Fall 2009 Deadline: Monday, November 16, 2009
Proposals accepted starting October 19, 2009

The Simpson Center seeks to support innovative crossdisciplinary research and to integrate that research both with teaching at the graduate level and with programs designed for a larger public. We sponsor a wide range of activities, including collaborative research groups, scholarly conferences and symposia, graduate seminars, and a fellowship program for UW faculty and doctoral students. We also support public programs in the humanities, which we construe broadly to include projects and topics of humanistic interest in the social sciences, sciences, professions, and arts. The main purpose of our support is not to provide permanent funding for ongoing programs but, rather, to assist in the development of new ideas and projects.

For the November 16, 2009, deadline we invite proposals for projects to take place in academic year 2010-11 which fall into these categories:

• Faculty Research Fellowships (Society of Scholars)
  *November submittal only
• Graduate Research Fellowships (Society of Scholars)
  *November submittal only
• Associate Professor Crossdisciplinary Research Initiative
  *November submittal only
• Full Professor Crossdisciplinary Conversation Award

• Symposium, Colloquium, or Conference
• Crossdisciplinary Research Cluster
• Large-Scale Collaborative Research, Teaching and/or Public Project
• Proposal Writing Incentive Award
• Public Humanities: Engaging the Community

• Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest (CSPN) Research Travel Grants (Applications accepted by the Simpson Center; awards administered by CSPN.)

NOTE: All groups must designate one person as Primary Project Coordinator. The Primary Project Coordinator serves two important functions:

1. completes and submits all application materials. Do not delegate this function to collaborators or staff assistants.
2. acts as project lead and primary liaison between your group and the Simpson Center throughout the term of your funding. We require streamlined communications with a single group representative.

Proposals in the Digital Humanities and American Music are especially encouraged. 

Other Projects

If a project does not fall into any of the listed categories but does fulfill the broad goals of the Simpson Center, schedule an appointment with Center staff for help formulating a proposal. Please email project documents for review twenty-four hours before your appointment.

Please note the following exclusions:

• travel funding for individual research or conference participation (Note: Proposals for research travel are considered for the CSPN Research Travel Grant only, not programs of the Simpson Center.)
• honoraria for UW faculty and graduate students for on-campus programs

Submitting an Application: All applications must be submitted via the Simpson Center's online process. Follow submission instructions and links included within the category guidelines.

We encourage applicants to consult with Simpson Center staff when formulating proposals. Schedule an appointment by email or call 543.3920.

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Faculty Research Fellowships (Society of Scholars)

UW faculty are invited to apply for Simpson Center Research Fellowships to pursue their research and participate in the biweekly meetings of the fellows throughout the academic year. Faculty at the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and professor are eligible to submit proposals. Assistant professors must have served as active faculty for at least one year prior to their application. Faculty who have previously held Simpson Center Research Fellowships are eligible to apply again after a period of three years.

Eight faculty awards are made annually. Awards are predominantly based on the scholarly merit of the individual applications. Scholarship likely to contribute to intellectual exchange among a diverse group of colleagues is especially encouraged. We also encourage joint applications from two scholars working collaboratively on a single, substantive research project that aims to produce research in the form of joint print or web publications.

Because this fellowship program is designed to promote the discussion of new research among scholars from different departments, it is not appropriate for those whose projects require periods of time spent away from the University during the fellowship year.

Fellowship recipients receive release time from teaching for two courses (preferably in a single quarter) so they can devote themselves to research. The Simpson Center furnishes replacement costs to the home department for two graduate student quarters, up to the level of Predoctoral Teaching Associate II. These replacement costs include benefits and tuition waivers.

It may be helpful to applicants to refer to the National Endowment for the Humanities’ guidelines for the preparation of proposal narratives.
All faculty who are awarded fellowships will be expected to submit an application for a fellowship to a national agency or foundation (such as NEH, ACLS, or the Guggenheim Foundation) or a residency site (such as the National Humanities Center) either in the fellowship year or the year after.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use your last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative (limited to 1,750 words—approximately six double-spaced pages) that describes the research project, addressing the following points in language clear to non-specialists in the field: the project’s objectives, significance, methodology, contribution to the scholarship and debates in the field, and timeline (what has been previously accomplished and what is expected to be accomplished during the year). Also include a bibliography consisting of both primary and secondary sources directly related to the project (limited to 550 words).
• Curriculum vitae (maximum five pages)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

Step 5: ASK a colleague knowledgeable about your field of research for a letter of support. The letter should be emailed to schadmin@uw.edu or sent in hard copy to the Simpson Center.

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Graduate Research Fellowships (Society of Scholars)

Graduate students who have advanced to candidacy by November 2009 are invited to apply for Simpson Center Research Fellowships to work on their dissertations and to participate in the biweekly meetings of the fellows throughout the academic year.

Three awards are made to dissertators annually. Awards are based on the scholarly merit of the applications. Scholarship likely to contribute to intellectual exchange among a diverse group of colleagues is especially encouraged.

Graduate research fellows of the Society of Scholars receive two quarters of support, including benefits and a tuition waiver for those two quarters, and participate in the biweekly meetings of the fellows throughout the academic year. The fellowship is not appropriate for projects requiring significant periods of time spent away from the University during the fellowship term.

It may be helpful for applicants to refer to the National Endowment for the Humanities’ guidelines for the preparation of proposal narratives.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use your last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative (limited to 1,750 words—approximately six double-spaced pages) that describes the research project, addressing the following points in language clear to non-specialists in the field: the project’s objectives, significance, methodology, contribution to the scholarship and debates in the field, and timeline (what has been previously accomplished and what is expected to be accomplished during the year). Also include a bibliography consisting of both primary and secondary sources directly related to the project (limited to 550 words).
• Curriculum vitae (maximum five pages)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

Step 5: ASK your dissertation advisor for a letter of support. In their letters, dissertation advisors must address your readiness for advanced dissertation writing and the feasibility of your work plans for the fellowship year. The letter should be emailed to schadmin@uw.edu or sent in hard copy to the Simpson Center.

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Associate Professor Crossdisciplinary Research Initiative

The Associate Professor Crossdisciplinary Research Initiative commits resources to associate professors. These grants enable mid-career faculty to pursue humanities-related research that will benefit from disciplinary expertise in another area. UW faculty who have been at the rank of associate professor for at least three years and who are working in a humanities discipline or on a humanities-related topic are eligible to apply.

Applicants propose to work with a faculty counterpart of any rank (from any department, discipline, or school other than the applicant’s own) on a specific research project of their own design.

Faculty counterparts should contribute to the applicant’s research through regular conversation, feedback, and/or guidance (regarding debates in this other field, recent research, etc.). Faculty pairs work together throughout the year.

Award recipients receive release time from teaching for two courses (preferably in a single quarter).*It is understood that faculty members will continue to work with their graduate students during their release time from teaching.

The Simpson Center furnishes replacement costs to the home department for two graduate student quarters, up to the level of Predoctoral Teaching Associate II. The replacement costs include benefits and tuition waivers.

Counterparts receive a research budget of $1,500. Award recipients and their counterparts present their research at the Simpson Center in late Winter or Spring quarters.

The Simpson Center can assist you in identifying potential faculty counterparts for your project.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative (limited to 1,750 words) that describes the research project and includes a description of what the faculty counterpart can bring to it.
• Curriculum vitae for the faculty applicant (maximum five pages)
• Curriculum vitae for the faculty counterpart (maximum five pages)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

Step 5: ASK your proposed faculty counterpart to write a letter indicating an understanding of the project and his/her specific intellectual contribution to its development. Your faculty counterpart should email this letter directly to uwch@u.washington.edu.

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Full Professor Crossdisciplinary Conversation Award

This award encourages full professors to pursue research projects that would benefit from crossdisciplinary engagement with a faculty member in another field. The collaborating faculty member may be of any rank and must belong to any department, discipline, or field other than the applicant’s own.

The faculty member initiating the project receives no compensation other than the formal recognition of the award and the intrinsic reward of crossdisciplinary collegiality and knowledge. (Full professors may hold a Conversation Award simultaneously with a Society of Scholars Research Fellowship.) An award in the amount of $1,500 for research will acknowledge the generosity of the faculty counterpart who gives time and expertise.

The Simpson Center can assist you in identifying potential faculty counterparts for your project.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative (limited to 500 words) that describes the research project and includes a description of what the faculty counterpart can bring to it.
• Curriculum vitae for the faculty applicant (maximum five pages)
• Curriculum vitae for the faculty counterpart (maximum five pages)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

Step 5: ASK your proposed faculty counterpart to write a letter indicating an understanding of the project and his/her specific intellectual contribution to its development. Your faculty counterpart should email this letter directly to schadmin@uw.edu.

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Symposium, Colloquium, or Conference

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative explaining the significance of the subject of the conference or colloquium series, the activities to be funded (including when and where they will take place), participating persons or organizations, audience, a possible promotion plan, and anticipated results (such as a publication).
• A budget detailing anticipated expenses such as honoraria, travel, accommodations, promotional materials, hospitality, postage, and facility rentals.
• Curricula vitae for the key project collaborators (maximum five pages for each)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

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Crossdisciplinary Research Cluster

Crossdisciplinary Research Clusters are intended to bring together faculty and graduate students from different departments and disciplines with shared research interests. Projects in this category should seed new and vital research activity and should not underwrite the ongoing support of existing programs. Research clusters should meet regularly throughout the year. Clusters that engage emerging fields of inquiry and/or are linked to a crossdisciplinary or crossdepartmental curriculum are especially encouraged, as are cluster models other than a speaker series.

Funds can be used to support meeting costs, photocopying, visiting speakers, etc.

Awards normally do not exceed $7,000.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative detailing the focus of the cluster and the activities to be funded, participating persons or organizations, near-term goals, and longer-term ambitions if the cluster is intended to seed other forms of collaboration and project development.
• A budget detailing anticipated expenses such as honoraria, travel, accommodations, promotional materials, hospitality, postage, and facility rentals.
• Curricula vitae for the key project collaborators (maximum five pages each)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

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Large-Scale Collaborative Research, Teaching,
and/or Public Project

Large-scale Collaboration grants enable faculty and graduate students to pursue extended crossdisciplinary and crossdepartmental collaborative projects in research, teaching, and public engagement. Projects that incorporate these three dimensions are encouraged but not required.

Large-scale collaborations may include a series of linked crossdepartmental seminars or courses organized around a specific subject, accompanied by a complementary series of public lectures. These activities may be designed to develop new programs of study at the University of Washington.

If the project entails collaborative research, it is essential to note the form of the completed research (an edited book, a website, etc.).

You may wish to consult with Simpson Center about the scalability of your plans before finalizing your proposal for this category.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative that describes the project, explains its significance, and outlines plans for development, conduct, and publication or dissemination (if appropriate).
• A budget detailing anticipated expenses such as honoraria, travel, accommodations, promotional materials, hospitality, postage, and facility rentals.
• Curricula vitae for the key project collaborators (maximum five pages each)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

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Proposal Writing Incentive Award

This award encourages the development and submission of large-scale proposals in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to major agencies and foundations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Examples might include a proposal to host an NEH Summer Institute at the University of Washington, or a proposal to the Media, Arts, and Culture Division of the Ford Foundation to create an innovative curriculum across media.

Proposals for individual fellowship support from NEH, the Guggenheim Foundation, ACLS, and other foundations are not eligible. Priority is given to projects that would be housed at the Simpson Center.

Faculty who are granted a Proposal Writing Incentive Award will receive a $1,500 research award (to reimburse expenses for travel to archives and scholarly conferences, etc.) upon submittal of the grant proposal. The Simpson Center award applies for major foundation proposals that will be submitted between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010.  If the Simpson Center is to serve as fiscal sponsor for the grant, internal deadlines will be determined accordingly.

**Applications for Proposal Writing Incentive Awards can also be incorporated into proposals for other Simpson Center funding initiatives—for instance, as one aspect of a Large-Scale Collaborative Project. In this case, submit your application under the rubric of the other category and include plans for foundation/endowment submission in your proposal narrative, as well as the $1,500 incentive award in your proposed budget.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative outlining your project in detail, together with a timeline specifying all deadlines that the grant submission will require.
• Curricula vitae for the key project collaborators (maximum five pages each)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

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Public Humanities: Engaging the Community

These awards support humanities-based projects that promote dialogue, exchange, and collaboration between University of Washington scholars and the greater Seattle community, including the public schools. The Simpson Center encourages project collaborators to develop venues for reflecting upon these projects at conferences, workshops, or in publication.

Projects in engaged teaching and/or research may take multiple, diverse forms. Examples of previously funded projects include the following:

• Conducting reading and writing groups for women and youth in local shelters (Broadview University)
• Developing an accessible web archive and curriculum via community-based research (Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project)
• Developing a major exhibition featuring original research in collaboration with a local museum (American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music)

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use the Primary Project Coordinator's last name as the first word. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• A proposal narrative outlining your project’s purpose(s), the community (and possibly university) constituents you will engage and/or collaborate with, your plans for doing so, including any local resources (networks, contacts, organizations) that will support your efforts.
• A budget detailing anticipated expenses such as honoraria, travel, accommodations, promotional materials, hospitality, postage, and facility rentals.
• Curricula vitae for the key project collaborators (maximum five pages each)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

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Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest (CSPN) Research Travel Grants

The Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest (CSPN) invites applications from full-time UW faculty and graduate students for research travel grants that support scholarly projects related to the Pacific Northwest. Applications from any discipline or interdisciplinary field in the social sciences and humanities are encouraged. Strong preference will be given to Ph.D. dissertation and book monograph projects.

Although CSPN generally defines the Pacific Northwest geographically —the stretch of North America west of eastern Montana and north of California—it welcomes applications that explore and critique the very idea of the Pacific Northwest as a regional and historical concept.

For more information on the CSPN Research Travel Grants, contact the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest at cspn@u.washington.edu or 543.8656. CSPN Research Travel Grants are administered by the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, not the Simpson Center. The Simpson Center assists only in advertising the opportunity and gathering applications for the CSPN in the course of its regular funding rounds.

Submission Steps:

Step 1: BUNDLE your proposal components into a single file. When naming this file, please use CSPN as the first word, followed by your last name. We recommend PDF format, which ensures your document will look and print exactly as you intend. We also will accept a bundled Word document, but caution you to understand that materials submitted in Word may not represent you in the manner you most wish.

• Project description and rationale (limited to 1,500 words)
• Budget (maximum $1,500) limited to support travel for research—e.g., airfare, lodging, photocopying fees
• Curriculum vitae (maximum five pages)

Step 2: UPLOAD your bundled proposal file to the Catalyst Collect-It Dropbox.

Step 3: SUBMIT your proposal identification information via the Catalyst WebQ. To complete this step, you will need the names and UWNet IDs of all key project collaborators.

Step 4: DOWNLOAD and complete the signature sheet. Return it to the Simpson Center (Communications 206/Box 353710) with the signature of your department chair and one (1) hard copy of your bundled proposal file.

Step 5 (Graduate students only): ASK your dissertation advisor for a letter of support. The letter should be emailed to schadmin@uw.edu or sent in hard copy to the Simpson Center.

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