Fine Arts and Humanities Scholarship Initiative

The College will allocate funds to support the Fine Arts & Humanities Scholarship Initiative.

The funds are in support of the important creative activity and scholarship of faculty in the fine arts and humanities, and in alignment with the college strategic plan. Individual awards are limited to $20,000. The grant period is a calendar year. 

Application Deadline

Deadline to apply is October 9, 2023

Initiative Goals

• Enrich fine arts and humanities scholarship
• Enhance visibility of the arts and humanities locally and in the region
• Provide discover and training opportunities for arts and humanities students
• When appropriate, result in grant proposals submitted to external funding agencies or organizations

Eligibility

• Faculty members from the following College of Arts & Sciences departments can apply for funding from this program:
  • Anthropology (if humanities focused)
  • Art & Design
  • English
  • History and American Indian Studies
  • Languages & Literatures
  • Music
  • Philosophy & Ethics
  • Theatre Arts
• Proposals from faculty working in other Arts & Sciences departments proposing a project with a clear Fine Arts or Humanities focus will be considered, as will collaborative proposals between Fine Arts and Humanities faculty and faculty in the Social Sciences and/or Math and Science divisions.
• UND policies and procedures must be followed for expenditure of funds including purchases, reimbursements, payroll appointments and hiring processes. Please note that according to UND policy, anything purchased with UND funds is the property of UND (e.g., supplies, books, equipment, etc.).
• More than one proposal can come out of a single department or program. In those cases, the department chair or program director must rank the proposals and explain their rankings in writing. Rankings are due by the deadline for proposal submission (see detailed timeline below). Chairs or directors cannot rank proposals in which they are an investigator. If needed, a tenured faculty member with no stake in any proposal may be appointed by the chair or director to rank departmental or program proposals.
• An individual faculty member can be included as an investigator in more than one submitted proposal.
• While consideration will be given to faculty who have previously received an award; priority may be given to faculty who have not.
• Faculty who have previously received an award but have not submitted a final report are ineligible to receive a new award.
• Proposals that fail to follow the guidelines outlined on this page will be denied.

Application Preparation

Cover Sheet

• Project title
• Investigator name(s), affiliation(s), and faculty rank(s)
• Original copies of faculty and department chair or program director signature(s)

Abstract

A brief (250 words or less) non-technical description of the research/creative activity to be performed and the expected outcomes.

Project Narrative (maximum three pages)

• Describe the proposed research/creative activity and include some background on the topic, specific objectives, and proposed methods.
• Explain how the proposed activity will contribute to your discipline and/or other disciplines.
• Describe the proposed activity's potential for publications, conference papers, recordings, performances and/or other scholarly outcomes.
• Clearly describe the plan for broadly disseminating the results of the research, including a plan for sharing the results with the general public. Preparation of this section may be coordinated with Dean's office staff.
• If applicable, explain how the proposed activity has potential for outside funding.
• If applicable, explain whether the project will be supported by other resources, including the source and amount.

Budget and Budget Justification (maximum two pages)

• Individual awards are limited to $20,000.
• The budget must be broken down into individual line items with each item justified.  For additional instructions, please refer to: Budget Guidelines for Research Initiatives.
• The following are unallowable budget items:
  • Travel to attend conferences
  • Enhancing campus physical infrastructure
  • Funding studies already completed
• The following are allowable budget items:
  • Release time from teaching (see additional conditions below)
  • Summer salary
  • Travel to conduct scholarly activity other than attending conferences
  • Purchase of supplies/research materials and/or research equipment
  • Support for Graduate Research Assistant(s) and/or undergraduate assistants
  • Employing technical assistance
  • Software purchases
  • Paying for promotional materials and services
  • Bringing guest speakers and/or consultants to campus
  • Funding public outreach events
  • Paying for content access fees
  • Covering subscription fees for research networks
  • Leasing off-campus space for research/creative activity
• If funds for release time from teaching are requested, a signed letter of support from the department chair or program director is required. The letter should indicate how the release from teaching can be effectively dealt with based on the resources requested. The absence of such a support letter will disqualify the proposal. To ensure that there is enough time to adjust departmental teaching assignments, only release time during the fall semester of the award year will be considered, unless the investigator's department chair specifically requests and justifies an exemption in their support letter.
• Applicants must work with their department administrative assistant before final submission of proposal to ensure budget guidelines are followed. Failure to do so may result in proposal being returned for correction and/or adjustment to budget line items.

Project Bibliography

The bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the project. It is usually advisable to include works that pertain to both the project's substance and its theoretical or methodological approaches. Titles cited in the application narrative do not have to be included in the bibliography. Reviewers often use the bibliography to evaluate your preparation in the subject area and your approach to the topic.

Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (maximum two pages)

The CV should include education, employment history, and most relevant citations (e.g., publications, presentations, performances, juried exhibitions).

Award Selection Criteria

An ad hoc committee representative of all departments within the Fine Arts and Humanities divisions of the College of Arts & Sciences from which proposals are submitted will review and score proposals and make recommendations to the Dean, who will award funding.

Reviewers will be asked to evaluate and rank applications according to the following criteria:

1. The significance of the contribution that the project will make to knowledge in the specific field and to the arts and humanities generally.
2. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work.
3. The quality of the conception, organization, and description of the project, and, if applicable, the likelihood that the proposed work will result in external funding.
4. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project including the appropriateness of the budget, the quality and clarity of the project goals and design, the resources involved, and the qualifications of the applicant.
5. The potential that the project has to enhance the visibility of the scholar, department, college, and university.
6. Adherence to proposal guidelines as outlined on this page.

Award Requirements

• Provision of regular updates for social and/or other media dissemination.
• UND policies and procedures must be followed for expenditure of funds including purchases, reimbursements, payroll appointments and hiring processes. Please note that according to UND policy, anything purchased with UND funds is the property of UND (e.g., supplies, books, equipment, etc.).
• If an award results in a tangible product such as a book, article, or a video/audio recording, a copy must be provided to the College of Arts & Sciences Dean's office and support for the project by UND and the College should be acknowledged.
• All recipients of Fine Arts and Humanities Scholarship Initiative awards are required to submit a final report to the College of Arts & Sciences Dean's office within one month of the project’s end date or depletion of awarded funds, if that occurs before the project ends. The report must include a brief summary of results of the project to include how funds were expended and whether or not the project resulted in publications, exhibits, productions, external grant proposals/awards, paper presentations, etc.

Timeline

Questions