CDSC

The Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective offers a series of programs aimed to nurture digital scholarship in and for the Caribbean.

Contact Us

  • contact@cdscollective.org

Micro-grants: Call for Proposals 2022

Deadline: September 20, 2022

The Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective (CDSC) is pleased to launch its annual micro-grant program to support digital scholarship in and about the Caribbean". The CDSC micro-grant program will serve as a model to the community at large, and can nudge the field of theory and practice as a whole in directions that are not only innovative for Caribbean Digital Scholarship but for Digital Scholarship in general.

About the Grant

The CDSC will support a minimum of five projects in 2023, offering financial resources in the form of grants ranging from $1,000 to $25,000, depending on need.

We welcome applications from original projects at any stage, from inception to currently in development. Each grantee may be assigned a mentor from the CDSC or a remunerated Caribbeanist mentor.

Preparing a Proposal


Applicants should submit a single document (Word or PDF) with the following:

  1. Title
  2. 250-word summary
  3. 1000-1200 word narrative that includes:
    1. Project description
    2. Intellectual contributions of the project to Caribbean Digital Scholarship:
      1. The project's relationship to existing literature/projects; and/or early conversations in the literature about the project (where appropriate).
      2. The project's engagement with digital methods and tools to advance research, teaching, and learning, and/or public engagement
    3. The current stage of the project's development, technologies, and early sign of process-derived knowledge
    4. A plan of execution, including deliverables, expected outcomes, potential partners, and data management
    5. Brief explanation of how the project addresses equity and inclusion (when appropriate), thoughtful design, and long-term preservation
  4. Proposed budget
  5. One-page resume(s) of principal investigator(s)

Our team will be happy to answer questions about your proposal before submission. If you need to hire an outside vendor to provide technology for your project, we highly encourage you to contact them to prepare a data management, scope, and budget plan. We have partnered with Performant Software for a discount for some types of projects, and they will be more than happy to help you draft the relevant parts of the proposal. Please get in touch with us if you think this will be the case for you.

The deadline for submissions is September 20, 2022. The committee will not review applications submitted after the deadline.

Submit Your Application

Eligibility

  • Individuals and groups from educational, research, and community organizations working in Caribbean Studies and based anywhere in the world.
  • Independent scholars anywhere in the world working in Caribbean Studies.
  • Caribbean-based scholars who are working on any area related to Digital Scholarship.

The CDSC will prioritize individuals, groups and/or work representing the Caribbean regions and its global diasporas.

Evaluation and Selection

The CDSC will host an informational webinar to answer applicants' questions about the requirements and expectations of the grant on August 2, 2022, at 3 pm EST. Register for the informational webinar

An editorial board of four members will review the applications and select the awardees. The board will be formed by the CDSC micro-grant program coordinator, the CDSC Grant Associate Director, a CDSC rotating member, and a rotating external jury member.

The board will read through proposals in one round of selection using criteria designed for archipelagos journal, notably, the overall scholarly contribution, equity and inclusion (when appropriate), thoughtful design, and preservation strategy. The CDSC will also assist when needed in the preparation of the proposal.

The CDSC committee will select the grantees in Fall 2022 and disburse the micro-grants by Winter 2023.

Grantees Expectations

The length of the proposed project and deliverables should range between January and December 2023. The CDSC expects grantees to present their projects at the 2023 TCD conference. Grantees should be amenable to having their projects featured on the CDSC website, social media, and other communications; acknowledge the CDSC's support in their public-facing materials; and participate in public events about the micro-grant program.

At the end of the funding period, the CDSC will earmark one micro-grantee in each award round as a flagship project. These flagship projects will serve as models to the community at large, and they can nudge the field of theory and practice in creative directions for Caribbean Digital Scholarship in particular and Digital Scholarship in general. In The Same Boats, a set of interactive mapping visualizations that trace the movements of significant cultural actors from the Caribbean and broader Americas, Africa, and Europe within the 20th century Afro-Atlantic world, is an example of these possible flagship projects.

Fine Print

Grant awards are subject to federal, state, and local tax regulations. Each grantee is responsible for reporting taxable stipend payments and remitting any tax due with their personal or institutional income tax return. For specific questions about your tax responsibilities, please contact the Internal Revenue Service, an accountant, or an income tax service.

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