RPW Center Collaborative Research Seminars provide a space for faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and visiting scholars to advance and develop emerging research agendas and to explore ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries. Meetings are usually open to all members of the Vanderbilt academic community and the public. However, there may be some circumstances where seminar participation is restricted to a specific group of colleagues at the discretion of the seminar leaders and in consultation with the RPW Center director.

Each seminar will be organized and led by a team of at least two people, one of whom must be a Vanderbilt faculty member, post-doc, or graduate student. If both or all are from Vanderbilt, at least two must come from different departments. Applications from graduate-student-led teams are encouraged. We also invite graduate students to serve as co-directors.

We welcome co-leaders from other academic institutions (Fisk, TSU, Belmont, MTSU, etc.) or from the Nashville community (community organizers, cultural leaders).

Budget: $3,000 (this is the minimum amount given to each seminar, but the number may increase as we start a new fiscal year)

Proposal Components:

• For each of the proposed seminar’s leaders: CV, or, for non-academic leaders, a short bio sketch or resume that includes experience relevant to the seminar

• Narrative: A two-page maximum description of the seminar’s focus, aims, proposed structure, potential participants, and, where appropriate, intended impact

If you are requesting a renewal of an existing seminar, please describe the seminar’s past activities, typical attendance, and a frank assessment of the seminar’s work over the previous year(s).

• Budget: Appropriate expenditures include speakers, symposia, group projects, books, or other related materials necessary for the seminar. Note: Budget may include honoraria or consulting fees for specialists or community leaders from outside academia.

Some benchmark figures for out-of-town guests: $500 airfare, $500 honorarium, $300/nt hotel, $100 other (taxi/rideshare, individual meals) plus group dinner expenses ($50/person and may not include more than three guests plus the speaker, per Vanderbilt policy)

The budget should reference any other expected sources of funding (department, research funds, grants, etc.) RPW Center will assist with travel arrangements for one out-of-town visitor per semester, per seminar.

All actual seminar expenditures during the course of the seminar meetings must be pre-approved by an RPW Center staff member.

Email all proposals (in a single Word document or pdf file to Cassandra Kirchmeier at cassandra.kirchmeier@vanderbilt.edu

If you have additional questions, please contact RPW Center Director Katie Crawford at katherine.b.crawford@vanderbilt.edu.