Overview

Interdisciplinary research clusters offer scholars with expertise in different fields the opportunity to explore a topic of shared interest in common and in depth.

Meeting space, organizational assistance, and discretionary funding up to $1,000 are provided to groups awarded support. Participation in clusters is open to OSU faculty and instructors, scholars from other institutions, and advanced graduate students. A variety of aims and configurations are applicable, from works-in-progress or reading groups to teams with specific goals such as course or conference development. We encourage proposals that include creative interdisciplinary collaborations or offer inventive means of public engagement with issues of humanistic significance. 

Information about '23-'24 application deadlines will be announced during the next academic year.     

EXPECTATIONS & FUNDING: Groups awarded support will

  • Focus on a core theme with contemporary relevance and the potential for broad impact
  • Include least 4 OSU faculty members, preferably from at least 2 different schools, committed to holding 6 or more meetings (at least 2 per term). One faculty member will serve as primary contact with Center staff.
  • Provide a short end–of–year report describing the group’s activities and accomplishments and conveying how cluster activities shaped research progress.
  • Receive up to $1,000 in discretionary funds to support cluster activities and objectives. Acceptable expenses include event promotion material, speaker travel costs, etc. Expenditures for food or faculty travel are not allowable.

PROPOSAL CRITERIA (1–2pgs): Proposals accepted for review will

  • Name the prospective research cluster/theme and Identify a designated OSU faculty organizer responsible for communication with Center staff.
  • Provide names and affiliations of at least 4 OSU faculty, preferably from 2 or more schools or units, who commit to participate in at least two meetings per term.
  • Describe the problem, topic, or theme the group will explore; identify and briefly explain the significance of the central research questions and/or approach.
  • Identify the group’s primary objectives and prospective outcomes.
  • Offer a tentative timeline of activities (i.e. number, length, frequency of meetings).

TO APPLY:

Email your 1-2 page proposal to [email protected]. Groups will be notified of award status by the end of June. Contact us if you have any questions about the program or application process.

2021-2022 Research Clusters 

 

Working Class Studies

Convener:
 Allison Hurst, School of Public Policy

Surveillance, Free Speech, and Privacy

Convener:
 Brett Burkhardt, School of Public Policy

Public Humanities
Convener:
 Megan Ward, School of Writing, Literature, and Film
 

2019-2020 Research Clusters

Public Humanities
Convener:
Marisa Chappell, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion

Qualitative Methods
Convener:
Shaozeng Zhang, School of Language, Culture, and Society

Reparations, Restitutions, and Apologies
Convener:
Flo Leibowitz, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion

Radical Readers
Convener:
Alex Diaz-Hui, MA Candidate, School of Writing, Literature, and Film

 

2018-2019 Research Clusters 

Film and Visual Studies Pedagogy

Convener:
 Sebastian Heiduschke, School of Language, Culture, and Society

Disability Studies Network

Convener:
 Stephanie Jenkins, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion

Engaged Scholarship

Convener:
 Susan Rowe, College of Education

Technology and the Environment

Convener: 
Joshua Reeves, School of Arts and Communication



Junior Women Writers

Convener:
 Elizabeth Sheehan, School of Writing, Literature, and Film