Multicultural and Diversity Course Development Grants
In recent years the College, Notre Dame, and other universities have been engaged in scholarly reflections on diversity in higher education. As stated in our University’s mission statement: “The intellectual interchange essential to a university requires, and is enriched by, the presence and voices of diverse scholars and students… the University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice, and oppression that burden the lives of so many.” The College of Arts and Letters is pleased to encourage two course development initiatives to enhance students’ exposure to diverse cultural and gender perspectives across the Arts and Letters curriculum. These initiatives are designed for faculty whose teaching or scholarship does not already focus on multicultural or gender issues. They are intended to encourage such faculty to expand their knowledge and either: a) develop a course that has multiculturalism or gender as its primary focus: or b) integrate a component on racial, ethnic or gender diversity into a new or existing course.
A. Multicultural Course Development Grants: Funds are available to provide $3,500 in material grant support to faculty who are selected to develop a course on diverse cultural perspectives, including race, ethnicity and gender. Applications for this program should delineate how culturally specific themes, such as pedagogies related to race, ethnicity or gender, will be incorporated into the course content. In order to establish an ongoing dialogue on these issues, faculty who receive funding are expected to participate in a roundtable discussion of best practices, sponsored by ISLA during the academic year.
B. Multicultural Component Grants: Funds are available to provide $1,000 in material grant support to faculty who are selected to create a component of an existing course that would focus on issues related to racial, ethnic, or gender diversity. The course should include approximately 10 to 20 percent of its material on specific multicultural themes. Themes related to diversity could be incorporated in several ways, depending on the specific goals of the course. For example, two weeks of the course might include readings devoted specifically to issues of diversity. Alternatively, themes related to diversity might be intricately interspersed throughout the semester, relating its subject matter to other existing or more traditional topics already embedded in the course. In order to establish an ongoing dialogue on these issues, faculty who receive funding are expected to participate in a roundtable discussion of best practices, sponsored by ISLA during the academic year.
Applications should follow the Guidelines for Course Development Proposals in the General Course Development category.