Taft Research Seminars


The Taft Center will support year-long research seminars organized by Taft Faculty. The intent of the program is to enable faculty and students to focus on a particular research agenda, problem, or theme related to Taft disciplines. To enhance this focus, each seminar will be anchored with (a) Visiting Taft Fellow(s), whose expertise is related directly to the content of the seminar. The Visiting Taft Fellow(s) must be in residence at Taft House at Stratford Heights for one quarter to a full academic year. Additionally, each Taft Research Seminar (TRS) will receive $7500 in Taft release funds to support faculty who organize and participate in the seminar. The TRS may be disciplinary-based and relevant to one Taft department(or segment) or inter-disciplinary and draw participants from multiple departments. While a side benefit of the Visiting Fellow(s) may be specific collaborative research involving only a few Taft faculty, the TRS must be organized to encourage interaction between several faculty and students and advance intellectual exchange in a broader context. A main objective of the program is to provide an opportunity for Taft faculty and students to interact with scholars from outside our university in a sustained manner. The TRS must meet regularly at Taft House.


TRS Support

– $7,500 in department release support for each TRS;
– Two seminar lunch sessions per quarter at Taft House;
– Residence (rent free) at Taft House for Visiting Fellows;
– $34,500 per seminar in release funds to support the Visiting Fellow(s);
– $6,000 per seminar for Visiting Fellow(s) travel expense/honoraria;
– Use of Taft House seminar and lecture rooms for meetings and presentations.


Arrangements for the Anchored Visiting Fellow

The Taft Center will support its Research Seminars through a unique release support system. The Center will provide $11,500 per quarter (or two semesters at $17,250) directly to the institution of a Visiting Fellow to cover the participation of their faculty in the TRS as a resident of Taft House. Given this financial arrangement, the TRS program is set-up to encourage shorter term visits of multiple Fellows to increase sustained interaction between our faculty and students and outside scholars. The program anticipates that a useful approach will be for each seminar to arrange for three different Fellows to spend one quarter each in the seminar (sequentially), although fewer Fellows with longer stays is also acceptable. An alternative arrangement may be to attract faculty already on paid leave to spend one quarter. In this case, the $11,500 may be paid in honoraria or other forms.

It is the responsibility of the TRS proposal writers to secure the outside scholars. A complete application will contain the Visiting Fellow(s) as part of the proposal. They are, in effect, part of the proposal team.

The Visiting Fellow(s) will be provided a single furnished room at Taft House. Each Fellow will have access to a small kitchenette per floor and a full industrial kitchen in the lower floor. The building will support both wireless and traditional highspeed Internet connection and each room will have its own phone. There is a large living room for the residents as well as a Taft reading room. Each Fellow will also have access to the Taft Office Suite on campus as a work place, although seminars may propose to provide office space in the relevant departments, if available.


Applications

Applications should be submitted at the regularly scheduled deadlines, and should be sent to the Taft secretary at ML 0369.

SIX COLLATED COPIES of the application and cover sheet should contain the following:

1. A proposal of 800 to 1200 words that outlines the seminar in detail, including but not limited to the following:

1. a justification of the seminar as an important intellectual exercise of discovery set in the context of disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary trends. An important question to answer is whether there exists a critical mass of potential participants across the UC system
2. a list of the committed UC participants and an explanation of the relevance of the seminar for specific seminar participant’s research agendas. (The convener(s) of the seminar should be designated)
3. an explanation of the relevance of the seminar to advancement of departmental and/or interdisciplinary goals (e.g., programs, research focus, grant-writing)
4. an organizational plan of meetings; how the seminar will be conducted; and, how the release money will be apportioned based on college adjunct rates
5. anticipated outcomes of the year-long focus

2. A 200-400 word presentation that includes a Bio sketch of the Visiting Fellows and a justification of the Visiting Fellow(s) as a participant with emphasis on how they will contribute to the seminar.

3. A letter of support from the convener's department head assessing the merits of the proposal project. The letter should detail the specific release agreement between head and convener for the Taft quarter and the one course release for the principal participant.

4. A letter from each of the proposed Visiting Fellows committing him or herself to residence at Taft House for a specified quarter (10 weeks) or multiple quarters and noting that agreement for release has been attained at their institution.

5. A two-page curriculum vitae for each of the proposed Visiting Fellows and the designated convener(s).

6. A budget sheet indicating how the $6,000 travel/honoraria and $7500 in release monies will be allocated.


Selection Criteria

1. The significance of the contribution that the proposed seminar will make to participating faculty and student research and professional development.

2. The conception, definition, organization, and description of the proposed project.

3. The scope of the seminar in terms of participants and impact on disciplinary or interdisciplinary activities in the Taft departments.

4.The quality of the proposed visiting faculty and their likely contribution to their anchored seminar.



Terms of the Grant

1. The designated convener will be responsible for organizing and running the seminar on a regularly scheduled basis. Use of Taft House facilities will be coordinated with the Taft Chair/Secretary.

2. The Convener is the principal liaison with the visiting fellows and is responsible to coordinate a smooth arrival and departure for the visitor in coordination with the Taft Chair/Secretary.

3. Acceptance of the TRS award requires the committed participants to attend all proposed seminar meetings.

4. The Visiting Fellow(s) must live at Taft House during their specified fellowship and participate in all of the seminar meetings. The Fellows are expected to contribute to the overall intellectual life of the Taft Center through participation in Center activities other than their anchored seminar (such as attend some Taft lectures and symposia).

5. Seminar participants are required to meet twice per quarter for Taft-sponsored lunch at Taft House. This should be part of the proposed seminar schedule included in the application.

6. Publications and creative work generated with the help of Taft grants should acknowledge the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center. Copies of such publications should be sent to the Chair of the Taft Executive Board.