Faculty Development Newsletter

2013-2014: issue #9 - January 30, 2014

Fac Dev Website

Reminders

Join a Research Group

To assist faculty in keeping the research momentum alive in the weeks and months ahead, we would like to organize Research Groups. These groups will be small and loosely organized around shared (or at least mutually intelligible) research and creative endeavors. The aim of each group is to provide structured work agendas, feedback, and encouragement so that group members can push projects to completion. Regardless of what stage your research project is in, you can benefit from a Research Group.

If you are interested in joining a research group, please submit some basic information about your research agenda here.


Presentation Ideas for "Tuesdays @ Noon"

We invite you to present your ideas at our "Tuesdays @ Noon" faculty discussion series. As part of our initiative to explore new pedagogies, we would like to have faculty present examples of the excellent work they do on a daily basis. You do not have to have to be up on the latest edu-speak or implementing the latest gizmos in the classroom. We want to hear what matters to you, how you went about addressing it in the classroom, and your assessment of whether it worked or not. Even great ideas that did not necessarily work out make excellent material for these presentations. Also, no idea is too small. "Tuesdays @ Noon" events can include multiple presentations.

If you might be interested in presenting, or have an idea for a presentation you would like to hear, as part of the "Tuesdays @ Noon" series, please provide us with some information here.


ACM Visiting Faculty Positions 2015-2017 Announced

Follow this link for more information.


Research/Creative Work and Conference Travel Funding Requests for Spring and Early Summer (through end of Fiscal Year, June 30, 2014) - Due January 31

If you are interested in applying for Funds for Research and Creative Work for the remainder of the 2013-2104 academic year (including June), please submit forms and supporting documents (in .doc or .pdf) to facultydevelopment@knox.edu by January 31, 2014.

For Conference Travel Funds, complete the Conference Travel Request (Google Form - requires my.knox.edu login) by January 31, 2014. Remaining conference travel funds are quite limited. On a positive note, faculty have been quite active this year in attending and participating in conferences. Alas, that success also means that will not have resources to fund a second academic conference for any faculty this fiscal year.

Read Full Details and Find Application Forms Here


Sun + $$$ = Summer Faculty Development

-- The Summer Money Issue --


What do you want to do this summer?

Study a foreign language --> See the Stellyes Grants and Knight Funds

Work on an article in Connecticut (or England or California or ...) --> See NEH Seminars and Institutes

Learn about Asian Religions in Honolulu --> Use Knight Funds for the East-West Center Program

Learn about the birth of Chicago --> See CIC Workshop

Visit an off-campus study site relevant to your majors --> See the Stellyes Grants

Design a New Course --> See all.

I can't wait until summer --> For non-specialists only: Study Japanese fiction and history in Nashville, April 2-5 - apply by February 14. See below.



For 2014, plan "fiscally," as in "according to the fiscal year"

Funding for support of research and creative work must now adhere to the standard fiscal year calendar. Any projects completed before July 1, 2014 must be funded under current fiscal year budgets. Apply now!
For any projects to be completed after July 1, 2014, the first deadline for funding requests will be April 1, 2014. (There will also be a new online application form.)

This guideline will also affect funding for conference travel. Apply now for conference travel before July 1, 2014. The Committee on Faculty Research will be bringing a proposal to the faculty for a new model for funding of conference travel after July 1. Stay tuned.



Funding in Global Studies from the Stellyes Center

The Stellyes Center for Global Studies offers financial support for faculty and student activities related to global education. Funding is available in a number of categories relating to curricular development, collaborative work, and student international travel. Faculty are encouraged to review the application form and instructions and contact Center Director Robin Ragan with questions and proposals for use of these funds.
(Requests for faculty research support on international topics should still go to facultydevelopment@knox.edu.)

Possible uses of these funds:
Site visit: Visit an Off-Campus Program Site, either one of Knox's or one related to the specific needs of students in your field.

Scouting trips: Create a new short-term study abroad program. Previous funding supported the creation of Japan Term, European Identities, Drumming and Dance in Ghana, and others currently on the drawing board.

Distinguished guest speakers or scholars-in-residence with an international perspective.

Foreign Language Acquisition: Study a foreign language. Previously supported languages have included Chinese, Korean, Ki-Swahili, German, and Spanish.


Knight Funds in Religious Studies - Apply by Monday, February 24

Financial support is available for faculty projects in Religious Studies, made possible by a gift from Knox Trustee Mary Kent Knight.

Examples of fundable activities include:
- Design or re-design a course with a substantial religion component.
- Conduct research into topics related to Religious Studies.
- Pursue other professional development opportunities: studying a foreign language, attending a religious studies conference or program.

Details on supported activities and the application process are here.


CIC American History Seminar on the City of Chicago - Nomination Deadline: February 7, 2014

CIC and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will cosponsor a seminar for full-time faculty members in history and related fields on "The Creation of the Modern American City: Chicago from 1830 to 1910"; the seminar will be held at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois, June 16-20, 2014. Henry Binford, associate professor of history and urban affairs at Northwestern University, and Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English and American Studies and professor of history at Northwestern University, will lead the seminar. For more information, visit www.cic.edu/AmericanHistory.

Contact facultydevelopment@knox.edu as soon as possible if you are interested in being nominated.


CIC Seminars on Teaching Interfaith Understanding - Nomination Deadline: February 7, 2014

CIC and the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) will cosponsor two multidisciplinary Seminars on Teaching Interfaith Understanding for full-time faculty members at CIC member colleges and universities. The first seminar will be held at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 15-19, 2014, and will be led by Catherine Cornille, Newton College Alumnae Chair of Western Culture at Boston College, where she is chair of the department of theology and professor of comparative theology, and Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University. The second seminar will take place at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, August 3-7, 2014, and will be led by Eboo Patel, founder and president of IFYC, and Laurie Patton, dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and the Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion at Duke University. For more information, visit www.cic.edu/TeachingInterfaith.

Contact facultydevelopment@knox.edu as soon as possible if you are interested in being nominated.



NEH Summer 2014 Seminars and Institutes: Applications Due March 4

NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes promote teaching in the humanities with specific attention to undergraduate teaching faculty. These programs are generously funded. For those unfamiliar with the NEH nomenclature, "seminars" focus on a specific topic, providing both study of that topic and opportunities to pursue individual projects related to it with the support of the seminar leaders and participants. "Institutes" are designed to advance undergraduate teaching on key themes and issues, engaging participants in discussions of texts and topics, while bringing leading scholars to the institute to present current scholarship on the material.

Some seminars of note:

Arts, Architecture, and Devotional Interaction in England, 1200-1600 - June 9-July 4 - York, England
Performing Dickens: "Oliver Twist" and "Great Expectations" on Page, Stage, and Screen - July 7-August 1 - Santa Cruz, CA
World War I in the Middle East - July 6-August 2 - Washington, DC
Some institutes of note:
The American Maritime People - June 23-July 25 - Mystic, CT
Black Aesthetics and African Diasporic Culture - July 13-August 1 - Atlanta, GA
Pictorial Histories and Myth-Histories: "Graphic Novels" of the Mixtecs and Aztecs - June 29-July 26 - Mexico, various locations
See the full list of 30 seminars and institutes here. (Note: Be sure to click on the tab for "College and University Teachers.")


Infusing Chinese and Japanese Religion, Art and Politics into the Undergraduate Curriculum, July 21-August 8 - Honolulu, Hawaii

This multidisciplinary Institute fosters faculty and program development aimed at enhancing undergraduate teaching and learning about Asian cultures and societies. The program offers undergraduate educators the opportunity to interact with leading Asian studies experts in an intensive program of lectures, discussions, film screenings, site visits and cultural events. The first two weeks of the 2014 program will include thematic overviews of Chinese and Japanese history; sessions on the religious traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Shinto; and both China- and Japan-focused talks on pre-modern art traditions. Throughout, consideration will be given to the interplay among religion, art, authority and power. The final week of the program will address the transformation of religious, artistic and governance traditions in modern and contemporary China and Japan.
The Institute is open both to individual applicants and to two- to three-person teams from colleges and universities committed to furthering undergraduate Asian studies. Nearly all expenses, including airfare, can be covered by the Institute and funds available through Knox. Application deadline: March 6, 2014.
For more detailed description, please see the ASDP website: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/education/asian-studies-development-program

If you are interested in speaking with former Knox participants in these programs, please contact facultydevelopment@knox.edu.


Japanese Studies Workshop for Non-Specialists - April 2-5, 2014 in Nashville, TN - Apply by February 14

The Japan Studies Association is sponsoring a star-studded (at least as far as academia goes) mini-workshop for anyone interested in learning more about Japanese fiction and history. This workshop is especially designed for individuals who are not specialists in the field. The workshop, "Learning and (Re)Learning Japan: the Convergence of History, Fiction and Narrative," will be held at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee, April 2-5, 2014. Additional information is here


ACM Seeking Organizers for the next SAIL Program in Jordan, 2015

The announcement for the next SAIL program is here: http://www.acm.edu/our_collaborations/SAIL/2015_Seminar__Jordan_.html