College-Level Funding and Awards
HFA Opportunities for Research & Creative Work, Initiatives, and Awards
Funding for Research and Creative Work:
HFA Arts, Design, & Creative Productions Fund
Support of up to $5,000 is available annually to two HFA faculty members, one junior and one senior faculty, who are preparing a major exhibition, performance, event, composition, catalogue, or any other form of creative production that is in an advanced level and needs support to be completed.
HFA Dean’s Manuscript Development and Completion Fund
This fund provides annual support of up to $5,000 to two HFA faculty members—one junior and one senior—who are completing advanced-stage single-authored monographs or equivalent projects intended for publication or production in the near future.
Humanities Research and Creative Laboratories Grant
Up to two Humanities Research and Creative Laboratories grants are offered annually to establish collaborations among HFA faculty and students that foster innovative, collaborative, and outward-facing work in the humanities, performance, and creative arts. This initiative is focused on orienting and supporting work that is outward looking and engages with real and complex problems of our time. Laboratories are expected to create measurable knowledge and/or creative output and engagement that may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary in nature.
HFA Research Grants
HFA Research Grants of up to $3,000 support ongoing research projects and creative activities. Funding may be for materials and expenses related to an upcoming or ongoing research project or a creative activity.
HFA Research Intensive Semester
The Provost and the Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts support the Research Intensive Semester (RIS) program developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Society of Professors. The program gives HFA departments the ability to offer tenure-track junior faculty members who meet the eligibility requirements a “research-intensive semester” during which they can focus on those projects critical to their upcoming tenure review. In this context, we use the word “research” to include a broad range of creative and scholarly work.
HFA Subvention Grants
HFA Subvention Grants may provide up to $2,000 to offset expenses incurred in the publication of single-authored scholarly books and monographs, the recording of musical performances, and the installation of art exhibits. Other activities associated with the visual and performing arts may be eligible for subvention.
HFA Supplemental Research Presentation Fund
The SRPF program is intended to offset the cost of conference travel for HFA faculty to present research, perform, or participate in similar academic activities. Eligibility guidelines and priority considerations are explained below.
Initiatives:
HFA Conference Grants
Conference grants offer partial support to host locally-held conferences and events.
HFA Guest Speaker Funding
Two departmental grants of up to $1,500 will be made available on an annual basis from the Lois E. Toko Lecture Series endowment to bring women speakers to campus. Funding may be used to support lectures organized by the department or by department faculty. Departments are responsible for selecting the recipient.
Awards:
HFA Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award
Three awards of $1,000 are made annually to recognize junior, mid-career, and senior HFA faculty for their outstanding contributions in scholarship, performance, or creative activity. Recipients are recognized at the end-of-year ceremony.
HFA Global Engagement Award
This recognition annually awards $1,000 to a faculty member who has expanded their work beyond the habitual reach of the University and established global partnerships through research, community engagement, or teaching. The recipient is recognized at an end-of-year ceremony.
If you do not see the opportunity that you are looking for here, please see campus-level funding, awards, and fellowships or contact Amy Fleig at afleig [at] umass [dot] edu.