About

Founded by the College of Arts & Letters in 1984 as the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts and renamed in 2025, the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good helps advance research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. To accomplish this goal, the institute provides faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the College with three main types of support.

Internal funding

We directly fund research projects and creative works, domestic and international travel, fieldwork, summer study opportunities, thesis and dissertation enhancements, as well as publication and production costs. We also provide funding for lecture series, visiting scholars, and academic conferences.

Proposal development

We assist faculty members in identifying specific external grant opportunities, developing appropriate research teams, preparing competitive proposals, and interpreting sponsor feedback. We also offer workshops on publishing and grantwriting as well as an annual webinar series that connects faculty to external sponsors.

Conference support

We provide professional support for all phases of academic event planning and implementation, including budget development, financial processing, materials preparation, facility management, catering, logistical support, and day-of-event management.

The institute is led by the College of Arts & Letters’ associate dean for research and strategic initiatives, Kate Marshall.