Through the David A. Gardner Magic Project, the Council invites pairs or groups of Princeton faculty members to apply for summer stipends of $7500 to develop team-taught undergraduate courses that
- Have teaching faculty whose primary appointments are in more than one single department/unit and
- are explicitly interdisciplinary in their conception.
These grants are available for the following contexts:
First, the Program in Humanistic Studies offers summer grants of up to $7500 for each of the assistant, associate, and full professors who team teach in these interdisciplinary courses:
HUM 216-219: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Western Culture
HUM 233-234: East Asian Humanities Sequence
HUM 247-248: Near Eastern Humanities Sequence
HUM 470: Certificate Capstone Seminar
Second, we seek proposals for new team-taught, interdisciplinary courses that are taught across departments and/or divisions and are of broad interest. These courses should examine larger questions and major texts, building bridges either within the humanistic disciplines or across the humanities, creative arts, social sciences and natural sciences. These courses would be capable of fulfilling a requirement in the Humanistic Studies certificate.
Courses developed through this grant will normally be based in Humanistic Studies, with some seats reserved for certificate students in Humanistic Studies. When a team-taught course carries the home designation of Humanistic Studies, the Humanities Council will be able to provide a summer salary for course preparation and may be able to support the FTE for one or both of the faculty members. For team-taught courses that are cross-listed with Humanistic Studies, faculty may apply for funding to support course-related expenses, including field trips, materials, and guest speakers.
The certificate in Humanistic Studies aims to increase the reach of the humanities across campus, reaching undergraduates of diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including those who are majoring in the social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering but who also have a serious and longstanding interest in the humanities.
Examples of past team-taught courses include “Arts in the Invisible City: Race, Policy, Performance” (Nathan Davis and D. Vance Smith); “Adventures in Ideas” (Robert George and Cornel West); and “Witness” (Martha Sandweiss and Esther Schor). For more examples, please visit the Program in Humanistic Studies website.
Eligibility
Faculty on continuing appointments are invited to express interest for AY 23-24 and may apply in pairs or groups.
A single faculty member may indicate an interest in a topic or in teaching in one of the Humanistic Studies sequence courses listed above. In the case of a potential proposal, the Humanities Council will work with partners on campus to identify faculty interested in collaboration.
When applying as a team, faculty must be based in more than one department or discipline. A minimum of one proposing member must be home-based in a humanities department or in a humanities-related social science (e.g., history, cultural anthropology, political theory). Any exceptional proposals should consult with the Council before submission.
For innovative courses that are not eligible for these course preparation grants, Magic Grants may nonetheless support a range of course-related activities, including class trips, break trips, guest speakers, and international components. See “Innovation Grants.”
How to Apply
Interested colleagues are encouraged to email Esther Schor, Chair of the Humanities Council and Director of the Program in Humanistic Studies, with the following information:
- a one-page course description (including a schematic list of 12 weeks of themes/topics; list of sample readings; types of writing assignments).
- a cover letter with a rationale for the team teaching, including teaching goals; a few sentences demonstrating the fit for the HUM students and interdisciplinary Minor in Humanistic Studies. HUM courses typically have no prerequisites and are open to students from all majors.
There are two avenues for applying:
- Two or more faculty members with primary appointments in different unites may apply as a team by submitting a one-page proposal.
- Individual faculty members may apply by describing a course that would benefit from collaboration with a colleague in another branch of the university. When possible, the Council will work with partners on campus (eg, Council for Science and Technology, the Lewis Center for the Arts) to help identify appropriate intellectual counterparts.
Deadline
- December 1, 2024 for Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 courses. Queries about possible courses to be offered in 2025-26 should be emailed to Esther Schor, Council Chair, in advance of the deadlines.
