OARS funding Sociology

The Office of English Language Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA/A/L) announces an open competition to administer the English Access Microscholarship Program (Access), which provides a foundation of English language skills to bright, economically disadvantaged students in their home countries. Access programs introduce students, primarily aged 13 to 20, to U.S. culture and democratic values, improve the students' potential to fully contribute to the socio-economic development of their countries, and increase their ability to compete for and participate in U.S. exchange and study programs.

The JAMS Foundation/NAFCM Mini-Grant Program supports the development of innovative and effective programs that can be replicated by community mediation centers nationwide and serve as a pathway to their sustainability and growth. The 2018 Mini-Grant Program will focus on community mediation services for individuals and families who are currently homeless or facing eviction. Mini-Grants of $12,000 for up to two years will be awarded to five organizations throughout the country. Nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and public agencies are eligible to apply. The deadline for Solicitation of Interest responses is March 29, 2018; invited full proposals will be due June 25, 2018. Visit the NAFCM website to learn more about the program.

The goal of the Pension Counseling & Information Program is to help individuals understand and exercise their pension rights The regional counseling projects promote protection of the rights, financial security, and independence of older individuals and empower them to make informed choices for a secure retirement. Successful applicants will demonstrate a proven record of advising and representing individuals who have been denied employer or union-sponsored pensions or other retirement savings plan benefits, and will have the capacity to deliver services on a regional basis.

The Emergent Fund was established after the 2016 election to help move quick resources to communities that were and continue to be under attack by federal policies and priorities - immigrants, women, Muslim and Arab-American communities, Black people, LGBTQ communities, and all people of color. The Fund focuses on grassroots organizing and power building in communities of color who are facing injustice based on racial, ethnic, religious, and other forms of discrimination. Grants are considered for the following: efforts that support emergent strategies that help communities respond to rapidly changing conditions, including resisting new or amplified threats and building power to move a proactive agenda; and efforts seeking long-term social justice and economic justice in a political and social climate that seeks to dismantle such efforts. The Fund will make grants on a rolling basis throughout 2018. Visit the Fund's website to submit an online application.

Based on funding availability, this project will enhance the long-term preservation of Afghanistan's built heritage. Potential projects include detailed documentation activities and brick-and-mortar stabilization and restoration of monuments and sites. PAS will also consider projects that build cultural preservation skills, support long-term stewardship of heritage, and provide educational outreach to underserved communities. PAS encourages proposals combining structural preservation, skills development, and educational outreach, particularly those conveying the richness of Afghanistan's archaeological and historic heritage to youth in rural communities and young women professionals. Any project undertaken must adhere to international charters and heritage preservation standards.

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, is pleased to announce an open competition for eligible organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to document and/or strengthen Afghanistan's traditional forms of cultural expression. For the purposes of this NOFO, traditional forms of cultural expression include but are not limited to musical composition and performance, dance and performing arts, poetry and oral traditions, traditional celebrations, and knowledge exchange from master to student in any form of cultural expression. Proposals with an educational component such as internship activities, educational outreach, capacity building, or training of students and young professionals are encouraged. Proposals must include a well-defined plan to raise public awareness of Afghan heritage, especially among youth, and a sustainability plan. Commercial activities, including the sale of products or tickets to performances, are not permitted.

Presenter Liz Nysson will provide a general overview of broader impacts, including: The history of the National Science Foundation's broader impacts (BI) criterion Strategies for conceptualizing, developing, implementing, and evaluating BI activities Tips for leveraging existing resources to build a "BI identity"

The Digital Projects for the Public program supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments. The projects must be designed to attract broad public audiences. All Digital Projects for the Public projects should * present analysis that deepens public understanding of significant humanities ideas; * incorporate sound humanities scholarship; * involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and production; * include appropriate digital media professionals; * reach a broad public through a realistic plan for development, marketing, and distribution; * create appealing digital formats for the general public; and * demonstrate the capacity to sustain themselves. All projects should demonstrate the potential to attract a broad, general, nonspecialist audience, either online or in person at venues such as museums, libraries, or other cultural institutions. Applicants may also choose to identify particular communities and groups, including students, to whom a project may have particular appeal. NEH also welcomes applications for non-promotional digital components of a larger project. For these projects, you should explain how the digital platform will enrich the users' learning experience and engagement. For instance, if your request is for a mobile experience that would operate within a museum or would work in conjunction with a film, you should explain how this project element will substantially add to the audience's learning experience.

The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi invites U.S. and Georgian universities, educational institutes, non-profit/non-governmental organizations, and private sector entities to submit proposals for a one- to two-year project to improve the capabilities of Georgian scholars and students in commercialization of university research and marketing ideas. This project is meant to extend current research into the development process; foster entrepreneurial and innovative pursuits among Georgian professors, scholars, undergraduate, and graduate students; provide training in marketing, finance, revenue-raising, and small-business market-oriented sustainability; develop an ecosystem of knowledge transfer among Georgian universities that encourages entrepreneurial pursuits through the commercialization of research and ideas; and provide the framework for a sustainable entrepreneurial skills program consisting of a Georgian and American university consortium with possible in-kind contribution(s) from private sector entities and/or non-governmental organizations.

The U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Political and Economic section is seeking proposals for community projects designed to support high-impact, quick-implementation activities which benefit a large number of people within one year without requiring further assistance. Projects that support and promote livelihoods, food security, employment (particularly youth employment and employment of members of the community with disabilities), women's empowerment, and tradeable skills are preferred.

The 2018 TIP Office Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) Funding Opportunity invites applicants to submit innovative proposals describing how they will advance transformational programs and projects that seek to achieve a measurable and substantial reduction of the prevalence of modern slavery in targeted populations in priority countries or jurisdictions.

The Supporting Her Empowerment - Girls' Resilience, Enterprise, and Technology (SHE's GREAT) Initiative will support comprehensive, holistic programming to address gender-based violence and harmful cultural practices and increase girls' leadership and decision-making.

The purpose of this program is to enhance the quality and quantity of specialized services available to assist victims of human trafficking, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended. OVC is interested in supporting programs that focus on one or more of these priority areas: 1) housing services, 2) economic and leadership empowerment and/or education services, 3) mental health services, 4) substance abuse services, and 5) legal services. OVC expects to make up to 20 awards of up to $700,000, with an estimated total amount awarded of up to $14 million. OVC expects to make awards for a 36-month period of performance, to begin on October 1, 2018. OVC will conduct one pre-application webinar on May 31, 2018, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. e.t. Register at www.ovc.gov/grants/webinars.html. Apply by June 27, 2018.

Based on funding availability, this program will provide access to the performing arts for young audiences in order to share Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage with young audiences, inform youth of their legal rights, teach lessons of tolerance, and amplify the voices of marginalized groups. The program will fund two to three organizations that are committed to reviving the performing arts in Afghanistan's public and/or private schools through interactive performances and participatory discussions that will take place in schools in Kabul and at least four other provinces. The target audience will be children under 16. Periodic focus groups with small numbers of attendees will determine how key messages are being perceived and assimilated in order to inform recipients how to continually improve the program.

America's cultural heritage is preserved not only in libraries, museums, archives, and other community organizations, but also in all of our homes, family histories, and life stories. The Common Heritage program aims to capture this vitally important part of our country's heritage and preserve it for future generations. Common Heritage will support both the digitization of cultural heritage materials and the organization of outreach through community events that explore and interpret these materials as a window on the community's history and culture. The Common Heritage program considers a community to be a city or town (or a part of a city or town) that has been strongly shaped by geographical and historical forces. Members of the public in that community may have diverse family histories and heritage, or they may share a historical, cultural, or linguistic heritage. The program recognizes that members of the public-in partnership with libraries, museums, archives, and historical organizations-have much to contribute to the understanding of our cultural mosaic. Together, such institutions and the public can be effective partners in the appreciation and stewardship of our common heritage. The program supports events organized by community cultural institutions, which members of the public will be invited to attend. At these events experienced staff will digitize the community historical materials brought in by the public. Project staff will also record descriptive information-provided by community attendees-about the historical materials.

USAID/Yemen intends in the near future to issue a solicitation for a program(s) to mitigate conflict, strengthen social cohesion, promote the peaceful resolution of differences while capitalizing on stabilization opportunities in Yemen. USAID will seek innovative and flexible methodologies through co-creation and collaboration to support learning and small-scale activities that strengthen the ability of local institutions and organizations to serve as neutral arbitrators and meet citizen's needs in ways that mitigate the conflict, strengthen social cohesion and promote the peaceful resolution of differences while capitalizing on stabilization opportunities. USAID believes critical to the success of this program is the implementation of regular and iterative conflict analysis, using this information to learn and adapt designed community-based, capacity building and conflict mitigation initiatives. USAID also believes broadening the capacity of Yemeni civil society to conduct these types of identified interventions as well as partnering with government bodies to identify and address community priority needs is integral to this work. Activities will need to be conducted in areas where implementing partners and third party monitoring and verification mechanisms have access and the ability to operate.

The Course Hero-Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching will support rising stars in the academy who love teaching, demonstrate excellence as educators, and are making their mark as exceptional researchers, poised to shape their fields. Designed for young scholars working towards tenure, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship is a "genius grant" that will emphasize the balance between scholarly excellence and commitment to teaching practice that draws on new approaches to pedagogy, creating a new level of engagement for students in and beyond the classroom. In short, Fellows will be emerging heroes in their fields, on a clear trajectory to become great college educators. In its inaugural year, the Course Hero-WW Fellowship will identify five outstanding junior faculty members. Fellows will receive a one-year grant of $40,000-approximately $30,000 to support the engagement of a student assistant and the balance to be used for research and travel support. Exceptional candidates teach in ways that build student confidence and mastery of a subject; encourage critical thinking; explore foundational concepts through the lens of broader themes and global events; promote the power of learning communities beyond the classroom; leverage technology to complement the classroom experience; consider and serve different learning styles; prepare students for lifelong learning; and can serve as replicable teaching models for other educators. Selection takes place in June 2018. The five Fellows will be invited to attend the Course Hero Education Summit in July 2018, where their Fellowships will be announced.

The Social Science Research Council and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership have announced that applications are now open for the Abe Fellowship for Journalists. The fellowship is designed to encourage in-depth coverage of topics of pressing concern to the United States and Japan through individual short-term policy-related projects. Applicants are invited to submit proposals on one of four themes. 1) Threats to Personal, Societal, and International Security: Topics may include food, water, and energy insecurity; pandemics; climate change; disaster preparedness, prevention, and recovery; and conflict, terrorism, and cyber security. 2) Growth and Sustainable Development: Topics may include global financial stability, trade imbalances and agreements, adjustment to globalization, climate change and adaptation, and poverty and inequality. 3) Social, Scientific, and Cultural Trends and Transformations: Topics may include aging and other demographic change, the benefits and dangers of reproductive genetics, gender and social exclusion, expansion of STEM education among women and underrepresented populations, migration, rural depopulation and urbanization, impacts of automation on jobs, poverty and inequality, and community resilience. 4) Governance, Empowerment, and Participation: Topics may include challenges to democratic institutions, participatory governance, human rights, the changing role of NGO/NPOs, the rise of new media, and government roles in fostering innovation.

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Foundational Science Research Unit (FSRU) of the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) solicits new proposals for its fiscal year 2017 program of basic research in behavioral science. It is issued under the provisions of paragraph 6.102(d) (2) and 35.016 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which provides for the acquisition of basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement through the competitive selection of proposals. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA and selected for award are considered to be the result of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provisions of Public Law 98-369, Section 2701, "The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984" and subsequent amendments. The U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences is the Army's lead agency for the conduct of research, development, and analyses for the improvement of Army readiness and performance via research advances and applications of the behavioral and social sciences that address personnel, organization, training, and leader development issues.

The Misk Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aim to empower the youth and prepare them for success in the future knowledge economy. Great opportunities exist as technologies and industries advance faster than ever before. But disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, also present challenges. Industries will undergo major transformations and according to the McKinsey Global Institute, approximately half of all jobs today may be lost to automation across the developing and developed world. Moreover, major societal issues that face humanity, such as inequality and climate change, continue to spread in a complex manner. We are looking for new innovative ideas that transform teaching or school leadership to better prepare children with the 21st century skills they need to succeed in the future. Modern 21st century skills, such as problem solving, leadership, creativity, and adaptability, require a new active, student-centered system for learning. We seek ideas that better prepare teachers and school leaders to drive this new active 21st century system for learning.