The World that Awaits Us: Research in the Era of COVID-19

"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger - but recognize the opportunity." - John F. Kennedy

"It is illuminating that the Chinese symbol for ‘crisis’ includes the symbol for both ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’. The former has been much discussed, but the latter largely ignored." - Janice Perlman, Author of Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge

This initiative includes five components: Four new award programs and a blog series related to the pandemic. Please see below for descriptions of each program.

Taft Rapid Response Awards

Purpose: Up to $3,000 will be made available to Taft faculty and undergraduate and graduate students whose research in any Taft field has been delayed or disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel ban. These funds are meant to provide support for current and future Taft awardees who require additional funding to adapt to their new research circumstances. These funds can be used for (among possible others):

• Hiring a research assistant in Cincinnati or elsewhere; and
• Purchasing software or hardware upgrades (limited to components, not a complete complete computer); and
• Purchasing research materials (e.g., books, transcription or interview device); and
• Travel (if and when UC’s “non-essential” travel ban is lifted); and
• Small honoraria for external research partners; small faculty development funds for UC research partners.

Application Guidelines:

• A brief narrative statement (300 words max) describing your research needs, current status as a Taft awardee (if relevant), how you will use this funding, and your revised or re-adapted research goals; and
• A two-page CV.

Please submit applications as a single PDF attachment to Taft@uc.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by an ad hoc committee, with a quick turnaround, beginning on June 1.

Disrupting Research

Purpose: Workshops that help faculty and student researchers retool in the midst of crisis.

This series addresses innovative solutions to conducting research during and on the COVID-19 global health pandemic in its multiple manifestations. It focuses on how researchers can retool when we can no longer conduct fieldwork in social distancing zones/regions. Likewise, it addresses how the global health pandemic and economic, political, and social crises may change our research questions, goals, and/or foci. As we live in a time of great uncertainty, we also have the opportunity to imagine a better future. Ideally, these virtual workshops ideally should be open to faculty and graduate students.

Faculty applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. An ad hoc review committee will respond relatively quickly and will take into account the need to offer workshops that address a range of methods and forms of retooling. Grants of $1,000-2,000 will be awarded.

Application Guidelines:

• Name of speaker(s), lecture/event title(s), and date of lecture(s)/event(s)
• A short (500 word) biographical description of the proposed speaker(s), including their work, accomplishments, and status or profile in the field
• An outline of the intended workshop activities and goals
• Expected audience (size, composition)
• Technology needs and plan
• An itemized budget (e.g., honorarium, materials)

Please submit applications as a single PDF attachment to Taft@uc.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by an ad hoc committee, with a quick turnaround, beginning on June 1.

Reimagining Post-Crisis Futurities

Purpose: To offer Taft faculty funding of up to $2,500 (including honoraria, typically not more than $1,000), for events and programming that address not only the “problems” but also ways to generate post-crisis “solutions.” The series may include, for example, panels with a diverse range of voices speaking about the global pandemic and attendant economic, political, and social crises economic crisis as they (a) impact particular communities or groups of people, (b) offer us the possibility to rethink institutions and systemic processes, and (c) shed light on how people have generated creative responses to the crisis, both locally and transnationally.

This event series focuses on bringing together a group of scholars, activists, artists, performers, policy-makers, and others to address how communities, both locally and globally, can work toward a more equitable future in light of the deep structural inequalities that have become so much more evident during the health and economic crisis has revealed so starkly. For example, African Americans and Latinx communities have been disproportionately exposed to and affected by COVID-19. Similar structural inequalities and racisms are being exposed globally such as in China where African communities are being targeted; Romani communities in Central and Eastern Europe are under greater scrutiny and even suffering acts of violence as they are falsely assumed bearers of contagion; Eastern European migrant workers are forced to return to their home countries as work opportunities diminish; indigenous communities in North and South America are at high risk of exposure to the virus and endangerment by states that neglect them; and black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK are disproportionately affected. This raises questions about the privilege of social distancing, structural patterns of “essential” vs. “non-essential” employment, and who can afford to stay home and not work, and who can equitable access to healthcare, to name only a few. More broadly, how governments respond to the pandemic raises important questions about broad processes of citizenship, democracy, modernity, colonization, ideology, and futurity. Virtual events are highly encouraged, as a way to bring in a wider range of speakers and participants from across the US and transnationally.

Application Guidelines:

• Name of speaker(s), lecture/event title(s), and date of lecture(s)/event(s); and
• A short (500 word) biographical description of the proposed speaker(s), including their work, accomplishments, and status or profile in the field; and
• An outline of the intended activities, e.g. single lecture, panel, symposium, online or in person, etc.; and
• Expected audience (size, composition)
• Technology needs and plan; and
• A brief account of how the proposed event will contribute to scholarly research on “researching disruption,” as related to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• An itemized budget including honorarium, travel costs and lodging costs (if applicable).

Please submit applications as a single PDF attachment to Taft@uc.edu. A Taft ad hoc committee will review applications beginning on August 1, 2020, and will then accept applications on a rolling basis until all funding is allocated. 

 

Researching Disruption

Purpose: To offer Taft faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students small grants to support research related to the economic, social, political, health, cultural, and ideological aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, broadly defined.

The Researching Disruption Award provides $2,000-4,000 to faculty for research activity on a specific project that addresses the economic, social, political, health, cultural, and ideological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, broadly defined. These awards are offered in addition to Taft’s permanent award categories. Funding can be used for: faculty salary, graduate student salary for research assistance in Cincinnati or elsewhere, travel (if and when UC's non-essential travel ban is lifted), and research materials.

Application Guidelines::

• A narrative statement (1000 words max) including a project description, current project status and proposed schedule, preliminary or expected results, and the role of the project in the applicant’s research trajectory; and
• A two-page CV.

Please submit applications as a single PDF attachment to Taft@uc.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by an ad hoc committee, with a quick turnaround, beginning on June 1, 2020.