NEH Allocates $500,000 To K-School

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has given $500,000 to the Kennedy School of Government to expand its "Uses of History" course and to help establish similar courses at public policy schools throughout the country.

Ernest R. May, professor of History, who teaches the course with Richard E. Neustadt, Littauer professor of Public Administration, and Daniel Yergin, a research fellow at the Center for International Affairs, said yesterday the grant will allow the K-School to "develop a large amount of case material for our class and comparable classes at other schools."

The "Uses of History" course at the K-School, which May said is "still in an experimental stage," uses historical examples of analyze public policy problems.

"Informal exchanges to ideas and research among the schools involved will also be possible" because of the grant, May added.

May said the new inter-school program will produce a "general course curriculum" for institutions that teach public administration, "allowing flexibility for differing requirements."

Schools participating in the program include the University of California at Berkeley, New York State University, Carnegie Mellon University and the business schools at the University of North Carolina and New York University.

Mass. Lt. Gov. Tom O'Neill, who formally announced the grant two weeks ago, helped the K-School in lobbying the NEH for the money through his Office of Federal-State Relations.

The K-School has already spent $100,000 in researching case material for its own course and will pay at least 10 per cent of the total project costs, May said.

Peter B. Zimmerman, assistant dean of the K-School, said Monday that "because we are talking about a new program, our contribution has to be front-ended and flexible.