
The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity invites proposals for projects related to the advancement of the CRE2 research mission and the 2020-2023 CRE2 Programmatic Themes. CRE2 will award up to two Scholar Grants of up to $15,000 in response to this RFP. The principal aim of this program is to assist in the development of scientific, humanistic, and cultural methodologies that can aid the completion of exemplary scholarly enterprises. Priority will be given to research projects that:
- Include early career faculty as principal or co-principal investigators;
- Support undergraduate or graduate assistance in the completion of scholarly activities;
- Focus on areas of critical interest to CRE2, the campus, and St. Louis community;
- Support the continued work of a previously funded CRE2 Research Working Group; and
- Have not previously received CRE2 grant support, with the exception of Small Grants.
Only CRE2 Faculty Affiliates are eligible to apply for grants under this program. Eligibility is limited to one CRE2 grant program per year as principal investigator, with the exception of the Small Grants program.
The submission cycle for Scholar Grants is currently closed. The next submission cycle will open in January of 2024, with CRE2 Faculty Affiliates being notified of the RFP via email.
Project award periods are for 12 months beginning July 1, 2024, with an extension of up to 6 months available upon grantee request and approval from CRE2 leadership.
Proposals must include an Abstract and the following sections: Overview/Aims (200 words); Significance and Innovation (200 words); a Project Description (800 words); Timeline; Budget and Budget Rationale; current CVs for all investigators; and (if applicable) references, description of any human subjects, and appendices.
The Project Description section should (1) discuss how the Scholar Grant will enhance the feasibility of completing a project within 12 months; and (2) include subsections on Foundational Perspectives, Research Questions/Inspiration, Methods, and Data/Materials.
All Scholar Grant proposals that are approved for funding and involve the use of human subjects must obtain appropriate human subjects approval through the University’s Institutional Review Board before CRE2 funds are disbursed.
Project budgets may request up to $15,000 in direct costs to support any activity that directly relates to the successful conduct of the project. There are no indirect costs paid on CRE2 Grants. Budget items may include support for data entry, interviews, data acquisition, access to restricted-use data, travel costs related to data collection or meetings with collaborators, space rental, salary compensation or contribution to research accounts (salary and compensation should be kept to less than 20% of the award amount), artist stipends, creative materials, curatorial support, editing, and graduate and undergraduate research assistance. The Center will not pay for computer equipment when that computing can reasonably be accomplished with the existing equipment on campus. Unspent funding at the end of the project period will revert to the CRE2 Grant pool unless a request for a time extension is submitted and the CRE2 Co-Directors approve the request. Budget Rationales should include outside resources (if any) that will be used to achieve the aims of the project.
The CRE2 Leadership Team will screen all submitted proposals to determine whether the proposals meet the program’s goals. Proposals will be reviewed by a Grant Selection Committee composed of the CRE2 Leadership Team and at least two Faculty Affiliates. In addition to the preferences mentioned above, the following prioritized criteria will be used in evaluating the proposals:
- The availability of funds from a second source of support (i.e., research center, institute, academic unit)
- The overall quality and significance of the proposed scholarly work
- The likelihood that the proposed project will be completed with allotted funds
- Whether a project has received funding for a scope of work from other sources that CRE2 could augment (that is, the scope of work, not just the funding)
- Supports the continued work of a CRE2 Research Working Group
The Center’s Associate Director will monitor progress on Scholar Grant projects. Grantees will provide an expense report upon request. Grantees will submit a final progress report and any products of the grant within one (1) month after the end date of their Scholar Grant period and will notify CRE2 of any proposals and scholarly works subsequently submitted or awarded/accepted. Potential grant products and scholarly works include publications; grant proposals; recordings; installations or exhibits; documentation of conferences, symposia, or residencies; and scholarly awards or honors. All products generated with the support of a CRE2 Scholar Grant will acknowledge the program using the statement, “This work has been funded by the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity at Washington University in St. Louis Scholar Grant program, but the views remain those of the authors.”
2023 Scholar Grant Awardees
Black Children’s Joy and Educational Justice: A Mixed Methods Study on Classroom Implementation and Effectiveness of a School District’s Strategic Plan around Anti-Racism and Wellbeing

Seanna Leath
Assistant Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Email: leath@wustl.edu
Black Family Systems Black Feminist Theory Education Gendered Racial Identity Development Psychosocial Stress Qualitative Methods
(Dis)Placing Necaxa: Power Networks and Erased Histories in Mexico (1890s-1914)

Diana Montano
Assistant Professor of History
- Email: dmontano@email.wustl.edu
Environment, Ethnicity, Law, Technology, Transnational business/professional networks
2022 Scholar Grant Awardees
Radical Blackness: Afro-Brazilian Sovereign Acts, 1550-1850
Investigating Patient Stigma through Visual Arts

Carrie Coughlin
MD, MPHS, Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine
- Email: coughlinc@wustl.edu
Congenital melanocytic nevi Health literacy Pediatric dermatology Shared decision making Stigma

Richard Dunham
Assistant Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine
- Email: dunhamsr@wustl.edu
Medical education Narrative Medicine Professional Identity formation Social determinants of health Stigma
2021 Scholar Grant Awardees
Penetrating America: Colonial Replay and the Making of a Supercaste
The True Colors of Money: Racial Diversity and Asset Management

Ohad Kadan
H. Frederick Hagemann, Jr. Professor of Finance and Vice Dean for Education and Globalization