The Benson Center funds research and educational initiatives that contribute to critical reflection on the development of Western civilization. Although funding is open to any faculty at CU Boulder, special consideration is given to faculty fellows, and those who have a demonstrated interest in the study of Western Civ through participation at Center events. Faculty interested in applying for grants should consider applying as faculty fellows, which is a year-long appointment to participate in Center programming and includes a $4,000 stipend. 

Faculty grants are awarded three times throughout the academic year. The deadlines to apply are September 1, December 1, and March 1. Faculty with off-cycle requests should email BensonCenter@colorado.edu. Recipients of funding are asked to acknowledge the Center in event advertising and submit a brief online report no later than 1 month after the conclusion of the activity. The reports help the Center attract donor funding for future faculty grants. 

During the 2023–24 academic year, the Benson Center has awarded 4 faculty grants totaling $6,973.

2023-24 Grantee Home Department Amount Awarded In Support of Date of event
Peter Hunt Classics $973 Dr. Hunt's research as an Athenian social historian October 16, 2023
Brian Catlos Religious Studies $1,000 Support for the CU Mediterranean Studies Group Ongoing support
Zachary Herz Classics $4,000

Book workshop for manuscript of "The God and the Bureaucrat: A Story of Roman Law."

 Ongoing support
Carole Newlands Classics $1,000 Lecture by Prof. V. Panoussi lecture on the CU Boulder campus

March 3, 2024

2022-23 Grantee Home Department Amount Awarded In Support of Date of event
Michaele Ferguson Political Science $1,378.58 Prof. Frost lecture on the CU Boulder campus October 14, 2022
Brian Catlos Religious Studies $5,000 Support for the "Mediterranean Origins of the West" October 21 & 22, 2022

David Boonin

 Philosophy

$1,500

Colorado Ethics Bowl

January 28, 2023

Celine Dauverd

 History

$2,000

Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies (ASPHS) conference

May 19 - 21, 2023

Mitzi Lee

 Philosophy

$868

 Rocky Mountain Philosophy Conference

April 16-18, 2023

2021-22 Grantee Home Department Amount Awarded In Support of Date of event
Benjamin Hale Philosophy and Environmental Studies $2,750 Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress August 12-15, 2021
Brian Catlos Religious Studies $5,000 Support for the CU Mediterranean Studies Group Ongoing support

David Boonin

 Philosophy

$750

Colorado Ethics Bowl

 February 15, 2022
Philosophy Department Philosophy

$1,000

 Editorial assistance by Dawn Jacob to help complete the last volume of Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy

March 8, 2022

2020-21 Grantee Home Department Amount Awarded In Support of Date of event
Benjamin Hale Philosophy and Environmental Studies $2,750 Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress August 12-15, 2021

David Boonin

 Philosophy

$791.84

Colorado Ethics Bowl

  

2019-20 Grantee Home Department Amount Awarded In Support of Date of event
Carole Newlands Classics $697 Support for Michael Roberts' lecture and related events October 15-18, 2019
Jackie Elliott Classics $760 Support for David Levene's campus lecture and related events September 16, 2019
Janice Ho English $1,500 Support for Prof. Walter Cohen's campus lecture and related events April 20, 2020
Jillian Porter Germanic & Slavic Languages & Literatures $573 Support for Dr. Deborah Martinsen's campus lecture and related events November 1, 2019
Kathryn Goldfarb Anthropology $1,500 Support for a spring 2020 pedagogy workshop at CU Boulder March 1-April 1, 2020
Lauren Stone Germanic & Slavic Languages & Cultures $500 Support for Critical Theory Speaker Event October 9-12, 2020
Lauri Reitzammer  Classics $750 Support for Prof. Jessica Lamont's campus lecture and related events April 9, 2020
Nabil Echchaibi Media Studies $2,000 Support for Dr. Ann Laura Stoler's campus lecture January 8-11, 2020
Peter Hunt Classics $550 Support for Prof. Jessica Lamont's campus lecture and related events December 11-14, 2019
Ramesh Mallipeddi English $1,000

Support for George Bouluokos' campus lecture and related events

 November 12, 2019
Robert Rupert Philosophy $1,000 Support for Jennifer Matey's extended visit while she is on sabbatical November 19-31, 2019
Ross Taylor Journalism and College of Media, Communication and Information $1,090 Support film festival entries for "The Hardest Day" canine euthanasia documentary N/A
Sarah James Classics $750 Support for Dr. Sarah Levin-Richardson's campus lecture and related events January 31- February 1, 2020
Fernando Loffredo Art History $750 Support for Prof. Enrico Parlato's lecture: “Venice between East and West: Shaping Pietro Aretino's Controversial Persona” December 5-10, 2019
Michaele Ferguson Political Science $1,025

 Support for Sarah Rushing's lecture: Bodies and Politics: How Vulnerability Informs Citizen Subjectivity"

 November 13-15, 2019
Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies $4,500 Annual Events Ongoing Support
Zachary Herz Classics $700 Support for Carlos Noreña public lecture on statecraft in classical Rome and Han China February 16-18, 2020
Arne Hoecker Germanic & Slavic $3,000 Symposium on "the return of the real" in contemporary European fiction May 14-17, 2020
Scott Powell Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought $2,000 Annual Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought “Great Debate”, this year asking the question, “What is ‘Personhood’ in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?” January 31, 2020
Penelope Kelsey English $2,243 Bringing Native American filmmaker Terry Jones to CU to screen his film February-March 2020
Robert Rupert Philosophy $400 Support campus visit by Eric Schwitzgebel March 12-14, 2020
Carole Newlands Classics $700 Support lecture by Celia Schultz ""Fulvia and the Perugian War" March 4-6, 2020
Celine Dauverd History $1,686 Support to bring Professor Alejandra Osorio on campus for lecture January 14-15, 2020
Fernando Loffredo Art History $975

Support for author and Professor Katharina Piechoki and related events

 March 16, 2020
Graham Oddie Philosophy $1,000

A two-day workshop/ conference on the value of reason, both theoretical reason and practical reason

 March 14-15, 2020
Suzanne Magnanini French and Italian $1,526

Support for Professor Guido Ruggiero from the University of Chicago to present and meet with students

 N/A

We are particularly interested in funding initiatives of the following kinds:

  • Scholarly Lecturers
  • Public Lectures
  • Conferences
  • Educational Initiatives
  • Outreach visits to local schools, retirement communities, etc.
  • Funding for students you’re working with
  • Research funds or course buyouts

Other sorts of initiatives may also be eligible, but we do not fund faculty travel to other places. 

Applications should consist of the following materials:

  1. The mandatory application form (available here);
  2. A narrative explaining the proposal;
  3. A concise budget;
  4. Information (a short CV, for instance) about visiting speakers (if any), including preliminary visit dates

All of this information should be submitted via email to BensonCenter@colorado.edu.  We prefer, if possible, that you submit all of the elements of the application as a single .pdf document, with the pages ordered according to the above list. 

There are three rounds of grants each year, with the following deadlines:

  • September 1 
  • December 1
  • March 1

 If there is an urgent need for a funding decision prior to a deadline, please request off-cycle consideration in the application.

Would-be applicants should feel free to consult with the Center director in advance about the feasibility of their proposal. 

Faculty grants require a brief report upon the conclusion of the activity. Reports should also include any marketing and hopefully a good photo or two from the event. Please click here to access the report template, upload photos, and to submit the report. 

 

 

 

Archive of Benson Center faculty grants

ethnograhy
Teaching Ethnography for Social Engagement Faculty Pedagogy Workshop
Date(s) of activity: March 6, 2020 Total number of attendees: 40 Number of student attendees: 9 Target audience: Faculty and community members who have experience collaborating with faculty, grad students designing courses with community-engaged research focus Presenters and their affiliated institutions: In order of presentation: Kathryn Goldfarb (CU Boulder), Eric...

map
Development and Underdevelopment in the Global South: Histories, Forms, Alternatives
The Department of English Presents "Development and Underdevelopment in the Global South: Histories, Forms, Alternatives" on April 5th, 2019 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Center for British and Irish Studies (Norlin M549) 9:30-10:00 Light breakfast refreshments 10:00-11:00 Duncan Yoon , Assistant Professor, Gallatin School, New York University:...

hands
The Rest does the West: Global Uses and Experiences of Western Civilization
The "The Rest does the West: Global Uses and Experiences of Western Civilization" Colloquium will take place on March, 1st, 2019, from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM in Benson Earth Sciences 380.

shuster
A Lecture and Seminar with Dr. Martin Shuster (Goucher College)
The Graduate Certificate Program in Critical Theory presents a 2-day critical theory event, "A Lecture and Seminar with Dr. Martin Shuster (Goucher College)" from February 21-22, 2019.

welsh
The Fifth Glossary of Nonius Marcellus
The Classics Department presents "The Fifth Glossary of Nonius Marcellus" on Monday, October 8th at 4:30 in HUMN 135, by speaker Jarrett Welsh, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.