2027 Summer Institute in the Arts & Humanities (SIAH) Themes and Teaching Teams

Eligibility

Tenure-track and teaching-track (assistant, associate, and full teaching professors) faculty in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, from all three University of Washington campuses. We encourage teams of two faculty, at least one of whom must be on the tenure-track, to develop a theme and course outline for this intensive summer program. The Simpson Center will work directly with the faculty selected for this opportunity to recruit a graduate student to join as the third member of the instructional team. 

Scope and Program Overview

The Summer Institute in the Arts & Humanities (SIAH) was created by the Office of Undergraduate Research in collaboration with the Simpson Center for the Humanities in 2002 to provide an intensive research opportunity for humanities and arts students that increases the number of undergraduates doing research in the humanities, engages humanities and arts faculty in research with undergraduates, establishes a community of undergraduate arts and humanities scholars, and creates a forum for humanities undergraduates to present their scholarly work.

SIAH offers an opportunity for undergraduates to engage in research with accomplished scholars and peers while earning full-time academic credit. This scholarly experience occurs in the context of seminars and tutorial-style lessons with faculty who offer expertise from various disciplinary and interdisciplinary points of view. The program also encourages mutual learning with peers as well as independent thought. Student participants develop original research ideas related to an interdisciplinary theme, create a scholarly research paper or project, participate in a faculty and peer critique process, and formally present their work to their colleagues and the larger community at a closing symposium.

Proposals for SIAH 2027 should be built around an engaging theme or topic, likely to draw a broad range of undergraduate students. Courses should introduce students to multiple humanistic approaches and perspectives, and should emphasize the creative and intellectual potentialities of humanities research. A list of themes, with instructional teams noted, from previous years is available here.

The two faculty members may come from different departments or the same department. If from the same department, their proposal should explain how they bring divergent expertise to the proposed course topic.

Terms of Award

Each faculty member will be compensated with $20,000 in summer salary and each will receive an additional $1,500 in research funds. 

Faculty must be available to teach this intensive course in person on the UW Seattle campus during the Summer of 2027, across both A & B terms, extending from June 21 to August 20, 2027. Preparation for the summer program, including developing and finalizing the syllabus, providing input on outreach materials for undergraduate students, reviewing applications, and interviewing and selecting students for the course will take place during the 2026-27 academic year. This process is well-supported by staff at the Simpson Center and in the Office of Undergraduate Research. 

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following four criteria:

1. Quality of the proposed course topic and preliminary design

2. Likelihood of the topic and design to appeal to a broad range of undergraduate students

3. The ability of the background/expertise of the two faculty members to bring multiple and different humanistic perspectives into conversation 

4. Clarity of described commitment to introducing undergraduate students to humanities research practices, processes, and outcomes

Meeting Before Applying

We recommend that those applying to teach for SIAH consult with the Simpson Center in advance of the preferred application deadline. To request a meeting, please contact Rachel Arteaga at rarteaga@uw.edu.