Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar 2024

U of A may submit one proposal.

M. Rigdon (Center for PHilosophy of Freedom)

Required U or A pre-proposal elements

The UA pre-proposal contains the following required sections and will be entered into text boxes on the application. Only text is accepted (no images, figures, tables, etc.):

1. Summary
   250-word limit. Provide a summary of your proposed activities. This should be a self-contained description of the proposed work and outcomes that would result if funded. This should be understandable to a scientifically or technically literate lay reader.
2. Significance
   250-word limit. Describe the compelling reasons for the proposal. How will the work be an original contribution or what problem will your proposal address?
3. Fit with Funder
   250-word limit. How does the proposed work fit the stated goals of the sponsor and the intentions of the funding program?
4. Approach
   500-word limit. Describe the proposed activities, procedures and methodology to be used. Note any potential problems or limitations that might arise.
5. Expected Outcomes
   250-word limit. What changes, impacts, results, or contributions to knowledge do you expect as an outcome of the proposed project?

Uploaded as a PDF:

1. PI BioSketch or CV
   Agency-specific BioSketch preferred. There is a 5-page limit on CVs

Program Description

Full sponsor guidelines https://www.mellon.org/article/sawyer-seminars

Purpose: The 30th anniversary of the Sawyer Seminars program arrives amid national turmoil over complex, existential topics that have the potential to affect university operations. Our present moment has created much uncertainty, but it also provides us with opportunities for deep thinking and intervention. Such opportunities are made possible through freedom of intellectual inquiry, which allows our society to think critically, dissent when necessary, and build more equitable, just futures.

In this vein, for the 2024 Sawyer Seminars, Mellon invites proposals that meaningfully engage faculty, other academic leaders, and visitors from a variety of fields in the study of academic freedom and democracy in the American university. We seek to support seminars that demonstrate through humanistic methods the ways in which a higher education system featuring a multiplicity of perspectives, thoughts, and voices is essential to a functional democracy.

Program Activities: Each seminar normally meets for one year, though some have continued for longer periods. To allow for planning, seminars need not be scheduled for the coming academic year. The seminar should be led or co-led by humanities faculty; however, the proposed seminar should be a collaborative effort involving participation by scholars and administrators from across disciplines and units, with varying perspectives on the problem being addressed. In addition, we encourage you to invite participants from nearby institutions, such as community colleges, liberal arts colleges, museums, research institutes, and local organizations to achieve interdisciplinary and community-engaged collaboration.

As Mellon reviews proposals, preference will be given to those that seek to:

• Bridge the gap between the socially equitable world envisioned in much humanities scholarship and the policies and practices characterizing today’s universities;
• Empower humanists to be active participants in the strategic conversations and planning that many universities are engaged in or preparing to undertake;
• Imagine new and revised university structures that would enhance the growth of the humanities and promote the realization of more just futures.

Grant recipients would be expected to highlight and disseminate findings across campus units using a medium that best fits their campus context, such as a white paper or town hall.

Budget: Funding requests should not exceed $300,000 for each seminar. The first budget period must begin with July 1, 2025. The first period may be longer or shorter than 12 months. Funds may support: one postdoc, up to two dissertation research fellows (in the form of graduate tuition or supplemental funding); travel and living expenses for short stays by visiting scholars; costs associated with coordinating seminars, including meals, honoraria, consulting fees, and stipends. Funds may not be used to cover release time for regular faculty participants, rentals of university space, or indirect costs.