UCARE Grant

Supporting Undergraduate Research

The College of Arts & Sciences supports its students with the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (U.C.A.R.E.) grants.  Its purpose is to support  students and faculty in intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and innovation. The grants fund students to travel to professional and creative conferences, to engage in research with faculty, and to present their work at professional and creative events. The College has supported over 100 students in activities that support their professional growth and success.

Jonathan Harris, M.F.A., Assistant Professor of Film and and chair of the Department of Film, Communication, and Performing Arts at Clayton State, received U.C.A.R.E. grants from the College of Arts & Sciences to help support students' submission of their short films to more than 25 national and internal film festivals. One of his students, Esperanza Gabriel, said her film, Banana Dog’s Revenge, was accepted as an Official Selection of the Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles as well as the Geekapalooza Film Extravaganza in Everett, Washington. The submission fees for these festivals are substantial and our students would not be able to submit, enter, and win awards at these festivals without the support of the College of Arts and Sciences.

With U.C.A.R.E. grants provided by the College, Shontelle Thrash, M.F.A., Associate Professor of Theatre and Communication, has taken numerous students with her each year to the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) the largest theatre conference in the Southeast, which conducts over 400 workshops covering every aspect of theatre and some film. Collectively, the students participated in over thirty workshops, ranging from acting, movement, Shakespeare, musical theatre, to juggling, singing, improvisation, dance, choreography, improvisation, dialects, and much more. In 2024-25, seven students attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference, which took place in Baltimore, MD through UCARE grants.

In January 2025, nine students attended the “National Opera Association, Sacred in Opera Presentation” with Dr. Kurt- Alexander Zeller.