Opportunities & Deadlines
| Name | Type | Due |
|---|---|---|
| AVDF/ACLS Fellowships for Research on the Liberal Arts | Fellowship | December 15, 2023, 9:00 PM EST |
AVDF/ACLS Fellowships for Research on the Liberal Arts
The American Council of Learned Societies invites applications for the inaugural AVDF/ACLS Fellowships for Research on the Liberal Arts, made possible by a generous grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. This highly competitive, peer-reviewed program provides funding and data training for up to five scholarly projects that draw upon the newly available College and Beyond II (CBII) database.
The impact of a liberal arts undergraduate curriculum has long been difficult to measure and assess. Lacking data that record the skill attainment, civic involvement, or well-being of students after they leave college, many institutions struggle to examine the impact of a liberal arts education on diverse learners at different stages and aspects of their lives and careers. The CBII database—created by a team of scholars and staff at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan with support from the Mellon Foundation—includes more than one million student records, 50 million course enrollments, and alumni surveys for 2,800 respondents.
The first CBII data sets were released in 2022. At that time Paul Courant, the original primary investigator of the CBII project and former provost at the University of Michigan, noted that CBII “will allow us to explore the connection between undergraduate education and student outcomes ten years after college completion. These outcomes include important behaviors and mindsets such as democratic and civic engagement, openness to diversity, psychological well-being, and career adaptability.”
The five AVDF/ACLS Fellows for Research on the Liberal Arts will each receive $45,000 toward their projects, participate in a two-day data training led by the research team at ICPSR, and convene for a subsequent symposium to share their findings with one another and invited journalists. The deadline for applications is December 15, 2023.
Upcoming Webinars
Information sessions will be held for potential applicants with James Shulman, ACLS Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Allyson Flaster, Assistant Research Scientist, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research. Register now for webinars on the following dates:
- Tuesday, October 3, 1:00 PM EDT
- Wednesday, October 11, 1:00 PM EDT
- Friday, November 10, 12:00 PM EST
Stay in Touch
Receive program notifications, invitations to upcoming webinars, and information about application materials and deadlines via email.
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations were organized in 1952 and are supported by two trusts established by Mr. Arthur Vining Davis. The Foundations aim to bear witness to Mr. Davis’ successful corporate leadership and his ambitious philanthropic vision. Since their inception, the Foundations have given over 3,800 grants totaling more than $300 million to colleges and universities, hospitals, medical schools, and divinity schools.