Thank you for your interest in the Year of Discourse and Dialogue Funding Opportunity.
Description
The Year of Discourse and Dialogue offers an opportunity to engage collectively on a broad range of ideas, programs, experiences, and opportunities to leverage the unique capacities of our University and advance learning.
Undoubtedly, our Year Of topic, as intended by previous themes, will also yield outcomes that better people's lives well beyond the boundaries of the University.
The Year of Discourse and Dialogue Steering Committee invites University of Pittsburgh students, staff, and faculty to submit applications to support activities connected to the theme. Applications for up to $5,000 to support faculty, staff, student, administrator & supervisor, and general community efforts that advance learning, research, engagement, and/or practice around discourse and dialogue are invited. For examples of projects funded in the first round of the Year of Discourse and Dialogue proposal process visit here.
- December 1, 2023, is the first deadline for proposals for the 2023-24 academic year. Proposals will be accepted from November 1 through December 1.
- February 1, 2024, is the second deadline for proposals for the 2023-24 academic year. Proposals will be accepted from January 1 through February 1.
The Steering Committee will review proposals on a rolling basis during the periods noted above.
Please submit your application via Competition Space.
Proposal Review
All proposals must demonstrate:
Alignment with Year of Discourse and Dialogue theme
- Applicants must address how the project or activities will foster the understanding, practice, and demonstration of discourse and dialogue.
Evidence of need, challenge, and/or opportunity and benefit
- Applicants must provide a justification for the project, sharing the need, opportunity, or challenge that it will address. The proposal should clearly define the target group(s) that will be impacted by the project.
A commitment to Equity Diversity and Inclusion values, such as through:
- Cultivating positive and healthy relationships across Pitt’s diverse community,
- Building capacity to advance discourse and dialogue across a wide range of diverse identities and perspectives,
- A commitment to equitable and inclusive practices in discourse and dialogue, or
- Events and projects that consider and advance discourse and dialogue in unique, creative, and inclusive ways.
Sustainable impact beyond Year of Discourse and Dialogue such as by:
- Strategically connecting to existing programs or infrastructure,
- Connecting with new partners within and outside of the university to leverage expertise and resources,
- Supporting long lasting changes (e.g. curricular changes in a program, new policies or practices, organizational or structural changes),
- Generating new knowledge/understanding,
- Sharing knowledge with peers and other audiences to extend impact, or
- Discussing plans for continuing or extending efforts beyond the current academic year.
Projects also including one or more of the following are especially encouraged:
- Involve interdisciplinary or cross-unit teams that bring together more than one department, school, or unit at Pitt
- Involve team members representing different roles and connections to Pitt (e.g. student, staff, faculty, community members, alumni)
- Connect the University of Pittsburgh campuses.
Reporting and Participation Expectations for Award Recipients:
Award recipients will be asked to submit a brief report to yearof@pitt.edu by May 31, 2024. Award recipients will also be encouraged to share their activities at the Celebration of the Year of Discourse and Dialogue in April 2024 and through Canvas or D-Scholarship@Pitt, as described below.
Report: Please submit a brief (~750-1000 words) summary of your project activities and reflection by May 31, 2024. Your report will be made available through the Year of Discourse and Dialogue website and should address the following:
- What was the need, challenge, or opportunity that your project addressed?
- Briefly describe the main activities of your project (who, what, when, where…). If you hosted an event, please let us know the attendance (and share photographs if you have them!). What were some successes or things that went well for you in this project? Challenges or barriers?
- What has this project positioned you take on next? Or what is a next step that you may be interested in pursuing?
- What can others learn from your project and/or its outcomes? How can others improve their own practices based on your findings? Or, what were some of the main take-home messages from your event?
Sharing: Please submit your instructional materials for inclusion in a central Pitt repository of discourse and dialogue curricula and educational resources. In doing so, your materials will be shared with the Pitt community. For awardees creating other outputs, such as posters, papers, and datasets, we invite you to make your work available through the D-Scholarship@Pitt institutional repository.
Participation in the Celebration of the Year of Discourse and Dialogue (April event): In April 2024, we will celebrate your Year of Discourse and Dialogue activities at an event for the University. You will be invited to attend the event and represent your project in a way that best suits it (a poster, lightning talk, demonstration, or table). Award recipients will be contacted in spring semester 2024 with further details.