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Author: Diana Potter
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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)
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)
Mneesha Gellman 
Leonie Bradbury 
Alden Jones
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.
Robin Danzak 
Magda Romanska 
Cathryn Edelstein
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.
Eric Gordon 
Nejem Raheem 
Bethany Nelson
Eric Gordon, School of the Arts Professor and Director of the Engagement Lab and Vassiliki Rapti, affiliated faculty in the department of Visual and Media Arts edited a new book “Ludics: Play as Humanistic Inquiry” published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Nejem Raheem, Associate Professor of Marketing Communication and environmental economist and his students were featured in a new report by The National Marine Sanctuary System featuring the 2018 study that Professor Raheem and his students conducted of the economic contributions of whale watching passengers in NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The study was funded by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
Bethany Nelson, Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director in the department of Performing Arts has a new book “Urban Playmaking: Constructivist Teaching with a Radical Agenda” published by Routledge Books.
Julide Etem 
David Kishik 
Katerina Gonzalez Seligmann
Julide Etem, affiliated faculty in the department of Visual and Media Arts has a new article “A Transnational Communication Network Promoting Film Diplomacy: The case of Turkey and the USA, 1950–86” in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television published by Taylor & Francis Research Insights.
David Kishik, Associate Professor of philosophy in the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies has an article “Homo Schizoid: Destituent Power & Nonrelational Life” in Ethics & Politics, an open access philosophical journal published by the philosophy department at the Italian Università di Trieste in Northern Italy.
Katerina Gonzalez Seligmann, Assistant Professor in the department of Writing, Literature and Publishing has a new essay “Sounding the Americas: The Politics and Aesthetics of Racialised Acoustics” in the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies published by Taylor & Francis Research Insights.
Kim McLarin 
Spencer Kimball 
Maria San Filippo
Kim McLarin, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the department of Writing, Literature and Publishing has a new book James Baldwin’s Another Country: Bookmarked published by Ig Publishing that will be released on February 9, 2021.
Spencer Kimball, Assistant Professor of Political and Sports Communication and Director of Emerson Polling was interviewed by NBC10 Boston about a new PBS New Hour-Marist poll and what it reveals about partisanship since the January 6 attack on the capitol.
Maria San Filippo, Associate Professor in the department of Visual and Media Arts has a new book “Provocauteurs and Provocations: Screening Sex in 21st Century Media” coming out in February from Indiana University Press.
Recently we have received some inquiries from faculty about publishing their articles in academic journals. A number of funders make awards with the goal of a research article resulting from their funding. Often a research article is a scholarly summary of what has been done during the grant period, with arguments to support the validity of the conclusions reached. In a future post, we will discuss the differences between writing a research article and writing a grant proposal; for now, we’d like to share some tips on preparing journal articles for submission.
Faculty who are writing and preparing journal articles for submission, and going through the submission process may find useful this pre-submission checklist from the Taylor & Francis Group, which publishes books and journals across a wide range of subjects and disciplines including Social Science and Humanities books under the Routledge, Psychology Press and Focal Press imprints.
Here are a couple of other helpful tips from the late Howard B. Altman, professor emeritus at the University of Louisville, founder of the Center for Faculty and Staff Development, and Kentucky’s statewide faculty development consortium, as reprinted with permission by Union University’s Center for Faculty Development:
- Have at least one colleague (whom you trust) read your manuscript critically and give you feedback. Two colleagues are even better. Consider this feedback as you revise the manuscript.
- If you are not certain that your article is really appropriate for a given journal, contact the editor and ask. Don’t just send it in and wait to get feedback.
- If you need to publish (lest you perish), aim for journals whose rejection rate is not so high. (You can get this information from editors.)
- It is often easier (and frequently more prestigious) to publish in foreign journals. (And some foreign journals actually pay for contributions!)
- Consider finding a co-author. . .ideally one who brings to the writing task skills and knowledge which complement your own. Two heads are often better than one.
- If your submission gets rejected, don’t give up! Ask the editor for reader feedback (if this hasn’t been sent to you already). Consider a revision which takes into account the objections/ recommendations of these readers. If you do this revision, resubmit the paper to the same journal. (It will probably be sent out again to the same readers for a second evaluation.)