College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

The University of Dayton performed $149 million in sponsored research in fiscal year 2018. While much of that work was done at the University of Dayton Research Institute, faculty research isn't just limited to science and engineering laboratories.

The University’s 2018-19 Spotlight on Technology, Arts, Research and Scholarship (STARS) symposia series will highlight the work of the first Liberal Arts and Sciences Catalyst (LASC) grant recipients. Launched in February, the competitive program supports the scholarship and research of tenured faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences’ humanities, social sciences, and visual and performing arts divisions.

The STARS series is sponsored by the Office for Research. It showcases advances in research and scholarship at the University, and fosters connections and collaboration among faculty, staff and professional researchers.

“The eight LASC grant awardees will present topics that range from women journalists in 19th century Britain to funerary monuments in imperial Rome; from realism in political theories of immigration to grammar syntax application in studying state constitution policy, among others,” said Amy Adkins, the Office for Research proposal developer.

The first of three STARS events dedicated to the liberal arts grant recipients is 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, in the Kennedy Union ballroom. LASC awardees also will be featured at STARS events Nov. 7 and Feb. 6, 2019.

The free events are open to all University faculty, staff and graduate students. They include a buffet lunch and dessert mixer. Registration is required.

On Sept. 6, College Dean Jason Pierce will give an overview of the LASC program; Laura Vorachek, associate professor of English, will present New Women, New Journalism in Late-Nineteenth Century Britain; and David Watkins, associate professor of political science, will present Whose Realism? Which Utopia? On the Uses and Abuses of “Realism” in Political Theories of Immigration.

“I am excited to share my research with the campus community and grateful for the LASC grant that allowed me to conduct research at the British Library this summer,” Vorachek said. Her book project explores the careers of British women journalists in the 1880s and ’90s, and how they made a space for themselves in a predominantly male profession, reshaping journalism in the process.

Additional projects explore sex workers’ labor rights in India’s Sonagachi red-light district; the legacy of 20th-century peace and justice campaigns against fascist expansionism; and the impact of government identity documents on mobility and citizenship in 20th-century India.

Faculty are using LASC funds to support field work, pay student research assistants, and attend academic conferences and a two-week creative seminar in China. Their output will include book chapters and manuscripts, digital maps and databases, and participation in an international traveling art exhibition.

“The research being done in the arts, humanities and social sciences is extremely important for our society and for the University,” said Jon Hess, College associate dean for faculty scholarship, internationalization and inclusive excellence. “The STARS focus on the Liberal Arts Catalyst grants gives people a chance to see some of the outstanding work being done in these areas to address complex human challenges.”

The Liberal Arts Catalyst grants provide up $5,000 to advance new and existing projects that show clear potential for increasing a faculty member’s research productivity, creative work, collaboration and external funding, where possible. The awards focus on projects that enhance the University’s academic reputation.

This year’s grants ranged from $1,500 to $5,000. College departments also provided additional funds to support several projects.

The program was inspired by the STEM Catalyst grants initiative launched in March 2017 as a collaborative effort among the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute to support summer research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

While support for liberal arts research is available from private foundations and federal grant agencies such as National Endowment for the Humanities, that funding isn’t always as visible as the support for STEM-based research by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, among others.

“As a society, we prioritize science, but I think sometimes the impact of the social sciences, humanities and arts gets overlooked,” Hess said. “I am excited about this opportunity to advance liberal arts scholarship and creative work.

“In some cases, just the small, internal grant will be what it takes to get faculty through a project they couldn’t do without the funding. In other cases, it may actually lead them toward something that can be funded externally,” he said.

For more information or to register, please visit the STARS website. 

2018 liberal arts catalyst grant recipients

• Image top of page, top row: Dorian Borbonus, Simanti Dasgupta, Suki Kwon, Nancy Martorano Miller; bottom row: Caroline Merithew, Haimanti Roy, Laura Vorachek. Not shown: David Watkins.
• - Dave Larsen, communication coordinator, College of Arts and Sciences