URMC / Arts in Mind / Request for Proposals
Request for Proposals (2015)
Overview
The goal of the Arts in Mind (AIM) Project is to enhance and enrich the educational experience at the UR by integrating the fine arts into relevant aspects of programmatic and curricular humanities and sciences. This endeavor focuses upon synergies between academic topics within existing programs and topically related performances across art modalities, achieved through collaborations between local and visiting artists and academicians, as well as professional arts institutions in the Rochester community.
Project Events and Structures
The AIM Project seeks to augment curricular themes through individual events (AIM seminars, or more extensive symposia), potentially coupled with existing courses, that link lectures-workshops-discussions with fine-arts performance (drama, music, dance) and/or presentation (visual/media arts and creative writing).
Innovative 'experiments' are sought that catalyze novel interactions between faculty across disciplines and combine academic lecture-workshop-discussion with arts performance/presentation (depending upon modality), bound by a common theme or topic.
Visiting artists and scholars are encouraged, as are direct collaborations with professional arts institutions in the community, and including other academic institutions. Proposals for support might fit within several widely tuned areas, including (though not exclusively) the following:
- Foundations of Humankind, Culture, and Diversity
- The sciences and engineering, as related to structure/function, evolution of the mind and body, or in relation to the environment.
- Health and Illness in relation to culture and social context
Targets for Support
AIM Seminar or Symposium
Applications may request up to $3,000 for a 2-4 hour seminar, or as partial shared support for a more extensive symposium.
Principal Applicants must be full-time faculty members at the University of Rochester. At least one other collaborator (UR or elsewhere) is required, preferably in a complementary discipline linked by a topic of mutual interest. A key element is the inclusion of arts production that is either formulated with a faculty collaborator within the UR arts community and/or visiting artists, or which exploits local professional arts performance relevant to the proposed topic (e.g. play, film screening, gallery production, etc.).
Application and Submission
Proposals should be modeled after a short Foundation/Institute request and include the following:
- Cover letter indicating the title, who is to be involved and their roles, and a brief synopsis of the proposed inter-disciplinary synergy linking an academic topic within the target areas with a relevant fine-arts component.
- Description (Seminar format): (1- 2 pages) include title, principle applicant, collaborators and other participants, the nature of the collaborative artist/arts component, venue (actual or proposed), background and motivation, plan for implementation and promotion, and optional plan for outcome assessment. State the target audience (matriculated students, adult students, UR community, public, other).
For a more extensive Symposium or Course format, expand accordingly.
- Budget (itemized) and with brief justification (guest travel, venue-dependent costs, special needs, honoraria, etc.). This may require parsing into AIM Support and Other Support, where relevant in regard to shared costs.
- Bio-Sketches (brief) of faculty and participants.
Review will emphasize:
Send applications by email as a single pdf file. Address questions about funding mechanisms and applications to: Arts in Mind Project
I am happy to work with you on your ideas and planning.
Review will be completed within 4 weeks, with funding beginning shortly thereafter. A committee will be formed based upon topic. You are welcome to suggest reviewers as part of this process.
Gary D. Paige MD, PhD, AIM Director