KIAS INFORMATION

SESSIONS

JERRY VARSAVA, DIRECTOR

GILLIAN EDWARDS, EXECUTIVE MANAGER

Today’s Agenda

1. KIAS Vision

2. KIAS: A Brief History

3. KIAS Governance

4. KIAS Themes (2011-2013)

5. KIAS Programs

KIAS Vision

To foster an innovative intellectual

environment for the interdisciplinary study of

major modern and historical, political, social,

economic, and cultural issues and, therein,

advance society and global polity in a

manner consistent with the high

humanitarian ideals of the founding

benefactors, Drs. Peter and Doris Kule.

KIAS: A Brief History

June 2008: Recommendation of ―Arts in the 21st

Century‖ Committee to establish a Centenary

Institute for the Arts

September 2008: Commitment of President

Samarasekera at Arts Faculty Council to support a

Research Institute for the SSHRC disciplines in a

major donor could be found

November 2009: President Samarasekera

announces the Kule endowment gift of $4 million

KIAS: A Brief History

April 2010: KIAS is approved by Academic Programs

Committee

July 2010: KIAS formally established

Fall 2010: consultation on KIAS‘s research themes

and programs

November 2010: formal launch of KIAS, Faculty Club

January 2011: KIAS Administrative Board approves

research themes and programs (2011-2013)

February-October 2011: roll-out of KIAS‘s programs

KIAS Governance

Administrative Board, chaired by Provost Amrhein

Advisory Council, chaired by Provost‘s delegate, Ernie Ingles, Head Librarian

Research Committee, chaired by KIAS Director, Jerry Varsava

Theme Preamble

Fall 2010, KIAS engaged in an extensive consultation of undergraduates

and graduate students, faculty, and research administrators, in an effort to

identify topics of major local, national, and global consequence

that, consistent with the Institute‘s mandate, could be explored from a

socially-engaged, interdisciplinary standpoint by researchers and creative

artists in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Fine Arts.

Administrative Board approved the topics on January 11, 2011 and therein

set the research agenda for KIAS for the next three years (2011-2013).

The three focal topics provide direction to researchers and creative artists

seeking KIAS sponsorship of their work, but also breadth and latitude to

allow a full play of imaginative and analytical energies in the research and

creative enterprise.

KIAS Themes (2011-2013)

1. Stewardship of the Planet

2. Place, Belonging, and

Otherness

3. Culture, Media, Technology

1. Stewardship of the

Planet What defines ethical

environmental stewardship?

What are the ethical limits of development?

What roles should Albertans assume as informed environmental citizens?

What does environmental sustainability mean as the global population approaches seven billion?

How can responsible, sustainable development occur in an increasingly interdependent world where competitive demands for such things as energy, metals, minerals, food, fiber, and water are accelerating? How can these demands be mitigated, reduced, or eliminated?

…continued

What are the social, political,

economic, and cultural

implications of the potential

crisis in global food supply

that may arise from climate

change and other factors?

What are the environmental

implications of gas and oil

development and the pursuit

of affordable energy in a

climate-change world?

How has the politics of food

been used in the past to

advance political objectives?

2. Place, Belonging, and

Otherness

What is the meaning of place, and how has it been constructed historically? How is it being constructed today?

What is the social and political force of narratives of belonging and otherness?

How has the movement of peoples, especially during periods of great social duress (e.g., war, revolutions, and natural disasters), affected notions of place and belonging?

How do borders and boundaries constrain, or produce, notions of personal and group identity?

…continued

How do place and belonging influence spirituality? How do borders and boundaries affect diasporic and minority communities in Alberta and beyond?

How do they affect people with disabilities?

How do they affect indigenous peoples in Canada?

How has the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shaped notions of place and belonging in Canadian society? (2012 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Charter‘s passage into law.)

3. Culture, Media, Technology

How will live theatre and music performance as well as traditional approaches to presentation of the visual arts evolve as technology increases its hold on our discretionary ‗free‘ time?

What strategies can be employed to ensure the preservation of live cultural interaction?

How will print-based literary works evolve in a time of technological change and multi-media representations? How will the folkloric arts?

How have evolving social patterns and economic models affected artistic creations?

…continued

How are the arts making use of new technologies to develop innovative and novel artistic forms and expressions?

How can education in the arts, and through the arts, influence the quality of life within and beyond the borders of Alberta?

How has the critical intelligence of media theorist, and Edmonton native, Marshall McLuhan, advanced our understanding of the power of the media in our everyday lives? (2011 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of McLuhan‘s birth.)

Overview of Programs

All continuing University of Alberta faculty members, full or part-time, doing research and/or creative activity in the Fine Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences, and resident in SSHRC-discipline Faculties and Schools

Faculty members are restricted to one application per competition, and one course per application.

One may serve as Principal Investigator on one grant, and also be a member of another grant team as collaborator.

N.B. Consistent with SSHRC policy, KIAS does not provide support to health-related areas.

SSHRC Faculties & Schools

Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences

Arts

Augustana

Business

Campus Saint Jean

Education

Extension

Law

Library and Information Studies

Native Studies

Physical Education and Recreation

Overview of Programs

In recognition of the intellectual leadership of

Arts, its securing of the anchor endowment,

and size of researcher cohorts, KIAS‘s

competitive grants will be distributed notionally

according to the following formula, though

merit will be the deciding factor:

50% to applicants from Arts;

50% open to applicants from

SSHRC Faculties, including Arts.

Overview of Programs

Interdisciplinary 400/500 Seminars (deadline: February 28, 2011)6 grants @$9,000, with $8,000 for

teaching buy-out, and possibility of $1,000 grant for research and/or curricular development costs

KIAS Research Cluster Grants (deadline: April 15, 2011)6 grants @ up to $15,000

Tomorrow’s Ideas, Now

May 9, 2011 –Abstracts due

KIAS International Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Student Conference August 17 to 20, 2011

A limited number of accommodation and travel grants available on a competitive basis

Overview of Programs

Kule Dialogues

Small grants for local dissemination

Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowships (tentative deadline: June 1, 2011)

4 grants @$6,000

must work in a KIAS-mandated area of research

firm expectation of completing a doctoral program within 12 months following tenure

PDF Research Grants (tentative deadline: September 15, 2011)

4 to 6 grants @$2,000 to $4,000 grants for Killam, SSHRC, other PDFs

designation as KIAS Research Fellow

must contribute to the intellectual life of University through lectures, classes, etc.

Research Clusters

Goals

The KIAS Research Cluster Grants Program seeks to bring together researchers—continuing faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, Postdoctoral Fellows—with a commitment to the interdisciplinary study of major issues of social important in order to facilitate impactful research. The Program is not meant to replace other sources of research funding such as SSHRC grants, but rather to advance research projects whether at a gestational, developed, or concluding phase of development. Holders of Cluster Grants will be provided support for local dissemination of research and creative activity under the auspices of the Kule Dialogues Program upon separate post-award application.

Value

up to $15,000

Duration

12 or 18 months

Research Clusters

Adjudication Criteria

Alignment with KIAS‘s themes

Interdisciplinarity

Preference given to projects involving interdepartmental and/or inter-Faculty collaboration

Preference given to projects with undergraduate and/or graduate student participation and full involvement in project

Preference given to projects with clear dissemination plan

Research or creative record, with activity contextualized within applicant‘s seniority

InterD Seminars

Goals

to integrate the Institute‘s research mission with the strategic objective of the University of Alberta to provide structured opportunities to develop undergraduate inquiry and research skills

to enhance the research acumen of graduate students

to bring together instructors and students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in order to develop novel ways of understanding one or more of KIAS‘s focus themes

Value

Up to six Seminars to be funded, @$8,000 per course, buy-out to Department or Faculty; possibility of supplementary $1,000 grant

Duration

One half-course equivalent course (9 cwts.) to be delivered in either 2011 Fall or 2012 Winter

InterD Seminars

Adjudication Criteria

Alignment with KIAS‘s themes

Interdisciplinarity

Strength of research component

Seminars may be co- or team-taught with advance approval of concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s)

Preference given to Seminars likely to attract senior undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines, and likely to have enrolments of 8 or more students

N.B. Seminars may be co- or team-taught with advance approval of concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s). Seminars can be cross-listed within departments as, for example, 4XX/5XX; further, they may be cross-listed between departments and/or Faculties, subject to advance approval of concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s)

External Research

Collaboration Grants of up to $5,000 to holders of

Research Cluster Grants, subject to

matching by external partner

Applicants encouraged to consider

collaborators from among preferred

partners, such as members of World

Universities Network (WUN)

http://www.wun.ac.uk/

Tentative deadline: October 21, 2011

Kule Dialogues

Small grants for dissemination locally

through lectures, lunch talks,

workshops, colloquia

Cluster Grant holders are obliged to

participate in this program and have

first call

Others may apply for funds, subject to

availability (beginning Fall 2011)

More information?

Jerry Varsava, 492-6781

jerry.varsava@ualberta.ca

Gillian Edwards, 492-6436

gillian.edwards@ualberta.ca

3-22 Arts Building

www.kias.ualberta.ca