Institute for the Humanities Fellowship Program

Request For Proposals

Calendar Year 2025

Recognizing that faculty members engaged in extensive research projects need time to process data already completed or generate ideas for future projects, The College of Arts & Sciences Office of the Dean and the Institute for the Humanities is sponsoring a semester-long Humanities Fellowship Program for Spring semester 2025 that provides a course release and a $1000.00 in discretionary funds to humanities and social science faculty for the advancement of projects already in progress. The Fellows will also meet regularly over the course of the Fellowship to discuss their projects and progress and make a brief public presentation on their project at the end of the semester.

INSTITUTE FOR THE HUMANITIES FELLOWSHIP PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

General Information:

  • Eligibility: Faculty of all ranks in the College of Arts and Sciences who are working on a humanities or humanities-related project are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to faculty at the Associate rank who have already begun a project or conducted research and need time to write or process their research.
  • Awards will be announced late August 2024. The course release is for Spring semester 2025.
  • Fellows will be required to write a brief, one-paragraph report on what they achieved during their Fellowship period and how the structure of the Fellowship did or did not facilitate the advancement of their project.

Proposal Specifics:

  • A compliant proposal submission will contain a Proposal Cover Sheet (web form) and a Full Proposal Document described below and must follow the format included in this RFP.
  • You can enter the proposal submission portal by clicking the Login button in the upper right of this Institute for the Humanities Fellowship announcement webpage. The portal is now available.
  • To create a new proposal and to enter the submission portal, click on the +New Proposal/Submission box.
  • The submission portal will request that you enter the following information in a web form (Cover Sheet):
    • Applicant NetID, Name, and Contact Information
    • Applicant Title/Faculty Rank
    • Departmental Affiliation
    • Project title
    • Abstract/Project summary (type in or cut and paste into box provided)
  • The portal provides a browse and upload function to upload the Full Proposal Document (PDF format). The Full Proposal Document must consist of the following in a single PDF document not to exceed 10 pages (12-pt, Times New Roman font; one-inch margins, double-spaced):
    • A description of the overall project
    • A detailed description of the portion of the project that the fellow will work on during the course release
    • Specific goals for the period of the course release, such as preparing an article or book chapter for publication, processing raw research or data, writing an external grant proposal, or other such activity
    • Description of the sources, research, or previous work that this project will continue or develop such as primary or archival sources, previous drafts of this project, or current scholarly literature
    • CV (2 pg)
  • Department Head and Business Manager information is required.
  • When you have entered all required information, uploaded the Full Proposal Document, reviewed all and are ready to submit, click the Submit for Approval box at the bottom of the page.
  • After successful submission, you will receive a confirmation screen and your Proposal will be routed to the Department Head for review and approval. If you do not receive an electronic confirmation, please contact sknox@deanas.msstate.edu.
  • Once the head approves, all are sent a confirmation and the proposal is routed automatically to the Institute for the Humanities director, where it will remain until the review process is complete.
  • Proposals must be submitted and approved through the head via the A&S Funding Opportunities (IH Fellowship) Web Portal by August 28, 2024.
  • Questions about the nature of the Fellowship, the application process, or submission process can be directed to humanities@msstate.edu.

SRI Review Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel comprised of current and retired A&S faculty that represent humanities fields of the college. Note that these reviewers are knowledgeable but not experts in your specific field. Please keep this in mind when writing the proposal summary and description. Proposals review much better when jargon is kept to a minimum and written for a knowledgeable non-expert audience. It is highly recommended that applicants discuss the possibility of having a course release in the Spring semester with their department heads in advance of applying for the Fellowship.

Merit review guidelines are as follows:

  1. Are the goals for the course release reasonable to execute while still maintaining other on-campus requirements?
  2. Are the goals for the time allowed by the course release clearly stated and achievable within the semester?
  3. Is the project clearly described?
  4. Is it clear how this project is a humanities project or will make use of the humanities?
  5. Is there a clear path to peer-reviewed publication, performance, or exhibition?