The Initiative can provide funds on an ad hoc and rolling basis for Cornell faculty working on public and engaged humanities projects. Up to $10,000 is available each year per project.
We encourage faculty members across all disciplines to apply, and welcome collaboration with other colleges as well as community partners in Ithaca and the surrounding rural area. It is not required to identify a community partner at the time of your application, but we are especially interested in projects that involve rural communities in this groundbreaking scholarship.
Projects should explore rural New York State from a humanistic perspective and include scholarship with a public-facing component, and/or engaged work co-created with a community partner. The definition of “project” can vary depending on the interests of the faculty member—projects can be initiatives, working groups, reading groups, plans for a virtual conference or colloquium, webinar, etc. We welcome new and innovative project ideas and can also provide funding for the continuation or expansion of past projects working within the framework of rural community engagement.
The types of things we can support include: consulting fees for community partners; travel expenses for you and your collaborators; consultants and professional services, including speaker and consultant fees for partners and collaborators; student support; equipment and supplies; and expenditures for promotion, marketing, and advertising.
Application Procedures
To apply for funds of up to $10,000 per project per year, please write a brief description (circa 2-3 pages, single-spaced) that addresses the following four points and headings:
- Project description: Describe in detail the activity and its constituents (faculty, students, community partners), with an explanation of how each constituency will participate in the project and what each will get out of the experience.
- Timeline: What is the timeline for the project? Even though the funding is being provided for an academic year, please indicate whether you anticipate requiring more than a year to achieve your project’s goals.
- Required resources and budget: Please include resources already acquired for the idea/project as well as those anticipated. Budgets can be brief; we will work with selected projects to develop a detailed budget in line with our budget categories.
- Dissemination: Provide plans for the public/engaged dimensions of the project and their dissemination (presentation, publication, ongoing collaboration, etc.).
Please send application materials in a single .pdf with the subject line "Faculty Grant Proposal + [YOUR NAME]" to rural-hum@cornell.edu.
Apply anytime by early Spring 2025.