For Faculty

Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, welcomes proposals for support from the Dean’s Discretionary Fund for AY 24-25.

Please note that applications may be submitted during the fall, winter and spring quarters.

Priority is given to proposals that contain one or both of the following criteria:

1. Research funding requests from faculty members who do not already have a general-purpose research fund available to them.
2. Funding requests for conferences or seminars to be held at UCLA, which will benefit many Humanities faculty members and students.

Given that the available funds are limited, the majority of awards are given out in the range of $500 to $1,500, although in exceptional cases larger awards will be made if it is established that several faculty members will benefit. In the case of conference support, the proposal needs to demonstrate that the conference organizers will seek funding from other sources in addition to the Humanities Division.

To apply

To request support, please note the application deadlines below. Submissions must include:

1. A description of the project for which you are requesting support (conference, seminar, etc.), including a brief statement making a case for the intellectual merits of the project.
2. An itemization of the budget that also details funding requests to all other sources, including the Academic Senate, with information on whether funding has been received.
3. In the case of a workshop or conference, an estimate of the likely number of attendees, and/or a statement of how the event will benefit other faculty members and students at UCLA (with particular reference to Humanities scholars).

Applicants should submit funding requests for their project long enough in advance to allow for ample time for a funding decision prior to the project’s own deadline.

Application deadlines for 2024-25

To achieve the UCLA Strategic Plan’s goal to deepen UCLA’s engagement with Los Angeles, the UCLA Center for Community Engagement is pleased to announce the availability of Community-Engaged Course Development Grants. This program will offer up to ten $5,000 awards to support UCLA instructors to develop new community-engaged courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional level. Priority will be given to proposals for new courses that can be integrated into and sustained within the curriculum of a department’s undergraduate, graduate, or professional school program.

Community-engaged courses follow the Academic Senate’s criteria for this type of credit-bearing course which are designated with the “XP” course number suffix. The community-engaged course criteria include:

• The community-engaged work creates reciprocal value for the students as learners and for community partners
• The community-engaged work is sustained across the quarter
• The community-engaged work is integrated into the course design, including assessment of student learning
• Students have the opportunity to actively connect the community-based experience with their academic learning through critical reflection.

Community-engaged teaching can take many different forms depending on the learning goals for a particular course, the course level and departmental context, and the aims of the community partnership. Please see more information about the framework here.

Eligibility

All UCLA Instructors of record

The Program

Each grantee will receive an award of $5,000, payable to a research fund (for Senate Ladder Faculty) or professional development fund (for other categories of instructors). Course development grantees will participate in the following activities:

• A one-day workshop on best practices in community-engaged teaching (to be scheduled in September 2025); and
• A once-per-quarter meeting over Academic Year 2025-26 of a community-engaged course development learning community focusing on community-engaged course design, culminating in a presentation of a new syllabus by Spring Quarter 2026.
• Participation in the September 2026 “best practices” workshop to pass on the learning about community-engaged course development to the next cohort

Each grantee will be expected to work with their department chair to schedule this new course during the 2026-27 or 2027-28 academic years.

To apply

Please visit this page to apply.

The intent of this annual grant opportunity is to provide seed funding for substantive endeavors for senate faculty that hold a full or partial appointment within the Division of Humanities. Grants will generally be in the range of $10,000 to $30,000, renewable for up to 2 additional years, based on the scope of the project and its potential for scholarly and/or public impact. Collaborative projects with other Humanities faculty are welcome. Typical number of awards is 3 to 4 grants per year. 

Guidelines

Proposals can encompass one or more of the following areas:

1. A research project that carries unique expenses beyond typical archival or field work (example: requires software/equipment).
2. A project in the area of pedagogical innovation.
3. A community-engaged project.

Deadline

April 25, 2025

To apply

To request support for the upcoming academic year, please forward the following materials to Aaron Hodgdon at ahodgdon@college.ucla.edu:

1. Two-page (maximum) description of the support you are requesting, including a brief statement making a case for the intellectual merits of the project, and its potential scholarly and/or public impact. 
2. Itemization of the budget that also details funding requests to all other sources, if applicable, with information on whether funding has been received. Grants do not provide course releases or summer payments (i.e., 9ths). Grant expenses may include travel, supplies, RA-ships, part-time staffing support, licenses, and/or software and equipment.

Existing research account balances will be taken into account in selecting proposals. Faculty who are successful in obtaining a small grant award may not apply for funding again for a period of at least three years and will be asked to submit a brief progress report at the end of the grant period.

The intent of this annual funding opportunity is to provide funding to support professional development and pedagogical work for non-Senate academic appointees (specifically, unit 18 lecturers, adjunct faculty and academic coordinators/administrators) in the Humanities Division.

Grants will generally be in the range of $2,000 to $10,000, renewable for up to two additional years, based on the scope of the activity. The division intends to award two or three such grants per year. 

Guidelines

Proposals may encompass one or both of the following areas:

• Travel and registration fees, within allowable limits, to a professional development conference or workshop.
• Supplies, software and equipment to support pedagogical and curricular innovation.

Deadline

April 25, 2025

To apply

To request support for the upcoming academic year, send the following materials to Aaron Hodgdon at ahodgdon@college.ucla.edu:

1. One-page description of the support you are requesting, including a brief statement outlining how funds will support your professional development.
2. Itemized budget that also details funding requests to all other sources, if applicable, with information on whether funding has been received. The budget may not include course release or compensation. Funds are provided in support of professional growth as elected by the applicant and do not entail added work for the university. For unit-18 lecturers, the itemization should include plans for use of any non-Senate faculty professional development grant funds awarded by the Chancellor’s Office, to ensure that funding is not duplicated.
3. Letter from the applicant’s department chair/program director confirming their support for the proposal.