Workshops FAQs
Welcome to the Advanced Studies Workshops FAQ. Here you'll find answers to the most common questions about our workshops. If you don't see your question answered below, our team is happy to help, so feel free to reach out.
In 1982, the University of Chicago pioneered a new dimension in graduate education: interdisciplinary workshops that bring together students and faculty in the Divinity School, Humanities Division, and the Social Sciences Division for ongoing and collaborative exchange of ideas around particular areas of interest. By providing graduate students with a forum for presenting their research and writing, workshops have become an integral part of the UChicago graduate education experience and have been widely replicated at other universities. They facilitate the dissertation-writing process, encourage rigorous engagement with participants' own and one another's work through discussion, debate, evaluation, and critical feedback, and foster vibrant intellectual communities where graduate students and faculty develop lasting scholarly relationships. In addition to regularly scheduled seminar-style meetings, workshops may organize reading groups, exhibition visits, film or concert screenings, fieldwork activities, conferences, and other collaborative events.
The new Advanced Studies Workshops (ASW) program, administered by faculty representatives from the Divinity School, the Division of the Humanities, and the Division of the Social Sciences through the Workshop Review Committee, supersedes the previous CAS workshop system and represents a more programmatic approach that supports multi-year workshop offerings. The new system is designed to invest in a vital, research-forward workshop community while providing workshops with greater flexibility in how they are structured and organized.
The ASW program allows for more varied approaches to how workshops are structured, funded, and organized. Workshops may request funding for up to three years, and funding amounts are no longer set at a predetermined level. The new system also removes some of the previous requirements, allowing workshops to develop their programming and activities in ways that best serve their intellectual goals.
The new workshop system uses a competitive application process. Workshops are proposed by faculty sponsors in collaboration with a graduate student coordinator, who complete a form and submit a proposal outlining the workshop's purpose, graduate student participation, planned activities, and proposed budget. The application process is announcedat the beginning of the winter quarter, with the application deadline at the start of the spring quarter. Funding decisions are made and announced before the end of the spring quarter.
Workshop participation varies by workshop. Depending on the workshop's focus and format, participants may include graduate students, faculty, postdoctoral scholars, visiting scholars, and invited guests from UChicago or other institutions. Individual workshop listings should indicate whether meetings are open to the broader University community or intended for a more specific group.
Student coordinators help support the day-to-day administration of workshops. Responsibilities include taking and submitting attendance, helping schedule workshop activities, keeping website information up to date, and performing other administrative tasks as needed.
Workshop travel and reimbursement must follow University travel and reimbursement policies. See the University’s Travel & Expenses resources for general guidelines and useful information: Travel & Expenses | University of Chicago
Yes. Applications must include a proposed budget, and clear justification of the requested budget is an important consideration in the review process. A budget template will be provided along with the application form.
There is no carryover of unused workshop funds between academic years. Unused funds will be removed at the end of the applicable funding period. Workshops are encouraged to plan budgets carefully and use annual funding for activities included in their approved proposal.
Yes. Workshops are encouraged to seek outside funding and grants.
If a workshop would like to seek additional funding during the current award period, it may submit a new application during the next submission cycle. However, if the workshop is not approved for the next cycle at the requested amount, it must forfeit any funds remaining from the initial award. For example, if a workshop with 2 years of funding applies for additional funding at the end of its first year and is not approved, it must forfeit its second year of funding.
No. Renewal is not automatic or guaranteed. Workshops must go through the same competitive application process when applying for a new funding period.
Workshops seeking renewal must follow applicable reporting requirements and submit required materials through the regular application process. Evidence of faculty and student participation, timely reporting, and maintenance of the workshop’s page on the ASW website are required and will be taken into careful consideration by the review committee.
No. Funding is not guaranteed to remain at the same level. The program intends to provide greater support to workshops with a demonstrated record of success and invest in successful workshops on the basis of performance.
An application form will be sent out to faculty and graduate students during the winter quarter. We will share the questions ahead of time.
Workshop Review Committee evaluates workshop applications based on the following criteria:
- Faculty engagement
- Graduate student intellectual and professional development/ research excellence
- Intellectual merit
- Distinctiveness
-Opportunity for exploration
In addition to these criteria, the committee considers evidence of demand and engagement beyond attendance, as well as the clarity and justification of the proposed budget. Together, these considerations help the committee assess the intellectual value, student benefit, and overall strength of each proposed workshop and inform funding decisions.
Workshops are encouraged to reapply during the next application cycle. Applications will be evaluated according to the applicable requirements and criteria.
Workshops must have at least two faculty sponsors and at least one graduate student coordinator.
No. Faculty sponsors may not sponsor more than one workshop at a time, even if you have more than two faculty sponsors.
Faculty sponsors should aspire to 100% attendance and are expected to actively support the workshop's intellectual activities and graduate student participation.
Yes, but the committee must be notified of the change.
Workshops should provide a quarterly accounting of spending, including what funds were spent on and the amount spent in each category. We will provide more information on this soon.
Yes. Workshops are expected to maintain current website information and post workshop events and activities on the centralized Workshops website.
No. The centralized ASW website does not replace individual workshop websites. Please continue to maintain and use your workshop’s existing website for workshop-specific information and resources.
Funded workshops are expected to maintain active programming, demonstrate meaningful faculty and graduate student engagement, manage funds in accordance with University requirements, provide required financial and programmatic reporting, and keep workshop and event information current on the centralized website.