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Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation, Inc.

Notice: Grantmaking suspended effective immediately

The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation has canceled its spring 2012 grant cycle due to the death of its founder, Mary D.B.T. Semans. The Board and staff apologize to all who were planning to submit. We know that preparing a proposal takes time and energy, and we regret that are not able to review proposals this spring. More information about our future operations will be forthcoming to current and potential grantees in the coming months.

Posted 2-20-12
Fall 2011 Grants Awarded
Human Sexual Function
No awards
Medical History
Adonna Thompson
Increasing access to the Sir William Osler scrapbook
$3,575
Medical Ethics and Humanities
Claudia Koonz
What happens to their children? Policy and Research related to the Children of Parents in Detention Facilities
$2,500

Daniel Mark
Off the Grid Continuing Medical Education Conference
$1,500

John Moses
Documenting Medicine: Using Documentary to Enhance Medical Education
$4,400
International Studies
Mary Boatwright
2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians, Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill, May 3-6, 2012
$1,500

Caroline Bruzelius
800 Years in 8 Minutes: Time and Change at San Lorenzo Maggiore in Naples
$1,000

William Donahue
From Walls to Bridges: The Cultural Legacy of Divided Germany
$5,000

Malachi Hacohen
Human Rights: The Historical Formation of a Research Field
$1,500

Anne-Marie Iselin
Cross-cultural perspectives on adolescent well being
$4,000

Deborah Jakubs
Sharing Expertise: A Chile-Duke Librarian Exchange
$4,700

Kelly Jarrett
Arab Springs: Revolution and Repression
$2,000

Roger Lucey
Hear No Evil
$5,000

Sumathi Ramaswamy
Philip Stern

Cartography and Creativity in the Age of Global Empire
$2,000

Ann Marie Rasmussen
Bridging Past and Present in German Studies: Two Workshops with Professor James A. Schultz (German, UCLA)
$1,500

Claire Terhune
Biogeographic contexts of early Homo dispersal to Europe
$3,000

Sarah Wolfe
Traditional Medicine use in Gondar, Ethiopia,: Evaluation of the impact on skin diseases
$4,000

The Trent Foundation was established in 1977 by Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and her second husband, Dr. James H. Semans, to honor the memory of her first husband, Dr. Josiah Charles Trent.  Twice a year, in the spring and the fall, the Trent Foundation assists faculty and staff members of Duke University by providing modest grants for projects whose funding might be difficult to obtain from other sources.

The foundation is most interested in work that tests new ideas, projects that share cutting-edge work, or conferences or symposia that promote intellectual engagement by the Duke community.  The foundation particularly encourage applications from junior faculty.

Advice to Applicants

The foundation's staff welcomes and encourages inquiries from applicants regarding the fit of their projects with the foundation's interests. See the Proposal Requirements & Reporting Guidelines for more information.

Areas of Funding

Human Sexual Function

Clinical or laboratory research involving human sexuality or reproduction, with emphasis on the psychobiological aspect of sexual function and dysfunction

Medical History

Research projects, conferences, speakers, etc. in the area of medical history

Medical Ethics and Humanities

Conferences, speakers, or research on ethical issues in the fields of medical and biomedical research, treatment and practice as well as in the areas of medical professionalism, mind/body connection, spirituality/faith, and related topics; in short, humanism in medicine

International Studies

The foundation's international studies grant-making intends to increase faculty and student knowledge of other countries and/or to deepen cultural exchange. The foundation supports conferences, lectures, research, and other projects that will have a broad impact on the Duke community. The foundation particularly encourage projects that engage students in significant ways and that may encourage students to consider diplomatic careers.  Students are not eligible for direct funding.  (Note:  The guidelines for this funding area were revised in 2007.)

What the Trent Foundation funds

The Trent Foundation offers funding to Duke faculty and staff for research projects, invited speakers, seed funding for pilot projects, research service learning if faculty involvement is essential to the project and the student will produce an intellectual product, and other program support.  In the case of conferences, the foundation prefers to fund those held at Duke, but will consider proposals for those elsewhere.  Grants normally average $3,000, with a maximum of $5,000, and are available for one year. A second request for the same project has a diminished chance of funding.  If successive proposals are submitted, a summary of previous Trent funding and the relationship of the initial results to the additional request are required.

What the Trent Foundation does not fund

The Trent Foundation does not fund indirect costs, publication subventions and generally will not fund visiting scholars. Neither undergraduates nor graduate students are eligible to apply for grants.

Trent Foundation Board of Directors


Founders

Dr. and Mrs. James H. Semans

President

Ben P. Jones
Norwich, VT

Vice President

Peter C. English, M.D.
Durham, NC

Secretary/Treasurer

James E. Coleman                                          
Durham, NC

Other Board Members

William H. Chafe
Durham, NC

Rebecca Trent Kirkland, M.D.
Houston, TX

Josiah C.T. Lucas
Charlotte, NC

Jean Spaulding, M.D.
Durham, NC

Staff

Mimi O'Brien
Executive Director

Kristin Anderson
Assistant Director

Trent Foundation History

The Trent Foundation was established in 1977 by Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and her second husband, Dr. James H. Semans, to honor the memory of her first husband, Dr. Josiah Charles Trent. The foundation assists faculty and staff members of Duke University by providing seed grants for projects addressing medical history, medical humanities, human sexual function, and international studies. Since its inception, the Trent Foundation has awarded 504 grants totaling more than $1.39 million to Duke faculty and staff members. Together with members of the Trent and Semans families, the foundation also established the Josiah Charles Trent Professorship in the History of Medicine and the Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities at Duke University, to support two of Dr. Trent’s lifelong passions.

Direct Trent Foundation
Questions to:

Kristin Anderson
Associate Director
The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation
Box 90600
Durham, NC 27708
Tel: 681-1967

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