Discussions in the first half of the seminar are geared toward dissecting methods, theories, and approaches across and beyond the involved units, encouraging students to critically reflect on their own disciplinary training and planned research trajectory. Activities in the second half of the seminar support students in designing collaborative, public-facing interdisciplinary research projects related to the seminar. Seminars are listed under HUM/SOSC 4010 and HUM/SOSC 7010 for 3 credit hours, and have the following student learning outcomes: 

• Appraise how disciplinary boundaries, genres, and conventions in the humanities and social sciences shape scholars’ research questions, the knowledge they produce, and how they collaborate with others beyond their discipline.
• Analyze and articulate how their own disciplinary training has shaped their research interests and planned trajectory. 
• Develop interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research questions that draw on multiple humanities and social science fields, theories, and methods.
• Design collaborative, public-facing interdisciplinary research projects.
• Devise plans for integrating interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches in their thesis and dissertation research projects. (Graduate students only) 

We are seeking proposals for new, team-taught Taft Research Seminars to be offered spring 2026 related to the 2025/26 Center theme Period. Each member of the faculty teaching team should come from a different unit (one must be a Taft unit, the other may be outside the college) and have a different disciplinary training. Both should have expertise on the proposed topic. 

This program will provide $15,000 to incentivize and support the collaborative research, teaching, and public outputs for the new course and its development. Up to $5,000 per unit may be utilized to allow faculty to co-teach the seminar as part of their regular workload. These unit-allocated funds may not be used for capital expenses or general operating expenses. The remaining funds must be utilized for material costs and associated programming, e.g., honoraria or funding community partner participation.  

Applications should must be submitted through the application portal (not via email), and must include the following:

• Abbreviated (two-page) curriculum vitae of each proposed faculty leading the seminar;
• Seminar name and description;
• A narrative on the co-designed seminar and how it relates to the 2025/26 theme;
• A brief discussion of methods and theories to be discussed in the first half of the seminar;
• Proposed activities for the second half of the seminar;
• Anticipated outcomes of the seminar;
• Letter from each faculty member’s unit head affirming that if they are selected, the faculty member will be allowed to teach the co-taught course as part of their teaching obligations for spring 2026. 

Applications are due by Feb. 9, 2026, at 5pm

• Applications are limited to tenured and tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences or the Department of Economics, and that are members of a Taft-eligible unit or hold terminal advanced degrees in an area of a Taft-eligible unit.
• Applications must include the following:
• Narrative explaining the proposed project’s focus, contributions to the applicant's field, methods and sources.
• Itemize budget, explanation and proof of costs, including comparison and substantiation, e.g., screen shots of projected expenses.
• Reasonably expected outcomes, including publications, fellowships, performances, and/ or grant sought.
• Abbreviated (two-page) curriculum vitae.
• Where applicable, the proposal should also include an account of the current Taft Departmental Allocation Research Support balance and commitments, from either the applicant or the department head.
• Applications lacking IRB approval where required are discouraged, and will likely be denied. 
• Applicants may not bypass any component of the system, asking the committee to instead view an uploaded document. The only acceptable uploaded document is a single PDF, containing the applicant's abbreviated CV and proof of costs, e.g., screen shots of travel, lodging, and direct research costs.

• Conceptualization, organization, and description of the proposed project.
• The current state of the research, the proposed schedule of research, and the timeliness of the award in ensuring project completion.
• The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project, if funded, based upon scholarly record and accomplishment following other grants/awards.
• The quality or future promise of the applicant's work as a scholar or creative writer and teacher.
• Evidence of productivity generally, as well as that stemming from previous Taft awards.
• The significance of the contribution that the proposed project will make to thought and knowledge in the field of the project.
• The nature of external grants and the likelihood of external funding.

• Full disclosure of non-Taft funds received for the proposed project, including those from within the university. A Taft grant may not duplicate other funds granted for the same purpose, except when project costs exceed outside awards.
• Where deviations from the approved application occur, the grantee must notify the Taft Faculty Chair in writing and receive written approval for the changes. Failure to comply with this rule will nullify the grant and require return of the award.
• Publications and creative work generated with the help of Taft grants should acknowledge the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
• A travel authorization request must be submitted via Concur and approved prior to travel.