Space, structure, & discretionary funding

Obermann Center Working Groups provide space, structure, and discretionary funding for groups led by faculty that may include advanced graduate students, staff members, and community members with a shared intellectual interest. Groups have used this opportunity to explore new work and to share their own scholarship, to organize a symposium, and to develop grant proposals. Some groups function as workshops in which members share their work in progress or draw up a set of readings they want to undertake and discuss. Others have organized conferences, applied for grants together, written articles together, designed new courses, organized film festivals, forged relationships with community partners, invited speakers via Zoom or in person, developed podcasts, and more.

At the beginning of the academic year, we invite Working Group directors over for coffee. That’s a great time to learn from other directors what kinds of activities your group might want to try.

Working Groups:

• have one or two co-directors; one must be a UI faculty member (open to all tracks)
• must articulate a three-year plan for their group
• receive three years of funding ($500 per year) to support their activities
• attend an orientation meeting in the fall
• meet a minimum of once a month throughout the academic year
• must provide a list of participating members to the Obermann Center
• provide a report on their activities at the end of the academic year
• are invited during their third year to apply for an additional two years of funding ($1,000 per year)

Please note: Funds cannot be used for food, and they must be used by the end of the spring semester. In addition, Working Group (co-)directors may (co-)direct only one Obermann Working Group at a time.

Legacy Working Groups

Once a group convenes for 5 years, they can register to continue using the Obermann Working Group title and other resources such as space and office support, but will no longer receive funding. This helps colleagues establish solid intellectual foundations for their projects while also allowing for the creation of new groups which may otherwise not have access to our support.