New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society

Funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, ACLS invites applications for grants to support collaborative work in China studies.

This program supports projects in the humanities and related social sciences that bridge disciplinary or geographic boundaries, engage new sources, develop fresh approaches to traditional materials and issues, or otherwise bring innovative perspectives to the study of Chinese culture and society. Proposals are expected to be empirically grounded, theoretically informed, and methodologically explicit. The program especially encourages proposals concerning pre-modern China.

The program will support collaborative work of three types:

• Planning Meetings: Grants up to $6,000 will be offered for one-day meetings to plan conferences or workshops, or for less structured explorations (e.g., brainstorming sessions) on issues of Chinese culture and society.
• Workshops: Grants up to $15,000 will be offered for workshops designed to facilitate ongoing research on newly available or inadequately researched data or texts. Workshops are understood to last three to four days and provide an opportunity for participants to discuss and analyze new approaches and/or new sources in a seminar-like setting.
• Conferences: Grants up to $25,000 will be offered for formal research conferences intended to produce significant new research that will be published in a conference volume.

The program aims to promote interchange among scholars who may not otherwise have the opportunity to work together. Accordingly, proposals will not be supported for activities of scholars from one institution or that fall within an institution’s normal range of colloquia, symposia, or seminar series. The program will not support regularly scheduled meetings, conventions, or parts thereof. Proposals must include at least one scholar from Taiwan as a participant.

Eligibility

The principal organizer must be affiliated with a university or research institution and must hold a Ph.D. There are no restrictions as to citizenship of participants or location of the project; however, it is expected the scholars from academic institutions in Taiwan will participate in conferences, workshops, and planning meetings.

Application Guidelines

• Applications must specify one principal organizer.
• Applicants should bear in mind that proposals will be read by an interdisciplinary committee of scholars.
• The program aims to encourage collective efforts by groups of scholars who are prepared to work together on a limited set of issues.
• Accordingly, efforts should be made at the earliest possible stage of projects to ensure that the eventual set of conference papers is intellectually coherent and not a loose collection of essays on topics only tangentially related.
• Funds awarded in these competitions cannot be used to cover the following expenses:
  • Direct research expenses, such as those of field work, obtaining research materials, or analysis of data;
  • Salaries or released time for organizers or participants;
  • Honoraria or speakers' fees for organizers or participants;
  • Purchase of equipment;
  • Institutional overhead. (Direct administrative costs are allowed.)
• Proposals for conferences should normally be more elaborate than proposals for planning meetings or workshops.
• Workshops are understood to last three or four days, and provide an opportunity for participants to discuss and analyze new approaches and/or new sources in a seminar-like setting.
• Planning meetings are understood to last one day.
  

All proposals must include (in this order):

• Application Information Sheet (click here to print).
• A description of the project and its purposes. Descriptions should be no more than five double-spaced pages, and must also include:
  • a budget for the proposed event, including a statement of any other funds available, and
  • a short bibliography of relevant sources.
• Two-page CV of principal organizer.
• A list of those invited with their CVs (two pages maximum). This list should clearly differentiate between those who have agreed to participate in the event and those whose participation is not confirmed. This list should also specify paper writers and discussants. Participation of scholars from academic institutions in Taiwan is expected. Participation of scholars from outside the China field is strongly encouraged.
• For conferences only: an appendix containing abstracts (of approximately 150-200 words) for each paper to be presented at the conference.

Submitting Applications

• Submit one set of application materials, collated in the order specified.
• Applications should be submitted by mail or courier. Applications cannot be submitted by fax or e-mail.
• All applications must be printed double-spaced, on one side only, of standard letter size (8-1/2 x 11 inches) paper.
• Applications should be unbound and unstapled: books, scholarly papers, brochures, catalogs, or other material not easily photocopied should not be included.

Fully completed applications must be received by September 15, 2009. Applications should be sent to:

New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society
Office of Fellowships and Grants
American Council of Learned Societies
633 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10017-6795

Applications must arrive by mail or courier service. Applications will not be accepted by fax or email. Applicants should send an email to the Fellowships Office on the day they send their application materials to ACLS. Each applicant will receive email confirmation when their application is received at ACLS in New York.

Questions concerning the application process should be directed to the ACLS Fellowships Office.