Funding for Faculty

Faculty Fellowships

Upcoming Application Deadline: Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Ladder-rank faculty members can apply for an IHC Faculty Fellowship, which will grant them release from teaching one quarter to concentrate on research projects. The fellowship term must take place within the academic year following the award application deadline. Recipients must be in residence during the fellowship term. While the award releases recipients from teaching responsibilities for one course, recipients may not teach during the fellowship term. It does not exempt them from service and advising responsibilities. Award recipients will be designated IHC Fellows and may deliver a public lecture or hold a seminar on a topic related to their research during their tenure as fellows. The award does not provide for release from summer teaching, nor does it provide a salary supplement. It will be calculated as a replacement cost of up to $5,000 for one course. Faculty may receive this award once every five years and must not teach during the award quarter. Faculty whose primary departmental affiliation is in the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts or the Division of Social Sciences are eligible to apply. Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date. For further information, contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.

Application Instructions

To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you to upload the following as PDF files:

  • a project description (5 double-spaced pages, see instructions below)
  • a bibliography (1-2 pages)
  • a brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum)
  • a letter from the applicant’s department/program chair indicating approval of release time if an award is made (do not submit a full letter of recommendation; submit only a letter approving release time)

Project Description Guidelines

The project description should:

  • state the objectives, ideas, and methodology of the project
  • discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship and/or arts practice
  • specify the interdisciplinary scope of the project
  • include a timetable and work plan, specifying project activities in the proposed award period
  • define the project’s target audience(s) and the form(s) in which the research will eventually be disseminated (e.g. book, article, art exhibit, performance)

Faculty Collaborative Awards

Upcoming Application Deadline: Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The IHC offers awards to encourage faculty collaboration beyond the confines of particular departments and disciplines and to support collaborative, interdisciplinary work that draws upon techniques, methodologies, and media from multiple disciplines for its execution.  Eligible projects include: conferences, symposia, exhibitions, and performances at UCSB or in the local community; partnerships with another faculty member, teaching artist, or community organization to create an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental, or cross-institutional component for a remote or in-person course; and initiatives to bring visiting scholars and arts practitioners to campus for collaborative research. The award amounts are up to $2,000 each, and funds must be used within 18 months of award notification. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria. (Note: Award decisions are announced approximately one month after the award deadline. Please factor this into your budget planning for projects that take place close to the award deadline.) Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date.
For further information, contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.

Application Instructions

To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you to upload the following as PDF files:

  • a project description (5 pages, double spaced, see instructions below)
  • a preliminary budget that includes any cosponsorships. Please use this template as a starting point for your budget and briefly explain any budget items that are not self-explanatory. (NB: IHC funds can be used for equipment rental but not purchase. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria.)
  • a brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum) of the principal investigator

Project Description Guidelines

The project description should:

  • state the objectives, ideas, and methodology of the project
  • discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship, pedagogies, and/ or arts practices
  • if the project is part of an ongoing series of similar events/projects or a recurring conference, explain how the current project or convening productively extends previous work and how the themes and topics to be addressed advance the interdisciplinary objectives of this award
  • explain the new, interdisciplinary knowledge and scholarship the project will generate and its broader impacts (e.g. on campus culture or specific communities)
  • state the particular expertise and potential contribution of each participant
  • include a timetable and work plan, specifying project activities and names of outside speakers who have been or will be invited
  • define the project’s target audience(s) and the form(s) in which the research will eventually be disseminated (e.g. book, article, art exhibit, performance)
  • if proposing a course collaboration, describe its collaborative components (e.g. synchronous lectures shared by two courses and the topics to be covered in them, student collaborative activities such as group discussions, projects, and assignments)

Visual, Performing, and Media Arts Awards

Upcoming Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 (for projects taking place through Spring 2025)

The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers individual and collaborative awards of up to $1,000 for interdisciplinary projects in the visual, performing, and media arts.  The competition is open to UCSB faculty and graduate students.  The award supports creative work that uses its medium in innovative ways to explore topics of humanistic concern. Projects that engage audiences both within and beyond the university are strongly encouraged. Proposals should discuss the format(s) of dissemination to be used. Funded projects will be designated an IHC activity and accorded full administrative support. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria. Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date.

For further information, contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.

Application Instructions

To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you

  • to upload the following as PDF files:
    a project description (5 pages, double spaced, see instructions below)
  • a preliminary budget. Please use this template as a starting point for your budget and briefly explain any budget items that are not self-explanatory. (NB: IHC funds can be used for equipment rental but not purchase. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria.)
  • a brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum)

Project Description Guidelines

The project description should:

  • state the objectives, ideas, and methodology of the project, clearly articulating how it advances humanistic understanding
  • discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship and arts practice
  • specify the interdisciplinary scope of the project
  • include a timetable and work plan, specifying project activities
  • indicate how the project will engage audiences on and off campus and the form(s) in which it will be disseminated
  • be clear and coherent to non-specialist readers

For collaborative projects, the description should also:

  • explain the nature of the collaboration
  • state the particular expertise and potential contribution of each participant

NEH Summer Stipends

As an AANAPISI, UCSB is exempt from the limited-submission process. UCSB faculty members do not need institutional nomination and may apply directly to the NEH.

NEH Summer Stipends support individuals working full-time on a humanities project at any stage of development by providing $6,000 for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing. Recipients have produced articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources. Work in the creative arts or performing arts—such as the writing of fiction or poetry, painting, sculpting, composing or performing music, acting, directing, and dance—is not eligible. Summer Stipend recipients may hold other research grants during the tenure of their awards, but they must work full-time on their projects during the two months of their tenure. Summer Stipends normally support work carried out during the summer months. U.S. citizens or foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline are eligible to apply for a Summer Stipend. Individuals who have held a major fellowship or research grant or its equivalent within the last three academic years prior to the deadline are ineligible. A “major fellowship or research grant” is a postdoctoral research award that provides a stipend of at least $15,000. Sabbaticals and grants from an individual’s own institution and stipends and grants from other sources supporting study and research during the summer are not considered major fellowships. Individuals who have previously received a Summer Stipend may apply to support a new stage in their project. These applications will be judged by the same criteria as other applications. Previous recipients, however, must wait five years from the time they received their award to reapply.

Applications to the NEH are due September 20, 2023. For full information about the stipend and application materials, visit http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends.

For further information, please contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.