Arts & Humanities Opportunity Fund

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The Arts and Humanities Opportunity Fund provides flexible support for faculty research and creative activities in the arts and humanities. Awards are designed to cover a wide range of projects at any point in the research process.

Small awards are those up to $1,500, while large awards fall between $1,501 and $10,000. Possible uses are outlined below, and we welcome proposals that speak to other faculty research and creative practice needs, as well. Please note that expenses related to course development and travel are typically funded at the school level or through campus-wide programs such as e-campus, DPO, WIC and the CTL.  

Program Details

Awards are available to all faculty working on arts and humanities projects who are employed at .5FTE or higher. 

Applicants will be asked to explain how the requested funding aligns with and informs their position description. Please be specific. For example, explain how the proposed project will benefit your research, teaching, advising, etc. Note that projects are not expected to benefit all parts of the position description. 

Faculty can receive funding from the Opportunity Fund or Center for the Humanities Summer programs and a Fellowship or Residency if the awards support different projects or different stages of the same project. For example:  

  • You received a PRAx Collaborative Faculty Fellowship two years ago. You could apply for Opportunity Fund support to host a symposium based on your research or for costs related to publication. 

  • You received a Summer Writing Workshop focused on writing a manuscript. You could apply the next year for a Site-based Residency to focus on research for a new project. 

  • You received a Center for the Humanities Faculty Research Fellowship to begin preliminary research on a new book project. One or two years later, you could apply for the Summer Writing Workshop to write a chapter of the same project. 

  • Small awards, up to $1,500, may cover needs such as indexing, imaging permissions, or subventions for books under contract; book manuscript workshops; materials for a creative project; trainings to support research, scholarship, or teaching; archival research, or supplemental conference registration or travel.  

  • Large awards, $1,501 - $10,000 are designed for projects with wider impacts, such as developing or hosting a conference or workshop on campus; developing and hosting an event connected to your scholarship; hiring a research assistant; or developing an exhibit connected to your artistic project.  

  • PRAx will transfer funds to the recipient’s academic unit for disbursement. 

  • Recipients of large grants will submit a 1-to 2-page report at the end of the activity describing how the funds supported their project.

Applications are due by the Monday of Week 4 during Fall, Winter, and Spring terms. Applicants will be notified of status by the end of Week 8.  

Applications are available through Submittable. You will be asked to provide information about the professional development activity, the significance of the project, an estimated budget, and, when relevant, a copy of the publication contract.  

Applications will be evaluated by a diverse review committee composed of faculty with experience working across the arts and humanities. Reviewers will consider:  

  • The feasibility of the project and alignment with the goals of the faculty member, school and university.  

  • Prospective significance of the project’s impact. 

  • Centrality of arts and/or humanities methods and practices to the project. 

  • The review committee will prioritize applications that have not received support from PRAx or Center for the Humanities within the past three years. Please see the Eligibility section above for additional information. 

Submittable Form