Project funding: Teaching about Islam and Muslims in languages, linguistics and area studies

This call for projects is part of the contribution of Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Subject Centre's contribution to this project.

Projects should relate to the Islamic Studies Network’s goal to build a sustainable network for academics working in Islamic Studies to share good practice in teaching and learning. Visit the website for more information about the Islamic Studies Network.

The maximum amount that an individual project can apply for is £3,000. Up to four projects will be funded.

Themes

Themes for discipline-specific projects may include:

• Developing resources*, particularly online shareable resources, for the languages, linguistics or area studies communities.
• Curriculum design and development for teaching about Islam or Muslims in languages, linguistics or area studies programmes.
• Developing resources* for lecturers new to the study of Islam who wish to incorporate Islamic Studies content into their teaching 
• Developing resources* for postgraduate students new to the study of Islam, or resources aimed at various student constituencies
• Pedagogic research into any aspect of teaching about Islam or Muslims in languages, linguistics or area studies curricula.

Applications are welcome from colleagues in all aspects of languages, linguistics and area studies. We would particularly welcome projects from colleagues teaching about Islam and Muslim in languages and area studies outside the “Muslim World”, e.g. Muslim writers in Europe, US-Middle East diplomatic relations, Muslims in Eastern Europe. We welcome applications from Islamic Studies specialists and non-specialists alike. 

*Resources may include but are not limited to: teaching materials, bibliographies, collections of syllabi, case studies, glossaries of terms, or translations. These would be available from the LLAS website and the humbox www.humbox.ac.uk

Other themes may be proposed as long as the project retains a focus on developing teaching and learning about Islam or Muslims in languages, linguistics and area studies programmes in UK higher education. If you have any questions about the suitability of your project, please email John Canning j.canning@soton.ac.uk

1.         Guidelines

1.1       Key dates
The deadline for submission of applications is Friday 18 February 2011.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Friday 25 February 2010.
Funding will be made available in April 2011, with grantees to complete activity by 31 March 2012. An interim report will be expected on 1 October 2011.

1.2       Proposal form
Proposals should be submitted on the proposal form and must be presented both in hard copy and electronically by email attachment. Electronic versions of the completed forms should be sent to llas@soton.ac.uk

Download proposal form (doc, 74k)

Only fully completed (electronic) proposal forms that arrive by the stated deadline will be eligible for consideration. (We will accept a hard copy after the deadline, but the electronic copy must have been submitted by the deadline to receive consideration.)

Signed hard copies should be sent to:
Sue Nash,
Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies,
School of Humanities,
University of Southampton,
Southampton,
SO17 1BJ.

1.3       Application criteria

• Applicants must be academics or academic-related staff involved in teaching at undergraduate or postgraduate level at a publicly-funded higher education institution in the UK
• All projects must relate to teaching and learning in Islamic Studies in UK higher education (though cross-sector, international or outreach projects are welcomed) Projects must demonstrate wider benefit to the Islamic Studies higher education community.

• Projects must have an identifiable publicly available output (e.g. a report, a collection of resources), which will be made freely available on the LLAS website and the Islamic Studies Network website.

1.4       Use of funds
Funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including buyout of teaching time, administrative and technical assistance, costs of consumable items, materials development, reasonable travel expenses, and costs arising from attendance at UK-based conferences where attendance is an integral element of the project.
We are unable to fund:

• Institutional overheads
• Evaluation of courses, course materials or departments
• Student research
• Research not related to teaching and learning
• Projects with no identifiable benefits beyond the participating institution(s)
• Projects entirely based in schools or other non-higher education providers
• The (re)publication of existing research or teaching materials
• Purchase of large items of equipment, e.g. computers
• Applicants not employed by publicly-funded UK higher education institutions

The deadline for applications is Friday 18 February 2011.

Downloads:

• Application form (72 Kb)