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Items & Issues Newsletter: June 2026

This Pride month, our newsletter takes a closer look at gender and sexuality, rich fields of study that offer vital insights into broader social life. From 1996 to 2006, the SSRC’s Sexuality Research Fellowship Program (SRFP), with support from the Ford Foundation, catalyzed a new generation of sexuality scholars in a wide range of academic disciplines, including anthropology, communications, history, and sociology.

Applications now open: The LEGO Foundation Fellowship

As part of its 40th anniversary, the LEGO Foundation invites applications for the LEGO Foundation Fellowship, a new global research fellowship for early- and mid-career researchers whose work can strengthen the understanding of how children thrive across diverse contexts. The fellowship has been developed in partnership with the SSRC, which will administer the program and oversee the application and selection process.

Driving University Impact: Expanding the Public Exchange Network

With generous support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Social Science Research Council is pleased to invite U.S. R1 research universities in SSRC’s College and University Fund for the Social Sciences to apply to join the Public Exchange Network. Public Exchange is a new network that turns university research expertise into real-world action and impact. Foundedat the University of Southern California in 2020 and expanded to Washington University in St. Louis in 2025, Public Exchange connects researchers with government, nonprofit, and industry partners to tackle pressing challenges—from disaster recovery and climate solutions to food insecurity and homelessness prevention.

SSRC and Wallace Foundation Release New Research Report on Community-Based Arts Organizations

This week, The Wallace Foundation and the Social Science Research Council released Building Trust, Sustaining Art, a major cross-cutting research analysis that offers field-level insights into how 18 arts organizations navigate trust, artistic value, labor, governance, and placemaking amidst a shifting cultural and funding landscape. The SSRC’s Arts Research for Communities of Color (ARCC) Fellowship matched 18 early-career researchers with each of the Thriving Communities organizations.

Items & Issues Newsletter: May 2026

This month’s theme focuses on youth and child development—an area of study in pursuit of greater flourishing and more equitable outcomes for all children and young people. The Council recently announced the LEGO Foundation Fellowship, developed in partnership with the LEGO Foundation as part of the Foundation’s 40th anniversary. This global initiative supports researchers working to deepen our understanding of how children thrive. Spanning disciplines from education and psychology to public health, data science, and humanitarian studies, the fellowship brings together early- and mid-career scholars whose work has the potential to generate evidence that matters for children’s lives.

Announcing the LEGO Foundation Fellowship

The Social Science Research Council is pleased to announce the LEGO Foundation Fellowship, a new global research fellowship developed in partnership with the LEGO Foundation. The fellowship will support early- and mid-career researchers whose work can strengthen understanding of how children thrive across diverse contexts. Applications open June 1.

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