The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded two grant fellowships to University of Michigan faculty members for their respective work in humanities-based advanced research programs—one focusing on Jewish culture and “feuilleton,” the other on works by George and Ira Gershwin.

Shachar Pinsker, professor of Middle East studies and Judaic studes, and Jessica Getman, Gershwin Edition managing editor, were among university faculty and independent scholars who received the awards. The NEH recently announced $29 million in grants to support 215 humanities projects nationwide.

The grant that was awarded to Pinsker and co-directors Professor Naomi Brenner (Ohio State University) and Professor Matthew Handelman (Michigan State University) will support the project titled Below the Line: The Feuilleton, the Public Sphere, and Modern Jewish Cultures. The grant will fund conferences at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at the University of Michigan, bringing together a diverse international group of scholars working on the feuilleton, the public sphere, and Jewish cultures. 

Getman's grant is for her project Critical Edition of the Works of American Composers George Gershwin (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983). The grant will fund Getman and co-project director Mark Clague's preparation of a critical edition and performance scores of works by George and Ira Gershwin, including music for string quartet, symphony orchestra, Broadway musicals, and film scores.

The NEH, an independent federal agency created in 1965, supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation.