AHA! Autonomous Hamilton Affinity Groups

The Dean of Faculty is pleased to support AHA! Groups in 2022-23. Previously funded groups are listed below.  Though guidelines have not been updated yet for the fall, we anticipate that we will be able to support on-campus invited guest speakers. Please plan on advertising any open events sponsored by your AHA! group through Hamilton Academy.

The Dean of Faculty will invite applications for renewable faculty development projects to be carried out by AHA! groups in 2022-23. Requests up to $3,500 will be considered.  Any cohort of five or more Hamilton faculty (including administrative staff who teach) may form or extend an AHA! group of teacher-scholars to propose a mutually beneficial project for funding. AHA! groups may be departmental or interdisciplinary, comprised of any and all categories of faculty. When forming an AHA! group, please remember to include faculty who will be joining Hamilton on 1 July 2022. You may propose to bring a visitor who will assist in a faculty development project. You may ask for funds to facilitate regular meetings of your AHA! group by requesting lunch money. You could bring an outside expert to advise your group, though this call is not meant to supplant existing funding for lectures and performances. Existing  groups may name themselves as an AHA! group, so long as their project meets the purposes of the program. 

Proposals that clearly articulate outcomes related to strategic initiatives such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, interdisciplinary work, experiential learning, digital pedagogy, or enhanced advising are strongly encouraged and more likely to be funded. Proposals supporting faculty development related to foundational teaching (Writing, Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning, Oral Communication, Multi-lingual student support, Global Learning), to the Social, Structural, and Institutional Hierarchies requirement, to First-Year courses, or to Senior Projects will also receive serious consideration.

Ultimate impact on teaching and students is implicit, but these funds are not for supporting student projects. The PI will be responsible for working with the DOF office and for submitting a brief written report at the end of the grant (end of Spring Term 2023). If you are reapplying on behalf of an existing AHA! group, please include a preliminary report on your activities this past year.

The process will once again be competitive.

Ground Rules:

• The funds are not for acquisition of equipment, software, books, subscriptions, or supplies. 
• Proposals that could be funded through an existing budget will not be considered competitive.  
• No course releases, participation stipends for Hamilton faculty, or student expenses will be funded. 

  
Deadline for proposals: 15 September 2022.

Apply Now

Limit your text to 500 words; include a detailed budget that adheres to the usual Hamilton College expectations.

2022-23 Awards

(Average funding $2,550 per project)

• Classical Pedagogy: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Ancient Greek Texts PI: Kenneth Leonardo
• Polyphonic Overlaps: Latin American Environments, Culture, Religiosities, Languages, Music, and More PI: Mackenzie Cooley
• Retired Employees of Hamilton PI: Barbara Gold
• Teacher-Scholar Enrichment Working Group PI: Nick Tackes
• Ungrading PI: Ruth Lo and Stina Soderling

2021-2022 awards

(Average funding $2,805  per project)

• Antiracist SI and WI Pedagogy: Focusing on Linguistic Diversity/Linguistic Justice PI: Alex Hanson
• Decolonizing Feminist Philosophy/Feminist Theory PI: Alessandro Moscaritolo Palacio
• Digital Pedagogy and Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration PI: Anna Huff
• Mediating Canonical Knowledge PI: Sabrina Datoo
• Race, Pedagogy, and Building an Antiracist Institution PI: Celeste Day Moore
• Research, Advising, and other Valiant Endeavors PI: Darren Strash
• Supporting, Envisioning, and Deepening Global Education (SEDGE) PI: Aaron Strong
• Visuals from the Field: Reconstructing the "Researcher" and the "Landscape" PI: Preity Kumar

2020-21 AWARDS 

(Average funding $2,320 per project)

• Conversations Across the Arts PI: Rebecca Murtaugh
• Race, Pedagogy, and Building an Antiracist Institution PI: Celeste Day Moore
• Research Advising in Virtual Environments (RAVE) PI: Darren Strash
• Retired Employees of Hamilton (REH) PI: Frank Anechiarico
• Social Sciences Critical Race Pedagogy PI: Stephen Ellingson
• STEM Experiential and Active Learning (SEAL) Lunch Group PI: Tom Helmuth
• Textual and Material Traces of Lived Religion in Asia PI: Usman Hamid

2019-20 Awards

(Average funding $3,048.65 per project)

• Conversations Across the Arts PI Fall: William Salzillo and PI Spring: Rebecca Murtaugh
• Fostering Next-Generation Field-based Experiential Learning in Geosciences PI: Catherine Beck
• Integrated Advising Allies PI: Mariam Merrill
• Killjoy Studies: Feminist Praxis Towards a More Just Academy PI: Anne Lacsamana
• Letterpress and Print History PI: Tina Hall
• Making Scientific Knowledge PI: Rhea Datta
• Retired Employees of Hamilton: Life-long Civic and Scholarly Engagement PI: Peter Rabinowitz (Fall) and Frank Anechiarico (Spring)
• Scholarly Engagement in the Digital Age PI: Thomas Wilson
• SHECP Poverty Gateway Course Design PI: Joel Winkelman
• STEM Experiential and Active Learning (SEAL) Lunch Group PI: Colin Quinn

2018-19 Awards

(Average funding $3,210 per project)

• Decolonizing Education Group PI: Meredith Madden
• In Search of the Female in Archetype: Intersections of Drama, Literature, and Visual Culture PI: Susan Finque
• KILLJOY STUDIES: Feminist Praxis Towards a More Just Academy PI: Mariam Durrani
• Letterpress Training PI: Tina Hall
• Making Scientific Knowledge: An Interdisciplinary Focus Group PI: Mackenzie Cooley
• Meaningful Experiences: Critical and Creative Reflections on Experiential Learning PI: Brent Rodriguez-Plate
• Physics Faculty Journal Club: Building a More Inclusive Department PI: Kristen Burson
• STEM Active Learning Lunch Group PI: Tom Helmuth