The Center for the Humanities invites applications for the Research Scholar Award, a three-year distinction offering research funding in its first and third year.
The Award is given to an Associate or Full Professor undertaking a major research or creative project in the humanities.
Projects eligible for the award include, but are not limited to, work culminating in a book; a collection of artworks or compositions; a film, website, or other work in the new media; a novel, memoir, or full-length play; a collection of short stories, poems, or essays. Rarely will a single peer-reviewed article be considered the sole appropriate outcome of the scholarship proposed for this award.
The award confers a $3,500 research support fund, or one course reassignment, or a $3,000 summer research stipend in each of the first and third years of the project. Renewal of funding in the third year is contingent upon demonstrated progress toward completion in the first two years of the award period.
Research support refers to funds available to cover research costs, either via reimbursement or direct purchase by the Center on behalf of the recipient.
Summer stipends refer to supplemental income paid to the recipient via payroll. Please note that stipends are taxed, whereas research support funds are not. See the FAQ page for more information on how this can affect award amounts.
Course reassignments make available funding to cover the cost of replacement instruction for one to two courses. Approval for the reassignment must be granted by the recipient's dean and chair or program director.
Note, unlike most other grant categories, this award has a single (not a rolling) deadline. Applications for the 2022-2025 HRSA should be submitted one week ahead of the Board's September 2021 meeting. The 2022-2025 HRSA recipient will be formally announced at the Fall 2020 Stalnaker Lecture.
Because of the wide range of potential projects upon which applications for the Research Scholar Award may be based, the following criteria are meant to guide applicants generally as they compose their applications. They do not, however, exhaust the range of considerations that the Board of Directors may take into account as it deliberates among proposals.
In addition to addressing the criteria above, proposals should also include:
Sandra Patton-Imani (2021-2024), Professor, Culture and Society
Lisa West (2020-2023), Associate Professor of English
Eric Saylor (2018-2021), Professor of Music History
Ben Gardner (2017-2020), Associate Professor of Art and Design
Darcie Vandegrift (2016-19), Associate Professor of Sociology
Renee Cramer (2015-18), Professor of Law, Politics and Society
Jennifer Harvey (2014-17), Professor of Religion
Nancy Berns (2011-2014), Professor of Sociology
Timothy Knepper (2010-2013), Professor of Philosophy
The Center for the Humanities requires funding recipients and Center-supported program/event organizers to observe Drake University accounting guidelines. The University's tax-free status depends upon uniform observance of these guidelines. Expenses incurred in contravention of these guidelines will not be reimbursed. For more information, please read our grant management page.
Recipients of funding from the Center for the Humanities are asked to provide on the impact and effect of the activities funded.
The Center’s support must be acknowledged in the published work and, when possible, in announcements, presentations, and publicity materials connected to it. Please see the acknowledgments page for examples of appropriate formulations of acknowledgment.
To apply for grant programs funded through the Drake University Center for the Humanities, please use this new, Qualtrics-based application form.
If the form gives you any trouble at all, you can also email your application to the director of the center.