Social Science Research Council

The Academia in the Public Sphere grants program seeks to promote public engagement and public scholarship among university faculty and area studies centers on the topic of Islam and Muslims in world contexts.

The program supports the development of scholarship that can be made available as a public resource, and the grants are available to all Title VI National Resource Centers funded by the Department of Education. Applicants may seek up to $50,000 per center, while collaborative projects involving multiple centers may request up to $100,000. The activities funded by the grants may include the development of communications infrastructure, programming that enables partnerships between scholars and advocacy groups or other community organizations, and projects that engage new and traditional media. 

Applications are reviewed by a diverse committee with background in academia, media, and policy. Currently there are three individuals serving on the selection committee: Deborah Amos, Foreign Correspondent for National Public Radio and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, William O. Beeman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, and Shamil Idriss, Acting Director of the Alliance of Civilizations at the United Nations.

The next grant cycle spans 15 months from March 15, 2009 to June, 14 2010. The application deadline for the next cycle is November 17, 2008. Forms are available online.

For further information contact Thomas Asher, Program Officer: apsg@ssrc.org.

This program is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Department of Education Title VI program, dedicated to international education and public education, in order to complement existing funding.