GRANTS- Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching (ReSET), OSI/HESP
Posted by: Oleksandr Shtokvych <oshtokvych@osi.hu>
Open Society Institute
Higher Education Support Program
Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching
Program for Junior University Teachers in the Humanities and Social Sciences
ReSET invites Concept Proposals
for projects starting in summer 2008
The International Higher Education Support Program (HESP) promotes the
advancement of higher education within the humanities and social
sciences throughout the region of Eastern and South Eastern Europe,
the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union and Mongolia.
The HESP Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching (ReSET) aims to
develop and support teaching excellence at the undergraduate
university level. The program establishes a framework for the
long-term regional and international collaboration in areas important
to the region's undergraduate humanities and social sciences
curricula. ReSET projects respond to diverse subjects, fields and
regional needs and share an approach based on:
* developing reflexive scholarly and innovative undergraduate teaching;
* critical rethinking of the subject, drawing on the most current
international scholarship;
* a collaborative structure fostering peer exchange and learning
among the regional and international faculty.
Rooted in the concept of continuous development and self-renewal of
university academics, ReSET creates opportunities for qualified and
dedicated regional and international faculty to make a substantial
contribution to the revision and advancement of teaching and learning
in their subjects and fosters their leadership in the process of
educational change in the region.
Program Participants and Activities
ReSET projects involve groups of junior faculty participants from the
region and international teams of resource faculty; all participating
academics have current teaching positions at the university degree
programs in the humanities and social sciences. Resource faculty are
recruited for their qualities as "master teachers", expertise on the
subject and involvement in international scholarship. Long-term
commitment of the participants and core resource faculty to the
projects is essential.
The program activities focus on development and practice of scholarly
teaching through critical and creative inquiry into the state of the
art of the scholarship and curricula in the subject areas of
particular importance to the undergraduate learning. Participants and
resource faculty engage as academic peers in a continuous program
which includes regular seminar sessions (typically summer sessions of
2-3 weeks in length, and shorter, more focused or smaller group
meetings in the interim) and inter-session project activities tailored
to the project's agenda and the needs and capacities of the involved
colleagues.
ReSET projects inspire and enable immediate connection between the
work within the project group and the teaching practice of the project
participants and establish a framework for active academic
collaboration, peer review and feedback among the participants and
resource faculty.
ReSET projects originate within the region's higher education
community and actively enjoy its support; all ReSET-funded activities
are hosted in the region. A project is, as a rule, developed by an
international team of resource faculty and project directors with
support of a designated host academic institution in the region. The
project participants are actively involved in the planning and
direction of the project as it proceeds past the initial stage.
The projects are encouraged to use English as the working language.
The ability of the participants to work with academic resources in the
English language is essential for direct access to the most current
scholarship and participation in international academic debate.
Concept Proposals are invited for the ReSET SEMINARS projects and
ReSET CHALLENGES projects, which reflect diverse needs and capacities
in different subject areas and in different parts of the region:
ReSET Seminars Projects
* Foster the development of scholarly teaching in subject areas
central to the undergraduate curricula through generating critical
thinking on the current and foundation scholarship and on the state of
teaching and curricula in the subject in the region
* Work to establish and critique the theoretical and methodological
grounding of the subject through the review of key concepts, texts and
approaches and challenge the existing orthodoxies in the academic
subjects locally, regionally and internationally
* Bring about change in undergraduate classroom through creative
revision of teaching in light of the most progressive scholarship and
approaches to learning, and enhancing the capacities for critical
synthesis and inquiry
The projects create collaborative groups of 25-30 junior faculty
participants from the region and international teams of resource
faculty, which engage in intensive learning and debate on the subject
matter, reflection on teaching philosophies and experiences and
practical experimentation with the outcomes of project work in the classroom.
HESP offers support for the ReSET Seminars projects for up to three
consecutive years.
ReSET Challenges Projects
* Focus on development of innovative teaching and curricula in
particularly new or challenging subjects and areas in need of
significant revision in the discipline and strive to produce
significant impact on the undergraduate curricula
* Stimulate and support critical revision and advancement of the
state of the art in the academic subject through active international
debate and collaboration
* Accumulate and build up on the significant experiences of the
resource faculty and the participants in development of teaching and
curricula in the region.
Former participants, faculty and directors of ReSET projects are
especially encouraged to contribute to the ReSET Challenges projects.
The projects support flexibly structured program of intensive
interaction within the international groups of 15-20 regional faculty
participants and resource faculty working as academic peers during, on
average, two consecutive years.
Special attention is given to the discussion and dissemination of the
experience and outcomes of the project throughout the wider regional
academic community.
Subjects
The projects, as a rule, address a specific topic or a thematic area
rather than an entire academic discipline. Especially encouraged are
proposals of projects focusing on interdisciplinary exploration of a
given subject and new and critical perspectives on traditionally
defined subjects and disciplines. ReSET does not support training for
professionals or engagement with the applied subjects and areas mainly
oriented toward professional training.
Application Procedure
HESP invites region-based academic institutions and groups of
academics with demonstrated potential for and commitment to promoting
teaching excellence in the humanities and social sciences in the
target region to submit CONCEPT PROPOSALS of multi-year ReSET projects
aiming to start in summer 2008 or during the 2008-09 academic year.
The project organizers are encouraged to choose the format (ReSET
Seminars or ReSET Challenges) and develop project designs that are
most relevant to the nature and scale of issues and tasks in the
development of undergraduate teaching in the targeted subject area and
the capacities of local academics. Concept Proposals, not exceeding
3,000 words in length, must be submitted to OSI/HESP Budapest office,
electronically, no later than 10 OCTOBER 2007. Upon the academic
review, HESP will invite the authors of the short-listed Concept
Proposals to submit detailed project plans. Final decisions on funding
for the projects will be made in late January 2008. HESP's funding is
commensurate with the nature, geography and length of the project
activities; project organizers are encouraged to solicit cost-share
contributions from other sources.
The Application Form with detailed guidelines for preparation and
submission of Concept Proposals is available from the HESP office and
at www.soros.org/initiatives/hesp. HESP staff is available for
consultation on matters of program priorities and guidelines in
advance of the deadline for submitting the Concept Proposals.
Contact Information
The concept proposals should be submitted electronically
by 10 October 2007 to: reset@osi.hu
Please direct your general inquiries on the program and the
application procedure to:
Open Society Institute
HESP Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching
Oktober 6. u. 12., Budapest 1051, Hungary
Tel: (36-1) 235-6153, Fax: (36-1) 411-4401
Oleksandr Shtokvych, Senior Program Manager
E-mail: oshtokvych@osi.hu
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