Collaborative Humanities Labs
Collaborative humanities labs catalyze cross-disciplinary research to address important and emerging issues that will benefit from combining distinct disciplinary methods to produce new and/or integrative knowledge.
On the basis of a research and teaching proposal, the institute will appoint one pair of faculty members, to include at least one humanities scholar, for a duration of three years. The appointment will complement departmental responsibilities.
The appointees will receive administrative support from the institute, which will host the lab’s programming and curricular activities. They will have the opportunity to recruit doctoral and undergraduate students for teaching or research assistantships and receive, on the basis of a budget proposal, up to $40,000 each year to fund programming and publication activities.
The appointed faculty pair will team-teach one collaborative humanities course at the undergraduate or graduate level each year, with the first course taking place in spring 2025. They will benefit from a one-course relief in the second year of the appointment (AY 2025–2026). Collaborative courses can contribute to departmental curriculum developments: courses may be primarily listed by one or both departments with institute cross-listing. The Director of the Cogut Institute and the Dean of the Faculty will consult with department chairs to review this teaching plan against departmental teaching needs.
We welcome proposals submitted by pairs of faculty members at Brown University, to include at least one humanities faculty member. Lecturers and adjunct, research, or visiting faculty members are not eligible. In certain instances, assuming a persuasive case is made in the proposal, the humanities perspective may be represented by a faculty member in the qualitative social sciences.
If both applicants are tenured or tenure-track faculty members with regular and ongoing teaching and scholarly responsibilities in the divisions of the humanities, life and physical sciences, and the social sciences reporting to the Dean of the Faculty, no additional consultation or documentation is needed.
In the case of tenured or tenure-track faculty members outside the units reporting to the Dean of the Faculty, faculty should consult with their department chair and/or dean to verify that they can meet the teaching and course release expectations of the lab.
Applications for the 2024–2027 cycle are due by Monday, January 29, 11:59 pm.
Applicants should submit:
- A research narrative, describing your collaborative research project, its significance, and methods. The narrative should situate the project in the context of the disciplines and each participant’s research trajectory. It should clearly articulate the cross-disciplinary contribution of both disciplines. If the humanities perspective is to be represented solely by a faculty member in the qualitative social sciences at Brown, please note this explicitly and explain the relevance of the faculty member’s research to questions and methods of the humanities. Your narrative must not exceed three single-spaced pages with one-inch margins and a font size no smaller than 11 points.
- A one-page bibliography of secondary sources that pertains to the project’s substance and approaches.
- A research outcomes plan sketching the timeline and nature of deliverables for each one-year period from 2024–2027, including (but not limited to) the on-campus programs, work plan for funded graduate and undergraduate positions, peer-reviewed outputs, scholarly tools (databases, etc.), external grant applications, and public-facing products (podcasts, films, public writing, etc.) envisioned.
- A programming and publication budget proposal, up to $40,000 per year over three years.
- A collaborative teaching plan for a total of three team-taught courses at the undergraduate or graduate level (at least one course must be proposed at each level). Each course should include a significant collaborative assignment for student participants. Please develop a one-page summary of each course, to include description, sample texts/units, and collaborative exercises/goals.
- Sample job descriptions outlining anticipated responsibilities and desired proficiencies for up to two graduate positions and up to two undergraduate research assistants. Each description should range between 100 and 200 words.
- The CVs of the two faculty members proposing the course. Each CV should not exceed 10 pages (minimum font size 11).
Apply
Questions? Please email damien_mahiet@brown.edu.