Small cohorts made up of faculty and academic staff agree to meet regularly during the year to discuss their teaching and learn more about each other's classroom strategies. Modest stipends of $300 are available to each participant for expenses incurred during the academic year related to teaching and/or research efforts.
Small cohorts of three to four faculty and academic staff meet regularly during the academic year to discuss their scholarship and professional writing. Each participant is supported by a modest stipend for research materials and travel, as well as "seed money" for innovative research.
Benefits. Feedback from cross-disciplinary perspectives can lead to sharper analysis and fresh insights - ultimately to increased productivity and enhanced quality. Writing group members report that they complete projects in a more timely fashion and that their papers are more polished because of their colleagues' comments and encouragement. (Note: Research circles are not designed to give specialized, discipline-based feedback, and, except in special circumstances agreed to by all members of a circle, the circles are not designed to require advance reading of entire paper, but are designed to support the continued writing by all members.)
At a circle meeting, each member brings sample pages of any writing about which he or she wants feedback. Each member places the material in its larger context, reads the pages (sometimes twice). Group members respond, ask questions, make suggestions, and so forth. (In an initial meeting, groups develop their own norms for feedback.) Each participant should have several goals so that the activity can be assessed on completion.
For more information about Research Circles, please contact Diane Gillespie, professor in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at dianegil@u.washington.edu.
2006-2007 Research Circle Reports
2005-2006 Research Circle Reports
2004-2005 Research Circle Reports
Research Circles and Teaching Circles were initiated during the 2002-2003 academic year as a new means of helping faculty and academic staff to strengthen and expand their interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching. Each participant receives a modest stipend for research materials and travel, as well as "seed money" for innovative research.