New Programs Provide $600K to Support Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences

New Programs Provide $600K to Support Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences

By Alexis BlueUniversity Communications
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A total of $600,000 is being made available to faculty and graduate students in the arts, humanities and social sciences at the UA through a new faculty grant program and two new graduate fellowships. (Photo by Jackie Alpers)
A total of $600,000 is being made available to faculty and graduate students in the arts, humanities and social sciences at the UA through a new faculty grant program and two new graduate fellowships. (Photo by Jackie Alpers)

The University of Arizona announced today the establishment of a new faculty grant program and two new graduate fellowships, which will provide $600,000 in funding to the arts, humanities and social sciences.

The faculty grant program, established by the Office of the Provost, will provide $300,000 for faculty projects, focusing specifically on those that promote interdisciplinary collaborations between faculty in the College of Humanities, the College of Fine Arts, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and related interdisciplinary programs.

A total of $300,000 in graduate fellowships, funded by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost and the UA Foundation, will be available. Half will be awarded through the 1885 Society Graduate Fellowships in Arts and Humanities, funded by the UA Foundation's 1885 Society fundraising group, and will support graduate students in the College of Fine Arts and the College of Humanities. The UA Excellence Graduate Fellowships in the Social Sciences will provide the other $150,000 to support graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences. 

The faculty grant and graduate fellowship programs were developed following a report from the Strategic Advancement Council for the Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, appointed by Provost Meredith Hay to identify the strengths and challenges for those disciplines at the UA. Administrators hope to help enhance those strengths and confront those challenges by making funding available.

"They (the arts, humanities and social sciences) often don't get a lot of funding attention because it doesn't require as much funding to do great things in the arts" as it does in science disciplines such as biology or physics, said Leslie Tolbert, vice president for research, graduate studies and economic development. "We have strengths in a variety of areas of arts, humanities and social sciences, and this is the provost's way of enhancing those strengths."

With recent budget cuts hitting hard in the arts, humanities and social sciences and the University's budget situation still uncertain, the new grant and fellowship programs are a welcome sign that "there is a future," said Linda Waugh, a professor of French, English, anthropology, linguistics and language, reading and culture

Waugh is co-chairwoman of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Review Panel, which will advise on which faculty applicants should receive funding.

"There hasn't been a lot of money available through the University, especially for arts and humanities and social sciences," Waugh said. "There's going to be a lot of difficult decisions going on and this shows another side of support."

Faculty grants awarded this year are intended to support interdisciplinary collaborations on research, scholarship and creative activity.

"We want to foster cross-disciplinary work by faculty," Waugh said. "The administration has been saying they want the UA to be more interdisciplinary than it already is. Their feeling is that that's the future of academic work."  

Paula Fan, a Regents' Professor of music and the panel's other co-chairwoman, said she's thrilled by the new programs and their potential to help foster creative collaborations at the University.

"What I find incredibly encouraging is the recognition of the role of the arts as essential to the role of the University," Fan said.

The official request for proposals for the faculty grants, with details and instructions for applying, are available on the Vice President for Research Web site.

There will be two opportunities to apply for the faculty awards, which range from $10,000 to $30,000. Deadlines for proposal submissions are Nov. 2 and Feb. 1.

There will be an open house in September with the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Review Panel, which will answer questions about the faculty awards. Details will be announced closer to the open house date.

The official request for applications for the graduate fellowships, designed to support first-year and final-year students, are available on the Graduate College Web site.

Deadlines to apply for the graduate fellowships are Oct. 1 and Feb. 15.

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