The Mellon Foundation grant provides funds to support workshops designed and organized by faculty members of the Mellon 8 on scholarly and pedagogical topics. Tenured and tenure-track faculty members may propose workshops to be held during the spring 2007, summer 2007, and the 2007-2008 academic year. The workshops may be relatively small. For example, six Latin Americanists from Amherst, Pomona, Wesleyan, and Williams might gather for three days to discuss the latest trends in that field and how those trends have had an impact on teaching about Latin America. The cost of the workshop might be $5,000. A larger workshop on environmental science, for example, might include a number of speakers and participants from outside the Mellon 8 with an overall budget for the workshop of $25,000.

The proposals will be reviewed by the deans and provosts of the Mellon 8. Two or three workshops, depending on the overall budget, will be selected for full development and funding. Priority will be given to proposals that are planned jointly by several faculty members from two or more of the Mellon institutions, that foster collaboration among these institutions, and that might lead to sustained interactions in scholarship or pedagogy among faculty at these institutions.

The proposal should contain the following items:

  • a description (not to exceed 500 words) of the proposed workshop, its rationale and intended audience, its schedule and format, and its intended impact.
  • a list of the faculty members who will be the workshop leaders and of other faculty members who will assist in the detailed planning of the workshop.

A preliminary budget, which may support the following

  • a modest stipend for the primary workshop organizer(s) ($1,000 for smaller workshops, up to $2,500 for larger ones).
  • travel and accommodation expenses for faculty participants from the Mellon 8.
  • travel and accommodation expenses and a modest stipend for speakers from outside the Mellon 8.
  • accommodation expenses for participants from outside the Mellon 8.
  • modest staff support for organizing the logistics (hotel space, etc.) for the workshop.
  • administrative expenses (mailing of notices, duplication of conference materials, etc.).

Twelve copies of the proposal should be submitted to the Dean of the Faculty by October 16, 2006. We recommend that you have a brief conversation with the Assistant Dean about the proposed workshop before developing the proposal to ensure that the workshop theme fits the framework of the Mellon grant.

Post-Award Requirement: All recipients of workshop awards will be required to write a report (250 words) summarizing the work accomplished during workshop, including the impact on the scholarly program of the awardee(s). This report is due to the Dean of the Faculty within two months following the completion of the workshop.