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Working together
Jumping into the bioeconomy discussion with the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities
- The bioeconomy has long been the domain of the life and physical sciences.
Recently the social science programs at Iowa State have ventured into this area by studying the social and policy implications of the bioeconomy for Iowa and the nation.
Now the arts and humanities are getting into the act.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities (CEAH) are sponsoring an "Imagining Iowa" Public Scholarship Grant program, which features scholarly and creative work jointly planned and carried out by university and community partners.
"Iowa State scientists and engineers are already involved in the bioeconomy, however, there is a need for faculty in the arts, design, and humanities to collaborate with the social sciences," says Brenda Daly, CEAH director and University Professor of English. "Arts and humanities faculty can explore the aesthetic, environmental, ethical, historical and social implications of the change happening to the rural communities of Iowa because of the focus on the bioeconomy."
With the emerging bioeconomy, dozens of Iowa towns are already the home to ethanol and biodiesel plants. While communities are excited about the economic possibilities the plants are bringing to the rural economy, others are concerned about the potential negative impacts on their families and towns. This can include the effect on land and water use, the cost of food, the cost of maintaining roads, and the effects on the global food market.
CEAH and LAS have combined forces to offer the new grant program and will award one interdisciplinary faculty group up to $15,000. All tenured or tenure-track Iowa State faculty (as well as P&S staff classification P17 or above) are eligible to apply for the grant. Preliminary proposals are due Oct. 1 with full proposals due on Feb. 1, 2008.
LAS will also provide small grants up to $150 to assist groups in preparing to submit a full proposal. This funding can be used for such things as facilitating meetings, completing the proposal applications and making copies for submission.
"We don't wish to duplicate what our departments are doing," Daly said. "That's why we are encouraging interdisciplinary scholarship. Some of the most urgent questions facing our culture require interdisciplinary projects; the bio-economy is just one such area."
Daly feels the interdisciplinary approach is a natural one for this type of project.
"The skills of a social scientist will be very valuable to the humanists," she said. "Their way of looking at the world is very much different from that of faculty in the arts and humanities. I think those two areas can work collaboratively with the broader community to determine what the issues are and how to solve them.
"I also think that the arts and humanities can address issues that the sciences don't address, such as values, ethics and aesthetics."
With that in mind, CEAH and LAS is encouraging "public scholarship" proposals for this grant program.
"By public scholarship, we mean scholarly and creative work jointly planned and carried out by university and community partners; intellectual work that produces a public good; or artistic, critical and historical work that contributes to public debates," Daly said.
This can take a variety of forms, such as oral history projects, folklore, film, photography, plays, music, the visual arts, and environmental literary studies.
Around LAS
August 20 to September 2, 2007
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