The European Union Center at the University of Illinois is pleased to offer a course development grant to University of Illinois faculty for Summer 2021 addressing the topic of “Eco-Criticism.” This grant from the EU Center will be offered on a competitive basis in the amount of $2,500*. Up to five proposals may be supported. Funds MUST be used by August 15, 2021. This grant is made possible by the Title VI National Resource Center grant from the U.S. Department of Education to the EU Center.

The main objective of this grant is to support course development proposals, particularly involving the study of language and literature that speak to questions of the environmental humanities. Eco- criticism offers a particularly helpful framework in this regard, one that can be mobilized to speak to projects of sustainability and planetarity taking place in and across disciplines outside of the humanities as well. Proposals for courses should involve Europe in some way in time and/or space. EU Center staff would be glad to consult with prospective applicants on how to craft a competitive proposal.

Grant funds may be used for summer salary and/or research assistant salary and fringe benefits. Students in approved cost-recovery and self-supporting programs are not eligible for the graduate assistantship — please consult https://grad.illinois.edu/handbook/program-tuition-waiver-designations for further information on policies and a complete list of cost-recovery and self-supporting programs.

Applications should include one copy of the following documents:

  • A one-page course description
  • A one-page list of tentative readings
  • Curriculum vitae

Announcement of awards will be made by Monday, May 10, 2021.

All application materials must be submitted by no later than 5:00 pm on Monday, May 3, 2021. Submit applications to: eucenter@illinois.edu. For questions, please contact EU Center Associate Director Jonathan Larson at larsonjl@illinois.edu.

Recipients are asked to submit by August 31, 2021 a draft syllabus and short paragraph explanation of plans to offer the course.