular model inspired by Purdue University’s Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program. This model includes a two-semester gateway course anchored in transformative texts taught by tenure-track faculty, and thematic course clusters that link humanistic inquiry with professional fields like business, engineering, and healthcare. These approaches are designed to foster intellectual community, support a shared academic foundation among students, and demonstrate the relevance of humanities in real-world contexts. The initiative aims not only to serve students in the humanities but especially those in STEM and other pre-professional majors, helping to reduce attrition, improve student belonging, and cultivate participatory readiness for democratic citizenship. The initiative offers two types of awards: planning grants up to $25,000 for 6–12 months and implementation grants up to $300,000 for 24 months. Planning grants support the development of transformative text lists, gateway courses, and coherent curricular pathways, including necessary faculty engagement and governance approvals. Implementation grants fund the execution of fully developed reform strategies, including faculty stipends, course releases, advising support, and student recruitment. Eligible applicants include regionally accredited public and private non-profit higher education institutions, including community colleges, liberal arts colleges, regional institutions, and research universities. Successful proposals will be faculty-led, anchored in transformative texts, demonstrate institutional commitment, and aim to impact a significant portion of the student body. Evaluation criteria include the design quality, student reach, sustainability planning, and assessment strategy. Funded projects must engage in knowledge dissemination and are expected to participate in periodic convenings for shared learning. Applications follow a two-stage process, beginning with a concept paper of 3–5 pages, due by December 1, 2025. This paper must outline project goals, the gateway course structure, targeted student demographics, faculty participants, and a provisional reading list. Selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals by April 2026. Projects may begin as early as summer 2026. For inquiries, applicants are directed to contact Loni Bordoloi Pazich, Program Director, via bordoloi@teagle.org. The foundation encourages institutions to refer to its toolkit and FAQs to guide proposal development.

Successful proposals must be faculty-led, target incoming students with transformative texts, and demonstrate institutional support and long-term sustainability.