1. KIAS Information Session
Spring 2012
Jerry Varsava, Founding Director
Gillian Edwards, Executive Manager

2. Today’s Agenda
1. KIAS Vision
2. KIAS: A Brief History
3. KIAS Governance
4. KIAS Themes (2011-2013)
5. KIAS Programs
advancing humanity, lifting the

3. KIAS Vision
 To foster an innovative intellectual environment for
the interdisciplinary study of major modern and
historical, political, social, economic, and cultural
issues and, therein, advance society and global
polity in a manner consistent with the high
humanitarian ideals of the founding benefactors, Drs.
Peter and Doris Kule.
advancing humanity, lifting the human spirit

4. KIAS: A Brief History
 June 2008: Recommendation of “Arts in the 21st
Century” Committee to establish a Centenary Institute for
the Arts
 September 2008: Commitment of President
Samarasekera at Arts Faculty Council to support a
Research Institute for the SSHRC disciplines in a major
donor could be found
 November 2009: President Samarasekera announces
the Kule endowment gift of $4 million
advancing humanity, lifting the human

5. KIAS: A Brief History
 April 2010: KIAS is approved by Academic Programs
Committee
 July 2010: KIAS formally established
 Fall 2010: consultation on KIAS’s research themes and
programs
 November 2010: formal launch of KIAS, Faculty Club
 January 2011: KIAS Administrative Board approves research
themes and programs (2011-2013)
 February-October 2011: roll-out of KIAS’s programs
 August 2011: first annual “Tomorrow’s Ideas, Now”
advancing humanity, lifting the
undergraduate student conference

6. KIAS Governance
 Administrative Board
 chaired by Provost Carl Amrhein
 Advisory Council
 chaired by Provost’s delegate, Ernie Ingles, Head
Librarian
 Research Committee
 chaired by KIAS Founding Director, Jerry Varsava
advancing humanity, lifting the

7. Theme Preamble
 Fall 2010, KIAS engaged in an extensive
consultation of undergraduates and graduate
students, faculty, and research administrators, in an
effort to identify topics of major local, national, and
global consequence that, consistent with the
Institute’s mandate, could be explored from a
socially-engaged, interdisciplinary standpoint by
researchers and creative artists in the Humanities,
Social Sciences and Fine Arts.
advancing humanity, lifting the

8. KIAS Themes (2011-2013)
1. Stewardship of the Planet
2. Place, Belonging, and Otherness
3. Culture, Media, Technology
advancing humanity, lifting the

9. Stewardship of the Planet
 Ethically informed
stewardship of the planet
can be pursued from a
number of points of view and
in a variety of contexts, but
there is an urgency to
examine the issue now, and
to propose tenable
responses to this
challenge. Recent months
have seen ecological
catastrophe in the Gulf of
Mexico, food riots in Africa
and India, renewed focus on
global population
growth, and a heightened
concern for mitigation of
environmental risk. advancing humanity, lifting the

10. Place, Belonging, & Otherness
 There is a foundational
human concern to
understand one’s place in,
not only the physical world,
but also in the social spaces
in which we move, and to
which we may feel affinity or
distance. The theme of
Place, Belonging, and
Otherness encourages an
examination of a broad
range of relationships in
order to better understand
the human social condition,
whether in the early twenty-
first century or at antecedent
historical points.
advancing humanity, lifting the

11. Culture, Media, Technology
 In an age saturated with
new technologies and a
proliferation of
representational media,
there is a need to
reconsider both traditional
forms of cultural
expression and new ones
enabled by technological
advancement. This topic
encourages an
engagement of the
imaginative, material, and
social conditions of arts’
production and reception.
advancing humanity, lifting the

12. Research Programming
 All continuing University of SSHRC Faculties
Alberta faculty members, full or  Agricultural, Life and
part-time, doing research Environmental Sciences
and/or creative activity in the
Fine Arts, Humanities or Social  Arts
Sciences, and resident in a  Augustana
SSHRC-discipline Faculty  Business
 Faculty members are restricted  Campus Saint Jean
to one application per
competition, and one seminar  Education
per application.  Extension
 One may serve as Principal  Law
Investigator on one grant, and  Library and Information Studies
also be a member of another  Native Studies
grant team as collaborator.
 N.B. Consistent with SSHRC  Physical Education and
policy, KIAS does not provide Recreation
support to health-related areas.
advancing humanity, lifting the

13. Research Programming
 Inrecognition of the intellectual leadership of Arts, its
securing of the anchor endowment, and size of
researcher cohorts, KIAS’s competitive grants will be
distributed notionally according to the following
formula, though merit will be the deciding factor:
 50% to applicants from Arts;
 50% open to applicants from SSHRC
Faculties, including Arts.
advancing humanity, lifting the

14. Tomorrow’s Ideas, Now
March 19, 2012 -
Abstract Deadline
International
Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate
Student
Conference August
16-18, 2012
40 students at
2011 conference
(25 external, 15 U
of A) advancing humanity, lifting the

15. KIAS Research Program
Faculty
 Research Cluster Grants
 External Collaboration Grants
 Kule Dialogues Program
 Interdisciplinary Course Seminar Grants
Postdoctoral/Doctoral Students
 KIAS Postdoctoral Fellows
 KIAS Doctoral Scholars
advancing humanity, lifting the

16. Research Cluster Grants
Goals
 The KIAS Research Cluster Grants Program seeks to bring together
researchers—continuing faculty, undergraduate and graduate
students, Postdoctoral Fellows—with a commitment to the
interdisciplinary study of major issues of social importance in order
to facilitate impactful research. The Program is not meant to replace
other sources of research funding such as SSHRC grants, but rather
to advance research projects whether at a gestational, developed, or
concluding phase of development. Holders of Cluster Grants will be
provided support for local dissemination of research and creative
activity under the auspices of the Kule Dialogues Program upon
separate post-award application.
Value
 Up to 6 @ up to $20,000
Duration
 12 or 18 months
Deadline
 Thursday, April 12, 2012 @ 4:00 p.m.
advancing humanity, lifting the

17. Research Cluster Grants
Adjudication Criteria
 Alignment with KIAS’s themes
 Interdisciplinarity
 Preference given to projects involving
interdepartmental and/or inter-Faculty collaboration
 Preference given to projects with undergraduate
and/or graduate student participation and full
involvement in project
 Preference given to projects with clear dissemination
plan
 Research or creative record, with activity
contextualized within applicant’s seniority
advancing humanity, lifting the

18. External Research Collaboration
 Grants of up to $5,000 to holders of Research
Cluster Grants, subject to matching by external
partner
 Applicants encouraged to consider collaborators
from among preferred partners, such as members of
Worldwide Universities Network (WUN)
http://www.wun.ac.uk/
advancing humanity, lifting the

19. External Research Collaboration
Member institutions of the Worldwide
Universities Network (WUN):
 The Chinese U of Hong Kong;
 Nanjing U;
 Pennsylvania State U;
 U of Auckland;
 U of Bergen; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Munich);
 U of Bristol; National Autonomous University of Mexico
 U of Cape Town; (UNAM [Mexico City]);
 U of Leeds; Center for Research and Teaching in the
Social Sciences (CIDE [Mexico City]).
 U of Rochester;
 U of Sheffield;
 U of Southampton;
 U of Sydney;
 U of Washington;
 U of Western Australia;
 U of Wisconsin (Madison);
 York U;
 Zhejiang U.
advancing humanity, lifting the

20. Kule Dialogues
 Small grants for dissemination locally through
lectures, lunch talks, workshops, colloquia, etc.
 Cluster Grant holders are obliged to participate in
this program and have first call.
 Others may apply for funds, subject to availability.
advancing humanity, lifting the

21. Interdisciplinary Seminars
Goals
 to integrate the Institute’s research mission with the strategic
objective of the University of Alberta to provide structured
opportunities to develop undergraduate inquiry and research skills;
 to enhance the research acumen of graduate students;
 to bring together instructors and students from diverse disciplinary
backgrounds in order to develop novel ways of understanding one or
more of KIAS’s focus themes.
Value
 Up to six Seminars to be funded, @ $8,500 per course, buy-out to
Department or Faculty; supplementary $1,000 curricular grant to PI.
Duration
 One half-course equivalent course (3 cwts.) to be delivered in Fall
2013.
Deadline
 Fall 2012, to be announced.
advancing humanity, lifting the

22. Interdisciplinary Seminars
Adjudication Criteria
 Alignment with KIAS’s themes.
 Interdisciplinarity.
 Strength of research component.
 Seminars may be co- or team-taught with advance approval of
concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s).
 Preference given to Seminars likely to attract senior
undergraduate and graduate students from diverse
disciplines, and likely to have enrolments of 8 or more
students.
N.B. Seminars may be co- or team-taught with advance approval
of concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s). Seminars must be 300-level
or higher: they can be cross-listed within departments as, for
example, 4XX/5XX; further, they may be cross-listed between
departments and/or Faculties, subject to advance approval of
concerned Chair(s) or Dean(s).
advancing humanity, lifting the

23. KIAS Postdoctoral Fellows
Goals
 The KIAS Postdoctoral Fellowship Award seeks to support the
research of Postdoctoral Fellows working in one or more of KIAS’s
three research themes during their tenure at the University of Alberta.
Value
 Up to 4 awards @ up to $4,000 for current Killam, SSHRC, other
PDFs.
Duration
 18 months or expiry of Fellowship.
Other
 designation as KIAS Postdoctoral Fellow;
 must contribute to the intellectual life of University through lectures,
classes, etc.
advancing humanity, lifting the

24. KIAS Doctoral Scholars
Goals
 The KIAS Doctoral Dissertation Completion Awards program seek to provide
doctoral students nearing the end of their program time without employment
obligations to complete their dissertation. This program will be taken-up in
either the Winter, Spring, or Fall semester, at the discretion of the successful
applicant.
Value
 Up to four @ $7,500.
Duration
 4 months.
Other
 Applicants must have a firm expectation to complete their program within 12
months following tenure.
 Eligibility requirements include working within the KIAS Research Themes,
successful completion of candidacy examination at the time of award take-
up, no other duties (teaching or otherwise), and participating full-time in their
program.
 Awardees will be expected to deliver a lecture or workshop or other
dissemination as a part of their award terms.
advancing humanity, lifting the

25. Currently Funded KIAS Research
Research Cluster Grants Interdisciplinary Seminars
 Isabel Altamirano-  Wayne DeFehr, English & Film Studies
Jimenez, Arts/Political Science  Pat Demers, English & Film Studies
 Joan Greer, Art & Design
 Diane
 Jennifer Hsu, Political Science
Conrad, Education/Secondary
 Natalie Kononenko, MLCS
Education
 Scott Smallwood, Music
 Gordon Gow, Extension
 Guillaume Tardif, Music
 David Kahane, Arts/Political  Guy Thompson, History & Classics
Science  Maria Whiteman, Art & Design
 Sheena Wilson, Campus Saint-
Jean advancing humanity, lifting the

26. Currently Funded KIAS Research
KIAS Postdoctoral
Fellows KIAS Doctoral Scholars
 Marcia Ostashewski,  Marianne Clark, Physical
Music Education & Recreation
 Shannon Stunden Bower,  Sandra Joy Friesen,
History & Classics Music
 Victor Taki, History &  Lianne Lefsrud, School of
Classics Business
 Terri Tomsky, English &  Dee Patriquin, Physical
Film Studies Education & Recreation
advancing humanity, lifting the

27. More information?
Jerry Varsava, jerry.varsava@ualberta.ca
Gillian Edwards, gillian.edwards@gmail.com
3-22 Arts Building
www.kias.ualberta.ca
advancing humanity, lifting the human