The new School of Civic Life and Leadership has appointed former Duke University professor Jed Atkins as dean and director and has designed a new multidisciplinary minor to offer students of all majors training in the humanities and civic and scientific literacy.

The new Weldon Thornton Memorial Teaching Award and Society will affirm the central place of the humanities in the arts and sciences tradition that has long defined a Carolina education.

A four-year, $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will significantly advance Carolina’s efforts in humanities education, research and teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill.