Collaborative teams consisting of a graduate student researcher and a community partner will be awarded grants up to $7500 to develop and implement a public scholarship project. Funds are available to support collaborative scholarly, creative, and/or cultural projects. Awards may be used for such items as research material purchases, travel, stipends and costs associated with scholarly publication or the production of tangible public goods.

Successful proposals will:

• Identify a committed community partner—for example, a school, museum, advocacy, arts, cultural or neighborhood organization—and include a partnership agreement that delineates the expected contributions of each member of the collaborative team, and the division of role and responsibilities within the team.
• Demonstrate how the project will both provide substantial benefit for the community partner and advance the scholarly work of the graduate student researcher.
• Include specific and feasible plans for the creation of scholarly publications, creative projects and/or tangible public goods. Project outcomes may include online scholarship (such as websites, digital and photographic archives, webinars, podcasts,) live performances, curriculum and workshop modules, policy analyses and briefs, white papers, assessment tools, conference presentations, articles and exhibition catalogs.
• Include a concise budget and narrative. Stipend requests must include details on the level of student effort.

How to Apply

Graduate students should work collaboratively with a community partner to develop a project idea and submit a 2 – 3 page letter of interest describing the proposed project and the research or creative work that will be produced. Letters of interest should include details on the following questions:

• What is the scholarly question that motivates the project, and what will be your scholarly contribution when the project is complete?
• What is the community benefit from the project, and what will be the contribution to the community partner’s agenda?

Because public scholarship presents particular challenges, we are committed to working with you to develop a competitive project proposal. In pursuit of that commitment, selected graduate students who submit successful letters of intent will be invited with their community partners on January 20, 2012 to attend a half-day workshop where they can continue to develop their proposed project within a community of public scholars and community practitioners.

Benefits

• Receive grant awards for a single year project with option to apply for a second year of funding
• Internships that provide graduate students with the experience of being a public scholar
• Develop new skills and competencies in public scholarship
• Receive ongoing technical assistance with program design and implementation
• Create new knowledge in a successful university-community collaboration

Graduate Student Commitments

• Collaborate with a community partner to complete a public scholarship project.
• Participate in an Annual meeting at the beginning of the grant cycle.
• Present project results at a Friday Forum or Annual Project Showcase.
• Attend minimum of two Friday Forum events and one workshop.
• Contribute to the Arts of Citizenship blog during the grant cycle.

Peer Review

Arts of Citizenship believes that peer review from both academics and community practitioners is essential to establishing public scholarship as a legitimate form of academic inquiry and knowledge production. Faculty and graduate student grantees will be required to participate in a peer review process.

Who Should Apply

Advanced Rackham graduate students who have achieved candidacy are invited to apply for a Graduate Student Fellowship in Public Scholarship.

Timeline and Review

Selection Criteria

Grantees will be selected based on significance of proposed scholarly and creative activity; depth of collaboration with partners; projects’ contribution to public life; demonstrated desire for new learning about public scholarship; demonstrated interest in being actively involved in the Arts of Citizenship network.

As our program grows, the number of applicants has increased, making this a more competitive process. We are eager to talk with you about your project ideas, please e-mail Elizabeth Werbe at ewerbe@umich.edu to arrange an appointment.