Application deadline: March 10, 2025

Call for Proposals: Affiliate Fellows (2025-28)

University Honors invites University of Maryland faculty of all ranks and disciplines to indicate their interest in becoming an Affiliate Faculty Fellow for 2025-28. 

After reviewing the information below, please indicate your interest by completing this online proposal form and sharing it with Christine Jones (Associate Director, Academic & Faculty Affairs, cjones46@umd.edu) by Monday, March 10, 2025.

Every year, University Honors introduces into its curriculum four new themes of contemporary and enduring significance. These themes are addressed through “clusters” of courses offered over a period of two academic years. Each course in a cluster engages the theme from a different disciplinary perspective. 

Each cluster features a Lead Fellow, who sets the cluster theme and teaches an I-series lecture course; an early-career Collegiate Fellow, who teaches across the University Honors curriculum; and one or two Affiliate Fellows, who offer small seminars (1-2 sections per year) taught from a complementary disciplinary perspective.  

Those whose seminars are selected will be named Affiliate Fellows in University Honors for 2025-28. We especially invite those faculty to apply who wish to address the theme in an innovative way and/or from a discipline not traditionally associated with this thematic area.

Affiliate Fellows can anticipate participating collaboratively in some preparatory course-building and cluster promotion during late-Spring 2025 through Spring 2026, and to offer their seminar once or twice per academic year during 2026-27 and 2027-28. During this time, Affiliate Fellows will receive financial and administrative support, as detailed below.

All courses are taught as part of faculty members’ regular teaching loads.

Cluster Themes

Seen & Unseen

Lead Fellows: Susan Moeller & Jodi McFarland Friedman (Journalism)

Justice & Trouble

Lead Fellow: Brian Gilmore (MPower Undergraduate Law Programs)

Encoding & Decoding

Lead Fellow: Juan Uriagereka (Linguistics and Spanish)

Craft & Technology

Lead Fellow: Matthew McLaughlin (Art)
Eligibility and Terms
  • UMD faculty members from all academic disciplines are eligible to serve as Affiliate Fellows in University Honors. This includes TTK faculty and PTK faculty. Faculty members may propose to teach once or twice per academic year during the cluster’s two-year run  in the Affiliate Fellow role.
  • All courses are taught as part of faculty members’ regular teaching loads.
  • Courses developed by Affiliate Fellows are offered exclusively through University Honors until the conclusion of the cluster’s two-year run, after which time they may be offered through the Fellow’s home department.
Incentive Compensation
  • $5,000 stipend (if teaching 2 seminar sections in each of 2026-27 and 2027-28) or $2,500 stipend (if teaching 1 seminar section in each of 2026-27 and 2027-28) for (a) course development/update, (b) cluster promotion, and (c) instruction.
  • Stipends are distributed via payroll unless a direct KFS transfer is requested.
Campus Recognition
  • Campus-wide visibility through UMD, Honors College, and UH media
  • University Honors Fellow plaque
  • Eligible for University Honors faculty awards and recognition
Support and Assistance
  • Curricular-enrichment budget for field trips, visiting speakers, etc.
  • UH Staff support (e.g., course and GenEd proposals, scheduling, enrichment logistics)
Timeline
  • Summer 2025: course idea development and GenEd exploration
  • Fall 2025: course creation and collaborative theme refinement; prepare course proposal and submit for GenEd approval
  • Spring 2026: cluster publicity
  • Fall 2026 and/or Spring 2027: teach 1 or 2 sections of seminar  
  • Fall 2027 and/or Spring 2028: teach 1 or 2 sections of seminar
Student Engagement
  • Opportunity to mentor and recruit potential majors/minors
  • Co-curricular involvement with student-facing programming
Our Community

University Honors is a living-learning program guided by the beliefs that depth of insight requires breadth of vision, that conscientious specialization requires multidisciplinary dexterity, and that meaningful impact requires collaborative engagement. And so, our community of students, faculty, and staff pursue these aims while cultivating an environment that is safe and inclusive as well as inspiring and creative.

Questions

Please direct questions to Dr. Christine Jones (Associate Director, Academic & Faculty Affairs, at cjones46@umd.edu).

How to Apply

Please copy and share the proposal form with Christine Jones (cjones46@umd.edu) by March 10, 2025.