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Call for Proposals


Our Call for Proposals is now closed. The deadline was March 25, 2024 for 2024-25 activities. The next CFP will open in Feb. 2025.


Through its Working Group model, our consortium of 11 regional universities and colleges:

  • Cultivates collaborative research, teaching, and programming on virtually any theme, discipline, or issue in the humanities
  • Builds and widens your intellectual community
  • Advances your academic research and professional development

The Corridor’s annual grant-style funding can help support:

  • Convening your working group
  • Compensating expert facilitators for writing retreats or specialized workshops
  • Hosting book talks, lectures, symposia – the potential is limitless!

Who Can Apply? We welcome proposals by new and existing Working Groups led by faculty and academic staff from Syracuse University, Cornell University, University of Rochester, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Skidmore College, St. Lawrence University, Union College, Le Moyne College, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

A Working Group is formed by individuals from two or more Corridor-affiliated institutions in different locales to organize activities centered on a theme, concern, or issue in the humanities. Groups apply for funding to support their academic year collaborations. Many existing Groups are open to new members, and proposals for New Working Groups are always welcome. All groups are expected to explain how their collaborative work contributes to the humanities, provide strong funding rationales, and to rotate awards across Corridor locations and host institutions over time.

What can be funded? Working Group activities take many forms and our funding supports a wide array of activities and regional collaborations. Browse our models of collaboration and our Calendar for examples of what's possible. Note that Corridor funding may not be used for regularly held annual conferences or meetings of a scholarly society.


Proposal Categories + Funding Levels*

  1. New Working Group: Award funding is up to $3,000. Once established, Working Groups may submit proposals as a Continuing Working Group in categories 2 or 3, below.
  2. Continuing Working Group:** Established Working Groups may apply for up to $4,000 per award, not to exceed a cap of $7,000 across multiple awards within the same academic year. (Examples: proposing two $3,500 awards -or- three $2,300 awards, or any combo that meets the above criteria.)
  3. Signature Events:** Ongoing Working Groups that have been active and successfully managing awards for more than two years may propose a high-impact, public Signature Event to involve three or more Corridor institutions (e.g., conference, exhibit, performance) awarded at up to $12,000. Groups cannot receive Signature Event funding in consecutive years.

*Additional funds to support accessibility are available beyond these award levels, in any category. Working Groups should provide a clear rationale and projected costs for any anticipated accommodation services, in the designated section of your proposal.

**Continuing Working Groups may only apply for Activities or Signature Event funding for the academic year.


How Do Working Groups "Work?" What's Required?

  • Organizers: Each Working Group needs faculty/staff Organizers from two or more Corridor institutions.
    • At least one must be from Cornell University, Syracuse University, or the University of Rochester;
    • Organizers cannot all be from one Corridor locale (i.e., all Syracuse-based or all Rochester-based).
    • Graduate students cannot be Organizers but may participate in Working Group activities.  
  • Proposing and Hosting Activities: Organizers collaborate to propose, plan, and host activities that contribute to the humanities. Every activity needs a host campus and a designated Organizer from that host campus (even if remote format). Your Working Group funding is tied to the host campus specified for each awarded activity.
  • Each New Group selects a Research Cluster for their work: Archives & Media (AM); Digital Humanities (DH); Historical Studies (HS); Humanities Futures (HF); Inequality & Social Difference (ISD); Linguistics, Semiotics, and the Study of Language (LIN); Literature, Language & Culture (LLC); Musicology / Performance Studies (MP); Philosophy/Critical Theory (PCT); and Visual Arts & Culture (VAC).

Want to Apply?


Contact Us:

If you have questions about this process or need guidance on how to carry out your ideas within Corridor frameworks, email the Corridor’s administrative home at Syracuse University at CNYHumanities@syr.edu.