Research Awards for University of Memphis Faculty

The Hooks Institute is committed to supporting research by faculty at the University of Memphis that addresses local issues yet has national relevance.  To this end, the Institute began making faculty research awards in 2010 to tenured and tenure-track faculty members who are engaged in research related to the Institute’s mission. 

Request for Proposals
Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
at the University of Memphis
Faculty Research Grants
2011-2012 Academic Year

The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis supports scholars pursuing research related to its mission Teaching, Studying, and Promoting Civil Rights and Social Change. Hooks Institute is committed to supporting research by faculty at the University of Memphis that addresses local issues yet has national relevance. To this end, the Hooks Institute is pleased to announce that proposals are now being accepted for Faculty Research Grants for the 2011-2012 academic year. Tenured and tenure-track faculty members who are engaged in research related to the mission areas of the Hooks Institute (see http://www.memphis.edu/benhooks/aboutus.php) are eligible. It is anticipated that two grants of no more than $5,000 each will be awarded for the 2011-2012 academic year. Additionally, the Hooks Institute may provide, at the discretion of its Director, staff resources to assist faculty in completing the research and related activities beyond the monetary award.

Research projects may cover a wide range of topics and employ a number of methodologies. Appropriate examples include (these topics are not exclusive):

• Researching for publication an analysis of how Benjamin L. Hooks shaped the American experience through his civil rights activism, public service career as the member of the Federal Communications Commission, and work as Executive Director of the NAACP;
  
  
• Examining emerging social justice issues, including environmental, educational, economic, racial, health or other disparities;
  
  
• Conducting community-based participatory research projects that address the concerns and opportunities of the communities and engage students in a collaborative and sustained manner with community groups (Engaged scholarship projects are particularly encouraged);
  
  
• Examining emerging movements for civil, human, or LGBT rights, and their relationship to the American Civil Rights Movement;
  
  
• Preserving stories and primary resource materials related to events of the American Civil Rights Movement that occurred in Memphis and the Mid-South; and
  
  
• Exploring the historical and current state of race relations in Memphis and the Mid-South.
  
  

Application Materials

Applicants must provide a proposal narrative that addresses the following:

1. Briefly describe (no more than one single-spaced page) the research plan. Please provide: background/rationale; problem statement; purpose and/or likely research question(s); description of the methodology that will be used; products of the research/dissemination plans; and the potential impact of the study (i.e., community action, historical preservation, policy implications, continuation of ongoing research, pilot data for a larger study, etc.)
   
   
2. Provide further explanation of the research project including: budget justification specifying the amount requested and how institute funds will be used (The Institute requires a diversified budget and allows some allocation of equipment funds); an estimate of total amount of funds and resources needed to complete this research and steps taken to secure additional funding if necessary; co-principal investigators, collaborators, and/or graduate student involvement; and a timeline that specifies project start and end dates as well as key deliverables. (one page)
   
   
3. Explain how this project aligns with the mission of the Hooks Institute (no more than one paragraph)
   
   
4. Describe the researcher’s long-range research goals, and how this proposed plan fit with these goals? (one paragraph)
   
   

Applicants must also provide a current CV, and a letter of support from their department chair.

Timeline

All application materials should be submitted electronically to Ms. Ardella M. Jeffries, Hooks Institute Administrative Associate, amjeffrs@memphis.edu no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday February 17, 2012. Applicants will be notified of final decisions by April 17, 2012. Funding will be disbursed in the spring semester of 2012 depending on project timelines. An interim report will be due every six months after funding is provided and a final report upon completion of the project.

Review Process

Applications will be evaluated by a team that includes the Director and Associate Director of the Hooks Institute and a University of Memphis tenured faculty member.

Review Criteria

Five criteria will be used to evaluate proposals: (1) significance of the problem or issue, (2) research approach, (3) innovation, (4) investigator qualifications, and (5) connection to the mission areas of the Hooks Institute.

Requirements

• Must be a University of Memphis tenured or tenure-track faculty member.
  
  
• Must provide a letter from departmental chair supporting the proposal.
  
  
• Must agree to submit an interim report every six months after funding is provided and a final report upon completion of the project.
  
  
• Must provide an executive summary that may be placed on the Hooks Institute website.
  
  
• Must acknowledge the Hooks Institute in any formal presentation or publication of project results.
  
  

For information, contact:

Esra Ozdenerol, PhD
Associate Director,
Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
Phone: 901.678-3974
E-mail: eozdenrl@memphis.edu

Past Funded Research

Mapping the History of West Tennessee.  In 2009, the Hooks Institute awarded a $5,000 research grant to Esra Ozdenerol, Ph. D, a faculty member in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Memphis.  Ozdenerol is working with the Institute to create a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-mapping website that will disseminate information about pivotal civil rights events and their locations in west Tennessee.  The GIS-mapping website will have electronic visualizations such as animated maps that allow exploration of recreated landscapes, hyperlinked stories, photographs, and video interviews of those involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Read More 

Hooks National Research Fellowships and Dissertation Grant Program

 Hooks National Research Fellowship

 The Hooks Institute National Research Fellowship is intended to increase scholarship on the role of Hooks and his impact on the Civil Rights Movement, on increasing diversity in the communications industry, and on Hooks’s role in shaping local, state, and national policy as Executive Director of the NAACP.  This fellowship, to be offered for the first time in 2012, and is open to scholars who have completed terminal degrees (i.e., Ph.D., J.D.).  A stipend of up to $2,000 each will be offered to two scholars and is intended to supplement primary funds from other sources the scholar intends to rely upon to conduct this research.  Please check our website for updates, including the application deadline, for this Fellowship.

 Hooks National Dissertation Grant Program

 In January 2012, the Hooks Institute will issue a national call for proposals from doctoral students with an approved dissertation topic that addresses the role of Hooks and his impact on the Civil Rights Movement, on increasing diversity in the communications industry, and on Hooks’s role in shaping local, state, and national policy as Executive Director of the NAACP.   Please check our website for updates, including the application deadline, for this grant program.