Competitive Lectures

For each award, up to $180 will be made available to the organizing faculty member to support hosting the visiting speaker.

Applications for Conference support are currently closed.

Applications are limited to tenured and tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences or the Department of Economics who are members of a Taft-eligible unit or hold terminal advanced degrees in an area of a Taft-eligible unit. Graduate students and all other non-tenure track faculty (part-time, educator, research, and adjunct faculty) are not eligible for this program. Applications may not be submitted on behalf of someone else.

Proposals must be for highly distinguished speakers that further interdisciplinary and/or inter-departmental discussion or activities, and speakers that engage a broad community. The interdisciplinarity requirement must not me in name only, i.e. that the proposed lecture could speak to an interdisciplinary idea, or that other disciplines might benefit. Rather, the proposal should clearly spell out how other units are participating and drawing value. 

1. A short (500 word) biographical description of the proposed speaker, including their work, accomplishments, and status or profile in the field
2. A title and short description of the proposed lecture
3. Proposed lecture date. The lecture date must not conflict with already published Taft events. Failure to follow this limitation may result in the revocation of award.
4. An outline of the intended activities, e.g. single lecture, roundtable, conference keynote, etc.
5. Expected audience (size, composition)
6. An account of how the proposed event will contribute to either the humanities, social sciences, and/or interdisciplinary knowledge and research that benefits Taft faculty and/or students. This must be must not me in name only; the proposal should clearly spell out how other units are participating and drawing value.
7. An itemized budget including honorarium, travel costs, and lodging costs. In the case of honoraria funding, explain the amount requested based on such variables as disciplinary norms, the speaker's level of experience or other factors. Honoraria requests in excess of $1,000 requires significant justification and generally are not funded.

Applicants may not bypass any component of the system. Failure to comply may result in a rejection of the application, requiring a new submission at a later deadline.

Competitive lecture applications must be prospective, submitted for the following semester or later. Generally, the fall deadlines should only include applications for lectures occurring in the spring semester and the spring deadline should only include applications for lectures occurring in the fall semester of the following year.

Competitive lecture awards may be combined with Taft Departmental Lectures and Taft Conference monies. Applications must include an account of such combined uses and the status of departmental lecture monies.

Each lecture application must be approved by the applicant's unit Head.

• For each award, up to $180 will be made available to the organizing faculty member to support hosting the visiting speaker. Taft will not reimburse alcohol expenses. 
• Competitive lectures that are not part of a conference program typically should be held in the Taft Center. Receiving an award does not automatically reserve lecture space; awardees must contact Taft to reserve the space.
• Awardee is responsible for working with departmental administrators and understanding the visa status for foreign or non-U.S. citizen speaker, and how this impacts payment, the rules and regulations regarding speaker travel, payments, and events cost reimbursement.
• Departments should publicize lectures in classes, and to faculty, alumni, and the general public.
• All award funds must be expended exclusively in furtherance of the award and all expenditures of award funds must comply with university policies relating to financial transactions, including the Code of Conduct and, as discussed in the Code of Conduct, the ethics laws of the state of Ohio which prohibit certain private financial interests in university matters. University Rule 3361:10-17-03 (D).
• Full disclosure of non-Taft funds received for the proposed project, both inside and outside the university, is required. A Taft award may not duplicate other funds granted for the same purpose, except when a deficit in the project budget is anticipated even with such non-Taft funds.
• Where significant deviations from the approved application occur, the awardee must notify the Taft Faculty Chair in writing and receive written approval for the changes. Failure to comply with this rule may result in the revocation of award.
• Awardees must recognize support provided by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
• Publications and creative works generated by the sponsored event should acknowledge the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.