Off-site Training Grants

Grants for Faculty Travel

Lehigh University’s Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative offers funding for faculty (including Professors of Practice), staff, visiting professors, predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows to attend off-campus workshops on topics related to the goal of the MDHI, which is to engage undergraduates with the local community through the digital humanities and documentary studies. In addition to workshops, funding can cover participation in seminars, conferences, site visits, or other training opportunities at institutions or events such as the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University; the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University; the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida; The Humanities and Technology Camps (THATCamp) at various locations; the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) at the University of Victoria; the Digital Pedagogy Lab at the University of Wisconsin; and the Humanities Intensive Learning and Teaching  (HILT) workshops held at various locations. For more examples of off-site training opportunities please visit Workshops.

Grant recipients will be expected to share the lessons learned from these experiences with some segment of the larger Lehigh community, such as through a presentation at the annual Symposium on Teaching and Learning at Lehigh, an on-campus workshop (which will be organized and promoted by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and/or the Center for Community Engagement) , or a presentation to a department or interdisciplinary program.  

Application Process

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis for funding to attend off-site training. Priority will go to faculty who have not already received MDHI grant funds for an off-site training, though it may be possible to support more than one trip for the same faculty member within a fiscal year. 

Proposals will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the MDHI steering committee. It is expected that budgets will range from $1,000-$5,000.   

To apply, submit an online application with a proposal that includes:

  • a description and date(s) of the event and justification for attendance
  • a budget of travel, lodging, and registration costs,
    • Note that Mellon grant funds cannot be used for food costs. We ask that you seek co-sponsorship for your meal expenses and list sources of co-sponsorship in your application.
  • an indication of additional funding sources (departmental, college, discretionary, external) that could offset the cost of travel, registration and food, and
  • a plan for how you will share what you learn with some segment of the larger campus community (e.g., through a presentation at the annual Symposium on Teaching and Learning at Lehigh, an on-campus workshop [which will be organized and promoted by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and/or the Center for Community Engagement], a presentation to a department or interdisciplinary program, etc.).
Grant Recipients

Once a funding decision has been made, award letters are sent to the faculty member, with a copy sent to the Department Chair or supervisor and Academic Coordinator.

Grant recipients are responsible for coordinating their own travel and working with the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs to work out payment details. All funds must be spent according to Lehigh’s expense policy. Your receipts will be reviewed in order to ensure that they adhere to the University’s Travel and Business Expense Policy. This ensures that all travel and business expenses are valid, necessary, and in compliance with IRS and other government agency regulations and general University accounting procedures. If your grant is approved and you anticipate any changes to your proposal, you must submit your updated proposal, itinerary and budget via email to Jeanne Kassis (jek207@lehigh.edu) as soon as possible for approval prior to spending the awarded funds. If your plans change and you are no longer able to attend the training, we ask you to notify us immediately so that we can award the funds to someone else. All funds must be used by June 30th of the fiscal year during which the training takes place. For 2017-2018 academic year travel funds, spending must conclude by April 2018. Applicants must submit a formal request to extend the spending period beyond April 2018, but under no circumstances can extend past June 2018. Unspent funds must be returned to the MDHI. Extensions in project time or awarded dollar amount will not be granted under this program.

Questions?  For questions about the application or project expenses, please contact Amanda Webb (inmdhig@lehigh.edu). For questions about the MDHI grants, contact Ed Whitley, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative at (whitley@lehigh.edu), or Cory Fischer-Hoffman (cof316@lehigh.edu).To learn more about the Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative visit About.