Call for Proposals

The Stanford Humanities Center (SHC) is pleased to invite Stanford faculty and graduate students to submit Research Workshop proposals for the 2025–2026 Academic Year. This unique program promotes and emphasizes collaborative engagement among scholars and the development of networks across conventional borders, fields, and periods. While many humanities centers sponsor similar programs, the SHC Research Workshops are unusually interdisciplinary and often intellectually adventurous.

A Research Workshop is a short- or long-term academic community that provides a space for new and emerging research to be shared in a collegial and spirited environment. The Stanford Humanities Center provides funding and resources for each Workshop to pursue interdisciplinary programming in support of faculty and graduate student research and professional development.  Each Workshop is led by at least one Graduate Student Co-Chair and at least one Faculty Co-Chair, and hosts about nine research events throughout the Academic Year.

The Stanford Humanities Center funds up to fifteen (15) different Research Workshops each year, and workshops can be renewed for funding for up to four consecutive years. Each workshop team will receive an allocation of up to $14,500. Applications will open January 2025, and funded workshops will be notified via email no later than the week of May 5–9, 2025.

New this year, the SHC is partnering with Stanford Global Studies (SGS) to fund two new Global Humanities Research Workshops. 

Our new Global Humanities Research Workshops aim to bring global perspectives to the most pressing questions and issues in the Humanities today. Faculty and graduate student organizers conducting research into international, transregional, or global comparative topics are welcomed to apply. Our Global Humanities Research Workshops come with additional funding and support, with the aim of strengthening and expanding partnerships with regional studies centers on campus and with centers and scholars from around the globe. Proposals exploring fields in the qualitative social sciences, including international policy, political theory, and regional studies are encouraged to apply.

The Stanford Humanities Center, in collaboration with SGS, will fund up to  two (2) Global Humanities Research Workshops in the 2025–2026 Academic Year. The SHC is only accepting new workshop proposals for the Global Humanities program. 

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Eligibility:

• Faculty, scholars, and advanced graduate students from schools, institutes, departments, and programs within Stanford University are invited to submit proposals. Any organizing and leadership team must consist of at least one faculty member and one advanced graduate student who will together serve as the workshop's designated Co-Chairs.
• Each team should include a core group of faculty and advanced graduate students from any school who will collaborate outside their departmental boundaries and plan events pursuing interdisciplinary engagement focused on the central research theme.

Proposal Classifications:

• NEW: An application proposing a research theme not previously funded by the SHC.
  • Applicants proposing new workshop themes are encouraged to submit a draft application for review by SHC staff prior to their final submission.
  • The SHC is only accepting NEW applications for the Global Humanities Research Workshops.
• RENEWAL: Any current (AY 2024–2025) SHC Research Workshop applicant seeking an additional year of funding and not in its fourth year of continuous funding.
  • Workshops currently in their fourth year or more of continuous SHC funding are required to take a mandatory funding hiatus and may not apply for upcoming AY funds.
• RETURNING: An applicant proposing a previously funded research theme (prior to AY 2024–2025) and seeking additional funding. 

Research Workshop Commitments:

• Plan and organize at least nine workshop events to be held during the academic year, ideally three per quarter.
• Invite scholars from Stanford University, the SHC Fellowship Program, and from other universities, institutes, or elsewhere, to present and discuss current research or publications relevant to the workshop’s theme.
• Collaborate, when possible, with other institutions and units, internal or external, to jointly sponsor an event or series of events. The SHC has established relationships with internationally renowned institutes interested in exploring cross-institutional collaboration.
• Steward university funds responsibly and comply with Stanford University policies pertaining to visitors, travel, purchasing, food and beverage, and reimbursements.
• Explore opportunities for creating or contributing to our digital platform Arcade. For examples of recent Research Workshops that have evolved to include a Colloquy, see Postcolonial Spatialities and Arts + Justice. For examples of an Interventions series, see Chiara Giovanni’s series on the Humanities Core Workshops including the Comparing Literatures Colloquy. 

Research Workshop Co-Chair Responsibilities:

Upon accepting and receiving funding, Co-Chairs are expected to:

• Host, lead, and/or participate in your workshop’s events.
• Identify and invite faculty, graduate students, visiting scholars, and others to participate in their workshops as presenters and/or participants.
• Collaborate with the Research Workshops Program Manager to maintain your budget and arrange for event logistics, such as room reservations and visitor travel and lodging.
• Provide timely event information so that the SHC can publicize your events.
• Collect and submit to the program manager necessary reporting documentation.
• Participate in a Research Workshop Orientation meeting with the program manager.
• The Research Workshops Program Manager arranges flights and hotels for guest speakers, reserves space within the SHC, and  tracks expenses & makes payments on behalf of your workshop. 

Application and Instructions
 

Please download the appropriate application template below:

New, Renewing, or Returning Workshops applications—including proposals for the Global Humanities Research Workshops—can download their application template when they become available in January 2025.

Enter a response to each question or prompt unless specified as optional, and please adhere to the word count. Proposals that do not follow application instructions may be disregarded.

To submit your application, email your proposal as a Word Document to messingr@stanford.edu with the following subject line: "CFP Entry - [Workshop title]"

For more information, please contact Research Workshops Program Manager, Dean Messinger-Arms at messingr@stanford.edu. 

Browse the Current Research Workshops