Month: April 2021

Research and Creative Scholarship in the News: Spring 2021

Biden Made a Promise to Scientists. He Can Still Keep It.
Researchers who receive federal help consistently fail to report their results to the public. The government should hold them accountable.

Mellon Foundation to Fund Diversity Programs at Library of Congress
The library will start an initiative, called “Of the People: Widening the Path,” which will encourage diversity among future librarians and archivists. The program is funded with a $15 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, part of a shift by the foundation toward issuing art and humanities grants through what it has called “a social justice lens.”

In the News

Arkansas Professor Is Accused of Hiding Chinese Funding
The professor kept the financial arrangements secret, allowing him to secure other grants from American government agencies that the Chinese funding made him ineligible for.

Articles on Proposal Writing, Grantsmanship and Professional Development: Spring 2021

On Grant-Writing: Just What Are Your Project’s ‘Specific Aims’?
What to include on the most high-profile page of your research-grant application: a section-by-section look at the key structural and content features of a specific-aims page, with tips that will improve the success of your grant application.

Grant writing

Covid-19 Has Robbed Faculty Parents of Time for Research. Especially Mothers
Women with children have lost, on average, about an hour of research time per day on top of what childless scholars have lost. Equity experts have urged colleges and universities to think proactively about how to change policies and procedures so that caregivers, women, and faculty members of color don’t slip out of an already leaky pipeline.

A Research Career at a Liberal-Arts College
It’s been over a decade since this article was first published, and yet it rings true today: the ability to carve out of one’s professional obligations enough time for reading, thinking, and writing should be the true measure of whether an institution is conducive to research.

External Funding Opportunities: May/June 2021

The Andy Warhol Foundation and Creative Capital are offering the Arts Writers grant (due May 19) which supports both emerging and established writers who are writing about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 in three categories—articles, books, and short-form writing. These grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. (Individual Artists, School of the Arts, VMA, WLP)

The National Endowment for the Arts Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities program (due May 20) strengthens the teaching and study of the humanities at institutions of higher education by developing new humanities programs, resources (including those in digital format), or courses, or by enhancing existing ones. Projects must be organized around a core topic or set of themes drawn from such areas of study in the humanities as history, philosophy, religion, literature, and composition and writing skills. The project period can be between 1-3 years and the total award is up to 150,000. (Marlboro Institute, School of the Arts)

Logos for the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, NEH, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Whiting Foundation.

The City of Boston Mayor’s Office for Arts and Culture’s Opportunity Fund (due June 4): The Opportunity Fund aims to support artists in activities that continue their education and skill building, or helps bring free public arts experiences or events into a community located in the City of Boston. Any artist living or working in the City of Boston is eligible to apply. Preference will be given to Boston residents. Grants are awarded up to $1,000. (Individual Artists, School of the Arts, VMA, WLP)

The Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Programs (due June 14) including the Public Engagement Fellowship and the Public Engagement Seed Grant, are designed to celebrate and empower humanities faculty who embrace public engagement as part of the scholarly vocation. The programs fund ambitious, often collaborative projects to infuse into public life the richness, profundity, and nuance that give the humanities their lasting value. The Public Engagement Fellowship of $50,000 is for public-facing projects far enough along in development or execution that the nominee can present compelling, specific evidence that they will successfully engage the intended public. The Public Engagement Seed Grant of up to $10,000 supports projects at an earlier stage of development. Nominees should have fleshed out a compelling vision, including a clear sense of whose collaboration will be required and the ultimate scope and outcomes. Applicants must be nominated by Emerson by June 1 in order to apply. (Marlboro Institute, School of the Arts, School of Communication)

The Society of Environmental Journalists Fund for Environmental Journalism (due June 15) offers a small grant for journalism story projects on a particular topic. This year, the topics are: Environment-climate-religion connections, including underrepresented religions; and Environmental health and justice in the United States, including chemical/toxic exposure and pollution. Proposals that support multiple journalists are encouraged. Award includes a $2,000 stipend per journalist and other travel or project costs up to a total of $5,000.
(Journalism, WLP, Marlboro Institute)

Brown University’s George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Higher Education Fellowships (application opens July 1 until November 1) are designed to augment paid sabbatical leaves for mid-career tenured faculty (Associate professors) who have achieved recognition for at least one major project. The foundation awards a limited number of fellowships each year for independent projects in selected fields. For 2021-2022, the selected fields are Photography and Film Studies, and the fellowship amount is $35,000. (School of the Arts, School of Communication, Marlboro Institute)

Faculty Spotlight: Spring 2021 External Grant Recipients

Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor in the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies received a second two-year grant from the Sociological Initiatives Foundation to continue her research on the effects of heritage language learning and use on citizen formation for high school age Native American youth in public secondary schools in Northern California and how state language regimes are crafting educational policy.

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation is a Boston-based foundation that support projects that use research and related strategies of assessment and inquiry to build knowledge and help address social concerns.

Leonie Bradbury, School of the Arts Distinguished Curator-in-Residence and Director of Emerson Contemporary received a project grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to support the Media Art Gallery exhibit Georgie Freeman: Hurricane Lost, a sculptural video and sound installation that that references extreme weather phenomena and visualizes the effects of our changing climate.

Massachusetts Cultural Council Projects Grants are one-year grants for specific, eligible, public programming to provide access, excellence, diversity, or education in the arts, humanities, or sciences.

Alden Jones, Senior Affiliated Faculty in the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies and the School of the Arts department of Writing, Literature & Publishing received a travel fellowship from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation to travel to Vietnam and Cambodia to study the uses of photography as an antidote to cultural trauma fifty years after the first “viral” photo, “The Terror of War” triggered a great shift in the American perception of the war in Vietnam.

The Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation is a Boston-based foundation whose purpose is to award fellowships to teachers at New England colleges and universities to enable them to study abroad or at new locations within the United States in order to broaden their minds and enhance the quality of their instruction.

Faculty Spotlight: March

Robin Danzak, School of Communication Associate Professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders wrote an article “Someone Else’s Child: A Co-Constructed, Performance Autoethnography of Adoption from Three Perspectives” in The Qualitative Report, an online
journal of qualitative research.

Magda Romanska, School of the Arts Professor of Performing Arts and Executive Director of The Theatre Times published an article “The theatre of cruelty and the limits of representation: Sade/Salò” in
the Intellect Books Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance.

Cathryn Cushner Edelstein, School of Communication Senior-Executive-in-Residence in the department of Communication Studies published a paper “Non-profit Board Membership and the Gender Gap” in Revista Tripodos (Tripod Review) a journal of communication published by Emerson College partner the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations at University-Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén