CCSP 2026 Summer Social Justice Grant
We are pleased to announce the CCSP 2026 Summer Social Justice Grant.
Following a strong response last year, including a large number of compelling applications advancing social justice and the funding of four student projects, this marks the second year of the grant. We are excited to review new proposals and continue working with the SBU student community toward advancing social justice.
We are pleased to offer:
- Two grants ($500 each) for undergraduate students
- Two grants ($750 each) for graduate students
These grants support students across all disciplines who are working, or planning to work, on research and/or activist projects that engage one or more of CCSP’s three focus areas:
- Carceral Studies
- Environmental Justice
- Health Disparities
Projects should aim to bridge academia and activism in pursuit of social justice broadly understood, including epistemic and/or aesthetic justice.
APPLY NOW!
Application Requirements
Applications must be submitted as PDF files to ccsp@stonybrook.edu and include the following materials:- Personal Statement (250 words). A concise overview of your background, academic interests, and commitment to social justice.
- Project Proposal (250 words). A description of how your project relates to at least one of CCSP’s three focus areas, what you plan to accomplish over the summer, and how it contributes to academic, social, epistemic, and/or aesthetic justice.
- One Letter of Recommendation. From a faculty advisor or another faculty member familiar with your work and/or project.
Eligibility
- All SBU undergraduate and graduate students, from any discipline, are eligible to apply.
- Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Application Deadline
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 11:59 PM (EST)
For questions: ccsp@stonybrook.edu
** Grant recipients will be required to participate in a Fall 2026 presentation, where they will share their research, artivism, or social justice work and reflect on the impact of their project.
2025 grantees
Undergraduate Summer Grants - $500/each
Kamilah Pasha - "Mental Health ToolBox"
This project addresses mental health disparities in under-resourced communities by providing Classroom Mental Health Toolboxes to 15–25 classrooms to a Long Island elementary school. Each kit includes tools and materials to support emotional regulation for students, along with take-home resources for parents. Partnerships with local organizations will help expand the project’s reach. This work integrates social work training with a long-term commitment to advancing equitable, community-based mental health care for children.
Merica Griffin - "Indigenous land and cultural sovereignty"
This project combines academic research and creative work focused on Indigenous land and cultural sovereignty. The first component supports ongoing research on public policy and environmental justice in Latin America, contributing to manuscript development for future publication. The second uses environmental artivism through photography to document Indigenous knowledge and highlight Stony Brook University’s location on Setalcott Nation land. With grant support, the project aims to advance scholarship on Indigenous land rights while fostering campus engagement through visual storytelling.
Graduate Summer Grants - $750/each
Clinical Psychology Grad Student - "Using EEG to examine how neural processing of social rejection is influenced by cultural background"
This study examines how race-related social rejection may contribute to mental health disparities by investigating its neural correlates using reward positivity (RewP), an EEG-based marker linked to depression and social processing. By analyzing RewP responses to same-race vs. other-race social interactions, the project aims to better understand how racial discrimination translates into stress and depression risk. This research represents an early step toward identifying culturally sensitive neurobehavioral markers of depression in minoritized populations.
Ariek Norford - "Settler Colonialism, Ecocide, and the Climate Crisis in Occupied Palestine"
This project contributes to a review paper, Settler Colonialism, Ecocide, and the Climate Crisis in Occupied Palestine, for Social Work in Public Health. Focusing on the environmental justice impacts of Israel’s occupation, it examines how land confiscation, habitat destruction, and ecological degradation contribute to health disparities for Palestinians. Drawing on expertise in ecology and farming communities, the research will synthesize findings on olive grove destruction and afforestation. This work also represents a first step in integrating academic research on community-driven conservation with social justice advocacy for the Arab community, building skills to bridge research and practice.