Provostial Fund names winning proposals; fall submissions sought

The Provostial Fund for the Humanities recently announced its inaugural field of winning proposals. Created by Provost Steven E. Hyman with the support of former President Derek Bok, the fund supports creative, innovative initiatives in the arts and humanities.

The following proposals (listed in alphabetic order including the faculty recipients and their respective departments) were awarded funding in spring 2007.

Ambrosian Manuscripts Conference, Tom Kelly, Dept. of Music

Early Modern Philosophy Workshop, Alison Simmons and Jeffrey McDonough, Dept. of Philosophy

Ethnographies Without Texts, Lucien Taylor, departments of Visual and Environmental Studies and Anthropology

Milton Seminar, Barbara Lewalski and Gordon Teskey, Dept. of English

The Cinema of Sergej Paradjanov, Maxim Pozdorovkin, Stephanie Sandler, and Justin Weir, Dept. of Slavic Language and Literatures

The Medieval Book, Nicholas Watson, William Stoneham, Beverly Kienzle, and Daniel Smail, Committee on Medieval Studies

Workshops on Perception, Susanna Siegel, Dept. of Philosophy

The fund is now accepting submissions for the fall. Proposals might include performances, master classes, conferences, workshops, seminars, and visits by individuals from outside the University. They may involve collaborations across departments and divisions of the faculty as well as with colleagues beyond the University and may be interdisciplinary or cross-cultural in character. In the case of collaborations, however, the primary initiative must come from within the arts and humanities.

The Provostial Funds Selection Committee is comprised of faculty from various departments in the humanities, and is chaired by Jeffrey Hamburger, professor in the history of art and architecture. The committee will evaluate proposals twice during the fall semester. The deadlines for applications are Oct. 5 and Nov. 26. The maximum amount to be awarded per proposal is $10,000, but the committee strongly encourages proposals that are more modest in nature.

The committee will favor proposals that foster a sense of intellectual community among faculty colleagues and students; lead to or support existing sustained activities rather than one-time events; promote innovation and interdisciplinary study; and propose the frugal and prudent use of funds.

Proposals must include a one-page account of the event, the colleagues involved, and its goals, plus a one-sentence abstract. If the proposal involves collaboration, please identify the lead faculty member responsible for all communication with the committee, a detailed budget, and the department chair’s signature. Additionally, if proposals come from faculty in more than one department or division, the signatures of all the department chairs should be supplied. If funds are granted, recipients will be required to submit a detailed report on their activities, including the expenditure of all funds, within three months of the project’s termination, and return any unused funds to the committee. Proposals should be submitted both electronically (as attachments to hmnties@fas.harvard.edu) and in hard copy to Joanna Jeskova, executive assistant, Office of the Dean for Humanities, University Hall, Ground Floor North. For more information, e-mail jjeskova@fas.harvard.edu.