President

A message from the Institute Committee: Request for Proposals

December 14, 2021

Dear all,

Over these past two years, the world has grappled with a crisis of epic proportions – a global pandemic that has taken the lives of at least five million people.  In the search for how to recover from such momentous loss and suffering, and amid continued uncertainty, many have turned to the lessons that history might provide, including the experiences of the 1918 flu and the 1980s HIV-AIDs crisis. These have served as helpful reference points for contemporary epidemiologists, policy makers, and concerned citizens who seek to learn from the past toward addressing the present.

In addition, scholars and activists are focusing all the more sharply on the genealogies of race, class, and power, turning to institutions ranging from the British Monarchy to local police departments in the United States. Communities of all types around the world have either chosen or been forced to look back at their histories as they attempt to look forward and imagine how they will evolve and exist in a world that has, in some ways, experienced shared trauma.

Continuing the theme of the 2021 Summer Institute, we welcome proposals for the Spring 2022 semester, “Looking Back, Looking Forward, and Opening Better” as the theme for the Institute for the Liberal Arts (now referred to as The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts). We invite members of the Vassar community, together with partners beyond Vassar’s gates, to reflect on what “Looking Back” and “Looking Forward” means in terms of scholarship, and civic and cultural  life.  We welcome proposals that may be in the more classic vein of an academic workshop or conference, as well as those that reach beyond the academy to include explicit community- or policy-minded components

All members of the Vassar community are invited to submit proposals to convene an Institute for the Liberal Arts program during the period between March 1, 2022 and June 30, 2022. We expect to be able to support 2 or 3 programs this spring, with a budget of up to $3,500 per program.

Applications should include the following:

  1. A brief program Abstract (approximately 250 words) that identifies the primary concept/idea/problem/questions that animate the proposed program and how/why the program engages the 2021/22 Institute theme.
  2. A deeper dive into the specifics of the proposed program, including:
    1. An explanation of the goals of the program, including any post-program follow-up activities.
    2. The intended audience(s), including whether/why the program will (or will not) be open to a public beyond the Vassar community
    3. The program mode: virtual, hybrid, and/or in-person
    4. Potential speakers, and their likely availability.
  3. Proposed dates: both a preferred and an alternate date. (Programs may occur anytime between March 1 and June 30, 2022.)
  4. What support you will need from the college, including a preliminary budget

Feel free to review the website for the most recent Summer Institute for the Liberal Arts for an example of one model of Institute program that happened under this year’s theme. Do not feel you need to replicate this model -- there are many ways Institute programming can respond to this year’s theme.

Please submit proposals via email to Wesley Dixon (wdixon@vassar.edu) by Friday, January 14. We expect to have responses to proposals by February 1.  Those whose proposals are selected as Spring 2022 Institute Programs may schedule a February 2022 meeting with members of the Institute Committee to discuss resources to assist program planning.

Thank you.

The Institute for Liberal Arts Committee
Charles Arndt
Wesley Dixon
Elena Henderson-Downey
Katie Hite
Bill Hoynes
Ken Livingston
Dennis Macheska
Sophia McGrath
Tom Pacio
Silke von der Emde