Center for Science and Society: Opportunities for Faculty
We are pleased to bring to your attention a Center for Science and Society program intended to foster and support new collaborative initiatives between faculty to develop and implement teaching, research and collegial service ideas.
Is there something you would like to do to enrich your teaching, your research, or your collegial service that a little extra funding could facilitate? Are there new or experimental or interdisciplinary projects for which you need seed money? Do you need help planning for your next grant proposal or sabbatical? Are there colleagues on campus with whom you would like to collaborate in team teaching or curricular revision? Are there colleagues elsewhere you would like to visit or bring to campus for the purposes of brainstorming about research or teaching? Would you like to run a workshop or start a reading group, develop an "outreach" program, or host a symposium? Are there opportunities for community-based learning, for example in the praxis model, that you would like to investigate? Do you have other creative ideas that support from the Center for Science in Society could help you explore?
If the answer to questions like this is yes, please consider submitting a proposal. The Center seeks to support innovative projects, both individual and collective, relating to teaching, curriculum, research, or service/governance that can move us forward on topics and issues related to science in society. Funding could include support appropriate to the nature of the proposal, including travel and speaker support, funds for books, films, materials, equipment, food, student support, etc.
Project Ideas and Examples:
The following are some examples taken from various conversations with colleagues, including at the First Friday Lunches and our recent Faculty Retreat.
•faculty who want to plan a daylong workshop or speaker series on science in politics leading up to the general election this fall.
•faculty who want to organize a Women in Science and Mathematics Symposium focusing on the role of women’s centered education in changing the landscape for women’s success in the STEM fields;
•a faculty member who wants to shape a cohesive interdisciplinary student/faculty research program centered around a single problem which would draw together mathematicians, chemists, physicists, and biologists;
•a faculty member who wants to travel to several locations to consult with experts on a new research idea, explore funding options, and undertake sabbatical planning;
•faculty members in chemistry and physics who wish to experiment with ways to combine the professional development aspects (scientific writing, oral presentation, ethics training) of their advanced lab courses in order to achieve a richer, multi-disciplinary peer-to peer experience for students;
•faculty from across the college who want to explore a cross-disciplinary theme-based senior capstone experience that would bring together science, social science and humanities students. Funds could be used to invite to campus colleagues from other institutions to share their experience with different senior capstone models.
•faculty who wants to shape a cohesive interdisciplinary student/faculty research or curricular initiatives centered around a single problem which would draw together scientists, social scientists and humanists—e.g. food studies, geo-archaeology, etc.
How to request support:
Please send a brief narrative proposal (1-2 pages) and budget (with explanatory notes where necessary), together with any supporting materials to the Center’s current Director Liz McCormack. A suggested template can be found in the side bar links listed to the left. Proposals will be reviewed by the Steering Committee of the Center as they are received. Electronic submissions are welcome; please send them to emccorma@brynmawr.edu.