Conferences
Taft supports academic conferences that are timely, interesting, and of scholarly importance to a discipline or a set of disciplines, providing awards of up to $10,000.
Applications for Conference support are October 19 and February 22.
Eligibility
Applications are limited to faculty who are tenured or tenure-track with primary appointments in either a Taft member unit or the College of Arts & Sciences with a terminal degree in a Taft member field. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, faculty in other colleges, and non-tenure track faculty (part-time, educator, research, visiting, and adjunct) are ineligible for this program. Applications submitted on another's behalf to evade eligibility requirements will be rejected immediately.
Unlike competitive lectures, Conference support is intended for formal meetings with multiple speakers.
Awardees remain eligible for other awards.
Expanded Eligibility (2026–28)
As part of a two-year pilot program, we are expanding eligibility for all non-fellowship and non-professorship faculty award programs to include the following:
- Educator, Research, and Practice Faculty with full-time appointments in a Taft unit;
- Visiting Faculty with full-time appointments in a Taft unit;
- Postdoctoral Fellows with full-time appointments in a Taft unit;
- Postdoctoral Fellows with full-time appointments in a College of Arts & Sciences Center or Institute who have terminal degrees in a Taft unit field.
Application Procedures
Applications are limited to 10,000 characters (~1,500 words) and must include the following:
- Conference title and short overview including focus, content, format, and expected audience (including the estimated numbers of local, regional, and national attendees; graduate students; general public; academic specialists)
- Tentative conference schedule, including locations
- List of Taft units actively involved in organizing, executing, and participating in the conference
- List of conference participants, including name, brief description, and role
- Detailed budget including the following:
- Honoraria, travel, and lodging expenses for each participant. Requests for honoraria must provide an explanation of the amount requested based on such variables as disciplinary norms, the speaker's level of experience or other factors. Honoraria in excess of $1,000 requires significant justification and are generally not funded.
- Promotion costs (printing, brochure, ads, postage)
- Other expenses
- Total cost.
- Tangible and in-kind (Taft and non-Taft) departmental support
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.
Applications should avoid writing for specialist / disciplinary audience. Instead, applications should be speak to a general audience, not based in the applicant's discipline.
Award Terms
Awards are not guaranteed for annual conferences year over year.
Unlike competitive lectures, Conference support is intended for formal meetings with multiple speakers.