Application Deadline: December 1, 2023

Application Guidelines (PDF)

Eligibility

Only ASIANetwork Institutional Member colleges and universities are eligible. Please visit our membership benefits page for information on how to join ASIANetwork. Membership must be maintained throughout the duration of the grant. Current and previous recipients of other ASIANetwork-administered grants are eligible to apply.

Program Objectives

The Embodied Learning about Asia program facilitates immersive, engaged learning through well-planned, shorter-term projects that bring students into direct contact with individuals who embody expertise or forms of knowledge, skill, or experience derived from an Asian cultural context.

The program aims to make Asian Studies more visible and to foster cultural understanding and inclusive, participatory learning by enabling students to engage first-person (experiential and reflective), second person (dialogical), and third-person (academic and scholarly) perspectives. Relevant activities would include contextual observation, participatory practicums and tutorials, and experiential guidance from a practitioner, to be complemented by dialogue, reading and discussion with mentoring faculty, and reflective writing about the learning process and the knowledge gained.

Possible examples of fundable projects, drawing upon available campus and community resources, might center upon any of the following endeavors:

• Performing in classical or popular music, arts, dance, or theatrical activities
• Engaging in contemplative practices, including yoga, meditation, tai chi, tea ceremony, flower arranging, and calligraphy
• Practicing culinary arts and engaging food culture in contexts ranging from restaurants to temples, on holiday occasions, or as part of social service
• Participating in traditional forms of Asian medicine and healing arts
• Celebrating folk and/or ethnic festivals and making crafts, tools, or material artifacts associated with particular traditions and communities
• Partaking in distinctively Asian approaches to agriculture, animal husbandry, or the environment
• Exploring and utilizing particular new technologies shaping contemporary cultural life in Asia

Qualifications and Responsibilities

Host institutions: ASIANetwork institutional member colleges and universities may apply, and those selected for the award will receive up to $10,000 to support a residency extending over a minimum of two weeks. By accepting the grant, a host institution agrees to administer the funds allocated by the grant in order to provide the following for the resident(s): (1) transportation, (2) lodging, (3) meals, (4) other related incidentals (e.g., equipment & supplies) as needed, and (5) a minimum $1,500 honorarium. Institutions may combine the grant with other available funds, but agree to disburse the entirety of the ASIANetwork funds received to cover direct costs associated with the program.

Host institutions also agree to assume full responsibility—and release ASIANetwork and all of its directors, officers, advisors and employees of any liability—for any risks and damages arising out of any activity undertaken in connection with the grant. Following the conclusion of the funded activities, the host institution agrees to submit final narrative and budget reports to ASIANetwork, upon receipt of which ASIANetwork will disburse a $500 stipend to be distributed as part of the grant to the faculty host or co-hosts.

Joint Applications: Applicants may apply jointly with another eligible ASIANetwork institution, although each college must submit a separate application and budget. Joint programs sharing some expenses, but planned for about two weeks on each campus, may apply for $10,000 each. Integrated programs where the resident(s) move between colleges during the residency and participate in shared events over less than four weeks are eligible to apply for a total of $15,000 for a minimum grant period of two weeks.

Residents: Qualified residents will share expertise or knowledge, skill, or experience grounded in practice, performance, or lived experience that derives from an Asian cultural context. This may be attested through advanced degrees or certifications, specialized training or work experience, a brief life history, or a combination thereof. Prospective residents who are able to communicate well in English, who have experience working with undergraduate students or with Americans, are able to navigate their practical affairs with limited assistance, and have an interest in intercultural education and dialogue would be especially appropriate. Residents may travel from home bases in North America or overseas. Note: Faculty hosts and their institutions will be responsible for making visa arrangements for foreign nationals that comply with existing policies and procedures for awarding honoraria. As part of the planning process, it is essential to consider visa alternatives in such cases and to plan program durations and make arrangements accordingly. 

Faculty Hosts: All full-time, continuing faculty are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to members of the teaching faculty whose disciplinary expertise and professional background will enable them to successfully fulfill the program’s goals. Applicants should additionally identify and describe campus and/or community partners and resources essential to the planned program. Please include a short list of stakeholders, with their titles and affiliation, whose involvement would be integral to the program.

Upon acceptance of the award, the faculty host or hosts will make all necessary arrangements in anticipation of the project’s practical and programmatic needs in consultation with the resident(s). During the residency, the faculty host(s) will assume primary responsibility for ensuring that proposed plans are executed or adapted to meet the intended objectives. Within one month of the resident’s departure, the faculty host(s) will submit a brief narrative report to ASIANetwork that will accompany an institutional budget report. Faculty hosts are also expected to attend the ASIANetwork annual conference to share and present on results and experiences within 1-2 years following the grant.

Proposal Narrative

After completing the on-line application form, applicants must upload a proposal narrative as a single MS Word or PDF file by the date specified above. The expected length of the proposal is approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words.

Applicants should take this opportunity to describe the primary and any additional activities envisioned during the residency. While proposal narratives need not use the subheadings below, authors should take the following questions into account in preparing their proposal:

Project Abstract: A statement in 250-300 words briefly describing the project in light of program objectives. If your proposal is selected for funding, this abstract will be published on the ASIANetwork website when the grant recipients are announced.

Background, Qualifications, and Selection: Please briefly describe the host’s relevant disciplinary background and/or expertise on Asia, as well as that of any others who will be instrumental to the project. What professional experience has prepared the principals to accomplish the project’s aims? Similarly, describe either the proposed resident(s) and their relevant background, or the process by which a qualified resident will be identified. Please indicate if the proposed resident(s) has visited the campus or that of another U.S. institution in the past.

Academic, Campus, and Community Context: How might the proposed activities relate to planned curricular offerings or course syllabi? Are other faculty members or student organizations in position to play a role? How might the proposed residency relate to other co- curricular activities, initiatives, resources, or needs on campus or in the broader community? If a similar or related program has previously taken place, please describe how the proposed project compares with it.

Arrangements: How do you plan to handle arrangements during the residency itself, including lodging, meals, and local transportation? Are others available to offer additional hosting or provide opportunities for the resident(s) to engage the community? Have additional needs been anticipated for appropriate meeting or event spaces, supplies, or professional help (e.g., translation, technical support)? Is there sufficient support for all necessary logistics?

Engagement and Reflection: How do you envision student involvement taking place? In what ways will students be able to engage the resident(s) in fulfilment of program goals? How will you facilitate self-reflection on the part of participants? Are there plans to document or share your findings or experiences?

Timeline of Activities: How do you imagine the planned programming taking place over the course of the residency? What time frame makes sense within the campus context, and what would make for an appropriate duration for all involved?

Application Procedures

Online Form Submission: Provide the name and contact information for the grant author and prospective faculty host(s), along with that for the academic officer or dean providing a letter of support for the proposal. Please indicate if the proposal is part of a joint application with another ASIANetwork member institution. (Each institution will complete an individual submission as described below.)

Proposal Narrative: An MS Word or PDF document in approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words as outlined above.

Budget: A statement of anticipated expenses along with any anticipated contributions from other sources in support of the residency.

Letters of Support:

1. Institutional Representative: A brief statement from the chief academic officer or dean indicating that funds awarded will be administered by the institution as described above and without administrative fee, and that the institution assumes full responsibility for and releases ASIANetwork of any liability arising out of activities undertaken in connection with the grant. If applicable, the letter should also verify the expected employment status during the residency of any continuing faculty member(s) central to the application.
2. Stakeholder(s): An additional brief statement from 1-2 individuals well-positioned to affirm support for the proposal. Possibilities might include department chairs who might speak to the curricular implications of the proposal; colleagues and partners who are intellectually and/or logistically invested in the project; and advisors or representatives of relevant student organizations or local community leaders who would be involved in or impacted by planned programming.

Timeline

Application deadline: December 1, 2023
Award notification: January, 2024
Grant period: 2+ weeks during AY 2024-25

• Applications for projects planned for January or May terms, summer session, and AY 2025-26 will also be considered.

Final report: within 1 month of resident’s departure

Program Director

Dr. Bill Gorvine
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Hendrix College
gorvine@hendrix.edu
For any questions about the program, please use “ELAAP” as your email subject line.