Clemente Awarded Two NEH Grants
March 29, 2019
The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced that Clemente is among its 2019 grant recipients, awarding two grants totaling $198,930 to expand its work in the NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War initiative. The grants will grow the Clemente Veterans' Initiative to three new sites.
CVI was developed in 2014 to provide a meaningful intellectual community to veterans who are struggling to adapt to civilian life. CVI is based on the idea that guided discussion of humanities texts can provide these veterans with an opportunity to reflect on their military experiences and move out of isolation and into community.
One grant will establish a two-year CVI program in Providence, RI. The other will support three new 12-week dialogues with veterans. Dialogues use humanities texts from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary literature to explore themes of war and reconciliation, considering universal human experiences and questions. Dialogues will be held in the Spring of 2020 in Houston, TX; Newark, NJ; and Tacoma, WA.
All courses will be offered free of charge to participants. Books, child care, and transportation assistance will be provided at no cost. Transferable college credit will be available from Bard College.
“We are deeply appreciative of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ continuing support for our Veterans’ Initiative,” said Lela Hilton, Executive Director of the Clemente Course. “It reaffirms our belief that engagement with the humanities is central to our ability to participate most actively in our communities, and to live a full and joyful life. To co-create and share this experience with veterans is a true honor.”
One grant will establish a two-year CVI program in Providence, RI. The other will support three new 12-week dialogues with veterans. Dialogues use humanities texts from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary literature to explore themes of war and reconciliation, considering universal human experiences and questions. Dialogues will be held in the Spring of 2020 in Houston, TX; Newark, NJ; and Tacoma, WA.
All courses will be offered free of charge to participants. Books, child care, and transportation assistance will be provided at no cost. Transferable college credit will be available from Bard College.
“We are deeply appreciative of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ continuing support for our Veterans’ Initiative,” said Lela Hilton, Executive Director of the Clemente Course. “It reaffirms our belief that engagement with the humanities is central to our ability to participate most actively in our communities, and to live a full and joyful life. To co-create and share this experience with veterans is a true honor.”
You will live as long as your life has meaning. I embarked on this educational journey to satisfy my life’s desire to learn. This opportunity crossed my path at the right moment and is supplying me with the chance to evaluate my ability to perform on the college level with like-minded people within the veteran’s community, where a person can always find support. All of the instructors and staff are helpful! Thank you for this possibility. – George, Coast Guard, Ocean City, NJ The New Jersey Clemente Course Veterans Initiative (CCVI) launched its second cohort on September 25, 2025, welcoming twenty-four veterans from every branch of service. The cohort includes eight women; and while most come from communities across New Jersey, the course has also drawn participants from New York. Part of the wider Clemente Veterans Initiative and operating in partnership with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and Atlantic Cape Community College , the CCVI brings transformative humanities education to those who have served.
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