Major Grants

The Institute for the Liberal Arts wants to remind Boston College faculty that we are now accepting applications for Major Grants ($2,500 to $25,000) for projects that will take place between June 1, 2024 and May 15, 2025. The Fall deadline for proposal submission is October 30, 2023, and decisions will be made by December 4, 2023. The Spring deadline for proposal submission will be March 29, 2024, and decisions will be made by May 6, 2024.

Major grants will be awarded to creative, innovative projects that will make a contribution to education or scholarship in the liberal arts at Boston College and that will need between $2,500 and $25,000 in funding per year. Proposals should be submitted via an online submission form.

For help determining your budget and amount to request, please see our Budget Guidelines.

Apply

ILA CALL FOR PROPOSALS AND GUIDELINES

The Institute for the Liberal Arts welcomes proposals from faculty for creative, innovative projects in any area of the liberal arts to be funded beginning in the academic year. Proposals may request funds ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 per year, and may request funding for one, two, or a maximum of three years. Examples of projects that could be funded might include (but are not limited to):

  • conference
  • seminar
  • symposium
  • creative project
  • development of a new interdisciplinary course
  • brief (e.g., week-long) residency for a visiting artist, writer, or scholar
  • programming designed to lead to a new center, interdisciplinary program, or minor
  • programming related to a museum exhibit, dramatic production, concert, or other event


PROPOSALS SHOULD INCLUDE:

  • Two-page description of the project
  • One-page statement of its relevance to liberal arts education at Boston College
  • Budget

When developing your budget for a conference, seminar or symposium, please reference our Budget Template and Budget Guidelines.

SELECTION:

Projects will be selected by the ILA director and governing board according to the following criteria:

  • Quality and originality
  • Interdisciplinarity
  • Feasibility within proposed time and budget
  • Contribution to education and scholarship in the liberal arts

Because we want to encourage creativity and innovation, we do not have hard and fast rules for what can be supported. However, we would hope that proposals will include some of the following characteristics, as appropriate:

  • Projects should ideally be interdisciplinary in nature and should include faculty from more than one department or program at Boston College.
  • Projects should engage students in some way
  • Projects should lead to some sort of product: a conference, publication, course, film, seminar, museum exhibit, etc.
  • Projects that have secured other sources of funding will be viewed favorably
  • Proposals for visiting speakers submitted to this funding pool should be for something other than the usual hour-long lecture: such as a week-long visit or a series of speakers, for instance. ILA support for single speakers will come from a different funding pool.

The Institute for Liberal Arts is committed to programming that reflects the diversity of our contemporary world as we continue to foster an inclusive university. Proposals should reveal attention to diversity, particularly in terms of race and gender, in terms of participants, invited speakers, and relevant texts and source materials.

The ILA will fund travel for Boston College Faculty only in exceptional cases. We strongly encourage faculty to use other College resources to fund their travel. We will not pay for equipment of any kind.

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