Course Development Grants

The ESC is pleased to announce the availability of course developments funds to faculty working on Europe, one or more European country or the European Union.  Grants of $1,000-$4,000 are available and can be used for library research, travel, student assistance or other expenses related to the substance of the course.  All full and part time TS and NTS faculty affiliated with the Center are eligible to apply (for information about affiliation, please contact Pawel Lewicki (pawel.lewicki@pitt.edu).  with the expectation that grant recipients will have a complete syllabus and detailed course proposal to submit to the faculty member's school for approval by the start of the Fall semester.

Deadline:  February 28, 2023 11:59 pm EST 

Grants are available to support work related to:

  1. Creating a new course with substantial (more than 25%) coverage of Europe. 
  2. Significantly enhancing an existing course to introduce or expand Europe-related content.
  3. Adding a component of pre-professional advising, preparation, or experience to an existing course with significant European content.
  4. Adding or enhancing the assessment tools utilized to determine the impact of a course related to European studies.

Further information and feedback on how these dimensions might be introduced or what kinds of new courses might be eligible is available from Stephen Lund (slund@pitt.edu).

Note: There is a separate pool of funding for faculty interested in teaching a 1-credit "mini-course" or pop-up course of any format during the current or an upcoming semester. For more information about accessing these funds, please contact Pawel Lewicki (pawel.lewicki@pitt.edu).

To apply, complete the full application and load supporting materials (CV, description of the course, statement of support from your Department Chair, proposed budget) on Submittable. 

For questions about the application process, please contact Ingrid Gomez-O'Toole, Activities, Events, and Partnerships Coordinator at ing7@pitt.edu

While all proposals will be reviewed, the Center is particularly interested in courses that, in whole or in part, serve one or more of the following programmatic foci:

  • European Union, European ingegration, Europeanization, or the European project
  • Transatlantic Studies, including historical, political, economic and cultural aspects
  • Mediterranean Studies
  • Lusosphere Studies (with a strong focus on Iberia)
  • Scandinavian Studies
  • Science and Public Policy
  • Critical European Culture Studies
  • Re-imagining area and European Studies at Pitt

In addition to the funding, the Center can offer specific support for course development based on student feedback and Center priorities. Once approved, all new or enhanced courses would be added to our list of courses counting toward our undergraduate certificates, advertised and posted via our electronic and social media outlets, and passed on to departmental and school advisors.  Faculty would be responsible for insuring the incorporation of new courses into their respective department’s approved course list.

View the guidelines.

Update for 2023 funding opportunities:

Any faculty or graduate student research grant awarded  that involves travel will be contingent upon public safety recommendations by the Department of State and subject to University policy. All grantees will be subject to the requirements and procedures in place at the time of travel. Please email Pawel Lewicki, Associate Director (pawel.lewicki@pitt.edu) or Ingrid Gomez-O'Toole, Activities, Events, and Partnerships Coordinator (ing7@pitt.edu) if you have any questions.

Please also take note of the University's Standards and Guidelines