Call for Proposals Now Open: 2022-23 Emerging Scholars Program

November 1, 2021 — Boston University Diversity & Inclusion’s (BU D&I) Emerging Scholars Program is now open for applications from BU academic departments for the 2022-23 academic year. Through the Emerging Scholars program, we seek to normalize the inclusion within our schools/colleges and departments of people who are underrepresented in the academy, including scholars from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups; enliven our curricula and intellectual/creative endeavors through consistent and substantive engagement with such emerging faculty; and extend and strengthen our national and international networks, thereby deepening our search pools and positively impacting our search outcomes.

Entering into the program’s third year, the Emerging Scholars Program is meant for BU academic departments to host scholars who are not yet formally on the job market, are in postdoctoral fellowships, or in rare cases, are in assistant professorships. This program is designed for academic departments that are interested in hearing what new forms of inquiry have emerged in their field and are seeking to diversify future potential faculty search pools. The Emerging Scholars Program is also ideal for departments that might engage a target of opportunity mechanism for an existing line or departments that are eager to deepen their networks among and connections to scholars from underrepresented groups, particularly in advance of a retirement and/or a faculty search request.

Emerging Scholars programs take many different forms. We encourage academic departments to be creative in developing opportunities for networking, academic presentations, professional development activities, and other types of events for their Emerging Scholars programs. Past Emerging Scholars programs have taken the form of single- or multi-day symposia, multiple-day visits stretched over a semester or year, or hybrid programs that incorporate both online and in-person elements.

Please reach out to Megan Segoshi, BU D&I Manager of Faculty Diversity Initiatives, at msegoshi@bu.edu with questions about these initiatives.

About the Emerging Scholars Program

In spring 2019, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Jean Morrison announced the launch of two key initiatives intended to increase diversity within BU’s faculty: The University Scholars Program and The Target of Opportunity Program. As part of the University Scholars Program, which seeks to normalize inclusion of underrepresented scholars in academia, the Emerging Scholars Program is overseen by BU D&I and provides funds to BU departments to support individuals or groups of emerging scholars from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, through various means, such as single-day symposia, multiple-day mini conferences, or multiple-day visits.