2022-2023 DHI Research and Arts (HumArts) Clusters

The UC Davis Humanities Institute invites proposals for 2022-23 Research and Arts Clusters. The clusters provide a space for interdisciplinary research and/or creative pursuits not easily accomplished in a single department or program. Clusters are meant to facilitate exchange among faculty and graduate students in workshops, symposia, or mini-conferences, to encourage experimentation with new forms of collaboration within and beyond UC Davis, and to broaden the aims of faculty research in the humanities, arts, and humanistic social sciences. In addition to programming, we encourage clusters to view this as seed funding and to think about ways the cluster can serve as an incubator for larger projects in the future (websites and digital projects, co-authored books or journals, NEH Summer Seminars, NEH Collaborative Grants, UC-wide research groups, etc.). 

Clusters may apply for up to $5,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year. Funding is awarded for this program on a year-by-year basis. Clusters must use the funds in the academic year that they are awarded. All funding decisions will be made on a competitive basis. Previous funding for research clusters does not guarantee future awards, per the above mentioned model of seed funding. Past awards from the DHI may be factored into funding decisions, depending on the number and quality of new applicants. New proposals as well as renewal applications should include the intellectual justification for the cluster. Awarded clusters will be expected to develop a basic website (with the assistance of the DHI) and to keep the DHI apprised of its activities via the events calendar on the DHI website. Funds for new clusters will be administered through the DHI. The administration of funds for renewed clusters will be moved to the Principal Investigator’s home department. 

Criteria for awards include:

• that the proposed cluster is interdisciplinary, that is, the degree that the group includes faculty and graduate students from different programs and/or departments (including from different graduate groups);
• that the proposed cluster is administered and guided by faculty members (because the program, as mandated by UCD Office of Research, is intended to serve the research or creative goals of faculty);
• that the proposed cluster seeks clear, measurable impacts on research and/or creative activities and approaches of UC Davis faculty in the humanities, arts and humanistic social sciences;
• the proposed cluster addresses or includes under-represented minorities, under-served communities, and/or contributes to diverse perspectives in an area of research, study, and/or creative activity.

Application Requirements:

1. Cover sheet containing name of faculty coordinator, title of research or arts cluster, and amount requested.
2. Narrative (1200 words maximum) describing the purpose of the cluster, including the intellectual or artistic significance of the collaboration, a list of participants (faculty and graduate students), and proposed activities and outcomes. Current clusters that are reapplying may use their cluster report for the year as part of the narrative so as not to create extra work for cluster members. 
3. Proposed Budget. 

Please include the application’s components, listed above, in a single pdf or Word document and apply online by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 27, 2022.

Image credit: Sacco & Vanzetti, 2018, Fiamma Montezemolo, Photo courtesy Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico