New College of Florida Professor of History David Harvey has penned his third book titled The French Enlightenment and Its Others: The Mandarin, the Savage, and the Invention of the Human Sciences. Recently published by Palgrave Macmillan, the book focuses on the French Enlightenment's engagement with the cultural and racial diversity of humankind, considering the writings of major thinkers of the period and reports from travelers, officials, missionaries and explorers on "exotic" cultures.

"I was particularly interested in the legacy of the Enlightenment related to globalization and cross-cultural encounters and the parallels to modern-day debates on these issues," Harvey said about writing the book.

Thanks to a travel grant supported by donors to New College and a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society, Harvey was able to pore over original 18th-century letters, books and periodicals at the National Library of France in Paris and at the French colonial archives in Aix-en-Provence. Through these primary sources, the book illustrates that there was no single Enlightenment view of the non-Western world, but instead a society steeped in contentious debates on the causes and significance of racial difference, the relative merits of civilization and primitivism, the universality of religious belief, the legitimacy of slavery and colonialism, and the meaning of (and possibility for) human progress.

Professor Harvey is chair of the Division of Social Sciences at New College of Florida. In addition to the Enlightenment, Harvey teaches courses at New College on modern European history, the French Revolution and the Age of Imperialism. Harvey earned his masters and doctoral degrees from Princeton University and his bachelor's degree from Rice University.

We were honored to nominate Wells Fargo for the Tampa Bay Business Journal inaugural Corporate Philanthropy of the Year award. In just two years, Wells Fargo has generously donated a total of $25,000 to New College of Florida for scholarships and general support.

Last year, Wells Fargo graciously awarded a $10,000 grant to our scholarship program, affording six minority students living in the Gulf Coast region (Sarasota, Bradenton and Hillsborough counties) an opportunity to attend New College. Recently, we received another $10,000 grant from Wells Fargo and are in the process of determining which minority students will receive financial assistance this year. We were fortunate to have Debra Faulk, Wells Fargo Community Affairs, attend our annual Scholarship reception where she was able to meet Destinie Candis, one of Wells Fargo's scholarship recipients.

Wells Fargo also extended its kindness to New College for an event, "Housing, What's Next" featuring a panel discussion of distinguished housing experts, including Wells Fargo's Chief Economist, John Silvia. Wells Fargo gave $5,000 to the college for event sponsorship, helping to ensure the college remains one of the leading institutions in the Gulf coast region, Florida and the nation.

In today's difficult economic times, the generosity of others is even more unique. On behalf of the faculty and staff of New College of Florida, as well as the students of tomorrow who benefit, we thank Wells Fargo for its philanthropy, kindness and commitment to higher education.