What is the Year of Discourse and Dialogue?
Higher education is at the center of engagement around diverse viewpoints. At Pitt, we are part of an academic community in which we can all challenge ideas, seek truth, create new knowledge, and examine our assumptions. Our classrooms, residence halls, conference rooms, libraries, and all spaces welcome a myriad of political viewpoints, and array of religious and spiritual beliefs, theoretical assumptions, and philosophical stances.
We can grow our capacity for critical inquiry and civic discourse, when we all aim to engage in good faith and with compassion, listen to understand, interrogate our own bias, and seek common good that will strengthen all of us.
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. There is much that we can learn, share, and build together in the coming year that will support not just our university, but also contribute to conversations and actions more broadly.
What is the Year of Discourse and Dialogue Funding Opportunity?
The Steering Committee for the University of Pittsburgh Year of Discourse and Dialogue invites funding requests for between $500 and $5,000. Proposals should thematically connect to the Year of Discourse and Dialogue, fostering the understanding, practice, and demonstration of discourse and dialogue.
What types of projects will the Year of Discourse and Dialogue Funding Opportunity support?
Proposals are invited from the students, staff, and faculty. Projects are evaluated based on alignment with the Discourse and Dialogue them; address a need, challenge, or opportunity; be committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion values; have a sustainable impact beyond the academic 2023-25 academic years; and promote collaboration across disciplines, across individuals in different roles (e.g. students, staff, faculty, community, alumni), and/or with Pitt campuses. See examples of projects funded during the 2023-24 Year of Discourse and Dialogue.
Who is eligible to apply for Year of Discourse and Dialogue funding?
Students (graduate and undergraduate), staff, post-docs, and faculty at all University of Pittsburgh campuses.
When are proposals due?
The first deadline for proposals is December 6, 2024. The final deadline will be February 28, 2025. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Where do I apply for the Year of Discourse and Dialogue Funding Opportunity?
You may access and complete the application on InfoReady.
If I am faculty or staff, am I required to provide a letter of support from my department chair or supervisor?
Staff and faculty should follow their unit’s standard guidelines and practices when applying for University opportunities of this sort. While the application process for this funding opportunity does not require a letter of support from the department chair or supervisor, that practice may be the standard for your department and should then be followed. Such letters can be submitted as supplemental material through the submission portal. The committee recommends alerting your chair/supervisor and your financial administrator prior to submitting an application.
How will proposals be evaluated?
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.
My proposal did not receive funding. Can I revise and resubmit?
Yes. If your proposal is not accepted during an earlier round, we encourage you to take advantage of resubmission opportunities in the following round(s) of funding.
Will grant funds be distributed in a single payment?
Yes
I am a student. If I, or my student group, is awarded funds, how do we receive the funding?
Student groups on the Pittsburgh campus are provided an account number by the Student Organization Resource Center. If awarded, you will be asked to contact that office to find out the appropriate University account number to which the Year of Discourse and Dialogue Initiative can release the funds.
Students on the regional campuses can contact the Business Office and the Office of Student Affairs on their respective campus.
If your proposal is not affiliated with an official student group, funding can be released to your department. For example, a student in the English Department who proposes a project of their own can, with the approval of the Department, have awarded funds dispersed to the English Department; the Department would then handle dispersal of funds to the student. Students should come to an agreement with their Department before funds are requested.
Must awarded funds be expended during the 2024-2025 academic year?
Funds must be expended by June 30, 2025.
Can Year of Discourse and Dialogue funds be used for staff/faculty/student salary support?
Funds cannot be used to support faculty or staff salary.
Applicants can apply to support students. Please note that there are University requirements around GSA salary and tuition support.
I want to use Year of Discourse and Dialogue funds to buy equipment for our project or event. Is this allowed?
Equipment purchased with University funds belongs to the University. If your budget includes equipment to be purchased with Year of Discourse and Dialogue funds, please make sure the narrative states which University department has agreed to take on the equipment after your project or event is complete.
What are the reporting and participation expectations for award recipients?
Award recipients will be asked to submit a brief report to yearof@pitt.edu by May 30, 2025. Award recipients will also be encouraged to share their activities at the Celebration of the Year of Discourse and Dialogue in April 2025 and make their project outputs available through a Canvas site for instructional materials or D-Scholarship@Pitt for posters, papers, and data.
1. Report: Please submit a brief (~750-1000 word) summary of your project activities and reflection. 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?
2. . Sharing: You will be asked to submit your instructional materials for inclusion in a central Pitt repository of data 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.
3. Participation in the Celebration of the Year of Discourse and Dialogue (April event): In April 2025, we will celebrate your Year of Discourse and Dialogue activities at an event for the University. This event will also include a closing speaker. 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 March 2025 with information about ways to participate.
