All projects must have humanistic objectives and humanities faculty at their core, but collaborations that reach beyond the humanities to the arts, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, public policy, and other fields are encouraged. Awards will not normally exceed $5,000. Requests for collaborative projects of larger scope will also be considered, although available funding will limit the number of such awards.

Specific examples of collaborative activities that these funds could support include:

• Collaborative projects involving two or more Brown faculty members or Brown faculty and scholars at other institutions that would be advanced by sustained meeting or a period in residence at Brown and that would enhance academic life on campus. While the humanities and humanistic concerns should be central to these projects, collaborations with experts in other fields are also strongly encouraged.
• Collaborative teaching, including both Brown colleagues and visitors from other institutions, which explores critical questions from a diverse set of perspectives across the humanities or between the humanities and other disciplinary fields. Some preference will be given for undergraduate courses designed to address a question of broad social and intellectual import. A limited amount of course relief funds will be provided, when necessary, to the departments of participating faculty members.

Examples of projects might include: joint or allied research activities; conferences; creation of digital resources; exhibitions or other forms of public humanities; new ways of using Brown’s special collections, centers, and other special scholarly resources. The kinds of activities supported could include long- and short-term visits by outside collaborators; postdoctoral fellows; specialized technical support; training opportunities for graduate students; and experimental teaching formats and approaches.