Table of Contents
Funding Opportunities
From 2021-2024, with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, DEFCon will disburse over $300,000 in grants to faculty and librarians at public colleges and universities (excluding R1s) to support course and curriculum development. Over $275,000 will compensate mentors to support grant recipients.
Check out our opportunities below for teaching, capacity building (curricular and professional development), and mentorship, as well as our frequently asked questions.
Please direct questions about funding opportunities to Roopika Risam (Consortium Director) at digitalethnicfutures [at] gmail [dot] com.
2023-2024
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships
In academic year 2023-2024, DEFCon will award fellowships aimed to support the development of new courses at the intersections of ethnic studies fields and digital humanities. To see the kind of courses our DEFCon Fellows created in the past, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients page and our 2022-2023 Grants Recipients page.
CFP: DEFCon Teaching Fellowships 2024
Applications Due: January 20, 2024
Eligibility: Faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and librarians at four-year or two-year public colleges and universities in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) who wish to develop a course in ethnic studies that integrates digital humanities methodologies or a course in digital humanities that integrates ethnic studies.
Graduate students are welcome to apply, provided that they are developing the course to teach at a four-year or two-year public college or university in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s).
Please see our 2023 regrant presentation for additional information. We also encourage you to check out our frequently asked questions. If you are looking for ideas digital humanities methods you might integrate into your application, please check out our resources page. Additional questions can be sent to Roopika Risam at digitalethnicfutures[at]gmail[dot]com.
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships support course design. Fellows develop a course that explores topics from one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American studies) and digital humanities. Courses that include a community-engaged component are especially welcome. DEFCon Teaching Fellows receive a stipend of $2,500 (50 hours @ $50/hour) to support their course development. This will be paid as a stipend to the fellow, though we have previously redirected stipends to community partners at the request of fellows.
DEFCon Teaching Fellows will also meet regularly with a mentor who we provide (schedule to be determined between the fellow and mentor), as well as monthly with a group of other fellows led by a DEFCon Steering Committee member.
The deliverable for this program is a syllabus for the course and assignment materials. These materials will be deposited in Humanities Commons with a Creative Commons license to permit reuse with attribution. Fellows retain the rights to their materials.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 20, 2024
Notification: February 1, 2024
Deliverable Due: September 1, 2024
Payments will be made directly to fellowship recipients after the deliverable receipt deadline. Fellows will be paid as independent contractors and receive a 1099-MISC for tax purposes. If your visa precludes you from accepting payment via a 1099-MISC, we can arrange for payment distribution through your home institution.
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships
In academic year 2023-2024, DEFCon will award fellowships aimed at building institutional capacity at the intersection of digital humanities and ethnic studies. Capacity building includes but is not limited to: developing a minor, major, or certificate program; running professional development events for faculty; or bringing speakers to campus for workshops. To see the kind of courses our DEFCon Capacity-Building Fellows created in the past, please visit our 2022-2023 Grants Recipients page.
CFP: DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships 2024
Applications due January 20, 2024
Eligibility: Faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and librarians at four-year or two-year public colleges and universities in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) who wish to build institutional-capacity for ethnic studies that integrates digital humanities methodologies or digital humanities that integrates ethnic studies.
Graduate students are welcome to apply, provided that they are in a faculty position at a four-year or two-year public college or university in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) and are proposing a capacity-building project for that institution.
Please see our 2023 regrant presentation for additional information. We also encourage you to check out our frequently asked questions. Additional questions can be sent to Roopika Risam at digitalethnicfutures[at]gmail[dot]com.
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships are intended to build institutional capacity at the intersection of digital humanities and ethnic studies. We encourage creative and expansive ideas for growing interest and investment in both digital humanities and ethnic studies at your institution. Examples include, but are not limited to: developing curriculum (e.g., minors, certificates, majors) that blends digital humanities with one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American Studies); running professional development opportunities for colleagues (e.g., faculty learning communities, workshops, institutes); and bringing speakers to campus for workshops. We welcome other ideas.
We can offer up to $5000 to support capacity-building projects. This could be used in a number of ways including, but not limited to: compensation for the applicant, compensation for colleagues’ participation in professional development, compensation for community partners, and honoraria for speakers who will help build institutional capacity. We cannot fund purchase of equipment. Development of a digital humanities project can only be funded if the applicant can demonstrate how the project will bring together multiple faculty members and how the work will contribute to building of institutional capacity.
Proposals will need to describe the project, including how it builds institutional capacity; indicate how many institutional colleagues will be served; articulate what the deliverable(s) or measurable outcome(s) of the project will be; and include a budget and timeline.
We encourage conversation and inquiries in advance for those who’d like mentoring on their proposals. Please contact Roopika Risam (Consortium Director) at digitalethnicfutures [at] gmail.com.
These applications are made by individuals, not institutions. We do not accept applications from sponsored program offices.
Successful recipients will meet regularly with a mentor who we provide (schedule to be determined between the fellow and mentor), as well as participate in monthly meetings with a group of other fellowship recipients led by a DEFCon Steering Committee member.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 20, 2024
Notification: February 1, 2024
Deliverable(s)/Outcome(s) Due: September 1, 2024
Funding Disbursement: To be determined based on how money will be spent, but all expenditures must be completed by September 1, 2024. Funds will be paid directly to individuals and cannot be paid to institutions. Individuals are paid as independent contractors and will receive a 1099-MISC for tax purposes. Participation in this fellowship is entirely separate from individuals’ employment.
We are able to make arrangements to ensure that fellows whose visa restrictions preclude receiving a stipend can be paid through their home institution.
DEFCon Mentors
In academic year 2023-2024, DEFCon will be bringing on mentors to support participants in our DEFCon Teaching and Capacity Building Fellowship programs. For information about the faculty and courses with whom our mentors are shared their expertise in previous years, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients and 2022-2023 Grants Recipients pages.
CFP: DEFCon Mentors 2024
Application due January 20, 2024
Eligibility: Digital humanities practitioners in the U.S.or U.S. territories
Please see our 2023 regrant presentation for additional information. We also encourage you to check out our frequently asked questions. Additional questions can be sent to Roopika Risam at digitalethnicfutures[at]gmail[dot]com.
Faculty, librarians, technologists, and staff with expertise in digital humanities will be selected to mentor recipients of DEFCon Teaching and Capacity Building Fellowships on topics such as curricular development, project management in the classroom, data management, sustainability of classroom digital humanities projects, and sunsetting to regrantees. Mentors will receive stipends of $2,500 for seven months (50 hours @ $50/hr). At the start of the work, mentors will meet with fellows to clarify meeting times and expectations. Mentorship work may include providing consultation, offering advice, and reviewing syllabi, assignments, or curriculum design. The Consortium Director will hold optional monthly with mentors to support their work and troubleshoot challenges they may encounter.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 20 2024
Notification: February 1, 2024
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2024
We are able to make arrangements to ensure that mentors whose visa restrictions preclude receiving a stipend can be paid through their home institution.
2022-2023
If you missed our informational webinar on our fellowship and mentorship opportunities, watch it now below or view our slides!
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships
In academic year 2022-2023, DEFCon will award fellowships aimed to support the development of new courses at the intersections of ethnic studies fields and digital humanities. To see the kind of courses our DEFCon Fellows created last year, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients page.
CFP: DEFCon Teaching Fellowships 2023
Applications Due: January 13, 2023
Eligibility: Faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and librarians at four-year or two-year public colleges and universities in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) who wish to develop a course in ethnic studies that integrates digital humanities methodologies or a course in digital humanities that integrates ethnic studies.
Graduate students are welcome to apply, provided that they are developing the course to teach at a four-year or two-year public college or university in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s).
We are able to make arrangements to ensure that fellows whose visa restrictions preclude receiving a stipend can be paid through their home institution.
Informational Webinar: Monday, December 5, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View recording
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships support course design. Fellows develop a course that explores topics from one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American studies) and digital humanities. Courses that include a community-engaged component are especially welcome. DEFCon Teaching Fellows receive a stipend of $2,500 (50 hours @ $50/hour) to support their course development. This will be paid as a stipend to the fellow, though we have previously redirected stipends to community partners at the request of fellows.
DEFCon Teaching Fellows will also meet regularly with a mentor who we provide (schedule to be determined between the fellow and mentor), as well as monthly with a group of other fellows led by a DEFCon Steering Committee member.
The deliverable for this program is a syllabus for the course and assignment materials. These materials will be deposited in Humanities Commons with a Creative Commons license to permit reuse with attribution.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 13, 2023
Notification: January 27, 2023
Deliverable Due: September 1, 2023
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2023
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships
In academic year 2022-2023, DEFCon will award fellowships aimed at building institutional capacity at the intersection of digital humanities and ethnic studies. Capacity building includes but is not limited to: developing a minor, major, or certificate program; running professional development events for faculty; or bringing speakers to campus for workshops.
CFP: DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships 2023
Applications due January 13, 2023
Eligibility: Faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and librarians at four-year or two-year public colleges and universities in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) who wish to build institutional-capacity for ethnic studies that integrates digital humanities methodologies or digital humanities that integrates ethnic studies.
Graduate students are welcome to apply, provided that they are in a faculty position at a four-year or two-year public college or university in the U.S. or U.S. territories (excluding R1s) and are proposing a capacity-building project for that institution.
We are able to make arrangements to ensure that fellows whose visa restrictions preclude receiving a stipend can be paid through their home institution.
Informational Webinar: Monday, December 5, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View recording
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships are intended to build institutional capacity at the intersection of digital humanities and ethnic studies. We encourage creative and expansive ideas for growing interest and investment in both digital humanities and ethnic studies at your institution. Examples include, but are not limited to: developing curriculum (e.g., minors, certificates, majors) that blends digital humanities with one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American Studies); running professional development opportunities for colleagues (e.g., faculty learning communities, workshops, institutes); and bringing speakers to campus for workshops. We welcome other ideas.
We can offer up to $5000 to support capacity-building projects. This could be used in a number of ways including, but not limited to: compensation for the applicant, compensation for colleagues’ participation in professional development, compensation for community partners, and honoraria for speakers who will help build institutional capacity. We cannot fund purchase of equipment. Development of a digital humanities project can only be funded if the applicant can demonstrate how the project will bring together multiple faculty members and how the work will contribute to building of institutional capacity.
Proposals will need to describe the project, including how it builds institutional capacity; indicate how many institutional colleagues will be served; articulate what the deliverable(s) or measurable outcome(s) of the project will be; and include a budget and timeline.
We encourage conversation and inquiries in advance for those who’d like mentoring on their proposals. Please contact Roopika Risam (Consortium Director) at digitalethnicfutures [at] gmail.com.
Successful recipients will meet regularly with a mentor who we provide (schedule to be determined between the fellow and mentor), as well as participate in monthly meetings with a group of other fellowship recipients led by a DEFCon Steering Committee member.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 13, 2023
Notification: January 27, 2023
Deliverable(s)/Outcome(s) Due: September 1, 2023
Funding Disbursement: To be determined based on how money will be spent, but all expenditures must be completed by September 1, 2023.
DEFCon Mentors
In academic year 2022-2023, DEFCon will be bringing on mentors to support participants in our DEFCon Teaching and Capacity Building Fellowship programs. For information about the faculty and courses with whom our mentors are shared their expertise last year, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients page or see a list of mentors.
CFP: DEFCon Mentors 2022
Application due January 13, 2023
Eligibility: Digital humanities practitioners in the U.S. or U.S. territories
We are able to make arrangements to ensure that mentors whose visa restrictions preclude receiving a stipend can be paid through their home institution.
Informational Webinar: December 5, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View recording
Faculty, librarians, technologists, and staff with expertise in digital humanities will be selected to mentor recipients of DEFCon Teaching and Capacity Building Fellowships on topics such as curricular development, project management in the classroom, data management, sustainability of classroom digital humanities projects, and sunsetting to regrantees. Mentors will receive stipends of $2,500 for seven months (50 hours @ $50/hr). At the start of the work, mentors will meet with fellows to clarify meeting times and expectations. Mentorship work may include providing consultation, offering advice, and reviewing syllabi, assignments, or curriculum design. The Consortium Director will hold optional monthly with mentors to support their work and troubleshoot challenges they may encounter.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy (i.e., sign up for our email list)! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 13, 2023
Notification: January 27, 2023
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2023
2021-2022
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships
In academic year 2021-2022, DEFCon awarded 30 teaching fellowships. For a full list of recipients, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients page for complete information about the courses being developed or see a list of fellows. The CFP for academic year 2022-2023 will be released in Fall 2022.
CFP: DEFCon Teaching Fellowships 2022
Eligibility: Faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and librarians at four-year public universities (excluding R1s) in the U.S. or U.S. territories at emerging stages of digital humanities practice who wish to develop a course in ethnic studies that integrates digital humanities methodologies
Applications Due: January 10, 2022
Informational Webinar: December 13, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View webinar recording
Application
DEFCon Teaching Fellowships are 8-month fellowships that support course design with the goal of positioning recipients to subsequently apply for a DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowship the following year, if they wish. DEFCon Teaching Fellows develop a course that explores topics from one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American studies) and digital humanities. DEFCon Teaching Fellows receive a stipend of $2,500 (50 hours @ $50/hour), which can be used as compensation for work time, to pay for childcare, and/or offset the costs of attending digital humanities training institutes, such as the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI), Humanities Intensive Learning and Teaching (HILT), and DREAMLab. They will meet bi-weekly with a mentor and monthly with a group of fellows, led DEFCon Steering Committee member. The deliverable for the DEFCon Teaching Fellowship is a syllabus.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy! See our Community page for details.
Deadline: January 10, 2022
Notification: January 24, 2022
Deliverable Due: September 1, 2022
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2022
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships
In academic year 2021-2022, we did not award any DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships. We hope that by awarding more DEFCon Teaching Fellowships than we had previously planned, we’ll build up the pool of faculty who wish to pursue curricular development in subsequent years.
CFP: DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships 2022
Eligibility: Faculty and librarians at four-year public universities (excluding R1s) in the U.S. or U.S. territories who have previously developed a course independently or through a DEFCon Teaching Fellowship but have not developed curricular initiatives (minors, certificates, majors). Contingent faculty are eligible, provided that they hold a role in which they participate in curricular development at their institution.
Due: January 10, 2022
Informational Webinar: December 13, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View webinar recording
Application
DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowships are 8-month fellowships to support curricular design (e.g. minors or certificates). DEFCon Capacity Building Fellows develop curriculum (e.g. minors, certificates) in digital humanities with strong engagement with one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American studies). DEFCon Capacity Building Fellows receive a stipend of $5,000 (100 hours @ $50/hour), which can be used as compensation for work time, to pay for childcare, and/or pay for professional development for faculty colleagues who will teach in the program being developed. They will meet bi-weekly with a mentor and monthly with a group of fellows, led DEFCon Steering Committee member. The deliverables for the DEFCon Capacity Building Fellowship are a curriculum map, course syllabi, and a governance timeline for the program being developed.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy! See our Community page for details.
Deadline: January 10, 2022
Notification: January 24, 2022
Deliverable Due: September 1, 2022
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2022
DEFCon Mentors
In academic year 2021-2022, DEFCon supported the work of 25 mentors who work with teaching fellows. For information about the faculty and courses with whom our mentors are shaing their expertise, please visit our 2021-2022 Grants Recipients page or see a list of mentors. The CFP for academic year 2022-2023 will be released in Fall 2022.
CFP: DEFCon Mentors 2022
Eligibility: Digital humanities practitioners in the U.S. or U.S. territories with prior experience
Due: January 15, 2022
Informational Webinar: December 13, 2022, 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific – View webinar recording
Application
Faculty, librarians, technologists, and staff with expertise in digital humanities will be selected to mentor recipients of DEFCon Teaching and Capacity Building Fellowships on topics such as curricular development, project management in the classroom, data management, sustainability of classroom digital humanities projects, and sunsetting to regrantees. Mentors will receive stipends of $2,500 for eight months (50 hours @ $50/hr). They will meet bi-weekly for an hour with their assigned regrantee and provide additional consultation, offering advice, review, and feedback on syllabi, assignments, or curriculum design. The Consortium Director will also meet bi-monthly with mentors to support their work and troubleshoot challenges they may encounter.
Recipients must be members of DEFCon. Joining DEFCon is free and easy! See our Join page for details.
Deadline: January 15, 2022
Notification: January 31, 2022
Stipend Disbursement: September 15, 2022
Frequently Asked Questions
What is digital humanities?
We wish we knew. This is a question that has been debated for more than a decade. For our purposes, digital humanities includes the use of computational tools (digital mapping, creating digital editions or exhibits, data visualization, quantitative textual analysis) to analyze history, literature, and culture, as well as using our frameworks for humanistic inquiry to analyze digital cultures (digital communities online and other ways people connect through technologies), objects (TikToks, Instagram posts), and platforms (Twitter, Facebook).
How can I learn more about digital humanities and digital pedagogy?
We suggest a few (free!) resources:
Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities, edited by Rebecca Frost Davis, Matthew K. Gold, Katherine D. Harris, and Jentery Sayers, has a wealth of resources for teaching in digital humanities. The book is organized by keywords and includes lesson plans, activities, syllabi — it’s a treasure trove!
The Digital Black Atlantic, edited by Roopika Risam and Kelly Baker Josephs, and featuring essays by DEFCon’s own Sonya Donaldson, Jamila Moore Pewu, and Toniesha Taylor, offers a broad look at the many methods that make up digital humanities in the African diaspora.
Reviews in Digital Humanities, edited by Jennifer Guiliano and Roopika Risam, is a journal that peer reviews digital humanities projects. There’s also a project registry that allows users to browse projects by name, time period, field of study, and topic and method. The Curriculum and Pedagogy page has reviews of projects that have been undertaken with students.
Can I modify an existing course or do I have to create a new one?
You can absolutely propose to add digital humanities to an existing ethnic studies course or ethnic studies to an existing digital humanities course! This has been successful for past fellowship recipients.
Can I apply for a fellowship to create or revise a general education course?
Definitely! This has also been a successful strategy for fellowship recipients of the past.
Can I apply for a fellowship and apply to be a mentor?
Technically, yes! We can imagine a situation where you might be applying for a Capacity Building Fellowship and want to mentor a teaching fellow. Since we want to spread around our support, if all else is equal among candidates, we’d likely award one.
Are faculty at private universities eligible for fellowships?
Given the terms of our funding, we can only award fellowships to faculty (contingent and tenure-line) and teaching librarians at public universities. Those at private universities can apply to be mentors and are warmly welcomed to participate in our speaker series, networking events, and virtual annual meeting.
Do applicants need to be able to describe how digital humanities fits into their course or can they learn during the fellowship?
Successful applicants will be able to articulate a general sense of how digital humanities fits into a course. The fellowship period can be used to work out the details and to hone ideas with your mentor and through meet-ups with a Steering Committee member. Check out the resources above for help. Consortium Director Roopika Risam is also happy to help give suggestions – email her at digitalethnicfutures@gmail.com.
Are graduate students eligible to apply for fellowships?
As long as you are teaching a course, yes! You would be eligible for a Teaching Fellowship. If you are a graduate student and a faculty member at an eligible institution, you would also be eligible for a Capacity Building Fellowship.
Are graduate students at R1s eligible to apply to be mentors?
Absolutely — anyone, at any type of university, with digital humanities skills can apply to be a mentor.
My university is technically an R1 but only has professional graduate programs. Am I eligible for fellowships?
This would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Contact Consortium Director Roopika Risam at digitalethnicfutures@gmail.com to discuss.
Can teams apply for fellowships?
Definitely! We would only give award one fellowship to a team.
Can I teach a course in a language other than English?
Yes! Digital humanities has been successfully integrated into language-learning courses and upper-level courses.
Do COIL courses qualify for Teaching Fellowships?
COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) courses would be eligible if digital humanities and one or more ethnic studies fields (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or Asian American) are part of course content. A course would not be eligible simply by being a COIL if the content does not align with our goals.
