Humanities Symposium Grant

The Center for Humanities is excited to announce a call for symposium proposals. This new opportunity encourages humanities faculty to enhance their research by hosting an on-campus symposium. The scope and topic of the symposium is open, with preference given to areas and periods not already addressed by current center programming. The center anticipates funding one symposium for up to $10,000. Symposium events would ideally occur before September 2026.

Important dates & details

For faculty applying during the 2024–25 academic year

Application deadline: Friday, February 21, 2025

Award notification: By Monday, March 17, 2025

Grant amount: Up to $10,000

Grant period: May 2025–December 2026

Eligibility: The symposium team must include at least one tenured or tenure-track faculty in the humanities or humanistic social sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.

How to Apply

Symposium guidelines

The symposium should focus on humanities scholarship. Topic, time period and format are open.  

  • Symposium events would ideally occur before September 2026.
  • For teams of two or more, one tenured or tenure-track faculty member should be designated the lead contact/lead organizer.
  • We recommend budgets include funds to hire a graduate student as project coordinator. Budgets should also note any anticipated or secured additional funding that will support this symposium. (Securing additional funds is not required or expected.)
  • Funds will be transferred to the lead faculty member’s department to manage upon award. The center will not provide administrative support. This process is similar to other internal grants that the center awards. The center financial admin will create a new project in the convener’s home department, and the financial admin for said department will manage the award. Once the grant term has expired, the Center for the Humanities financial admin will reach out to the home department financial admin and request any unused funds to be returned to the humanities center. Extensions for this award will be given on a case-by-case basis.

Applications should include:

  1. Application cover sheet (download)
  2. A brief description of no more than one page outlining the topic of the symposium; how the topic relates to the humanities; the anticipated date and length of events; symposium format (e.g. lectures, panels, workshops, field trips); any ideas about guest speakers or invited experts; imagined audiences and partners (on or off campus); any anticipated outcomes (publications, collaborations)
  3. CV for symposium faculty organizer(s)
  4. Provisional budget

Applications are due via email to cenhumapp@wustl.edu by Friday, February 21, 2025. Contact Laura Perry, assistant director for research and public engagement, with any questions.