In 2019, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded the Mondavi Center, UC Davis, a $600,000 multi-year grant to support a new approach to undergraduate education called SHAPE (Science, Humanities and Arts: Process and Engagement).

In partnership with University Honors Program, First-Year Seminars, and the UC Davis Humanities Institute, we developed SHAPE in response to Mellon’s invitation to “create new curricular and research models…demonstrating the significance of the performing arts to the teaching and research mission of your university.” 

Following a successful pilot period, during which grant-funded resources for faculty to create a unique series of 11 courses over the 2020‐21 and 21‐22 academic years, the Mondavi Center and First Year Seminars are exploring the continuation of SHAPE for future academic years.

For more information, contact Ruth Rosenberg, Mondavi Center Director of Arts Education and Artist Engagement, rrosenberg@ucdavis.edu