Liberal Arts Career Enhancement Award

Art, language, and story shape how we understand the world . The Liberal Arts Career Enhancement Award invests in faculty whose work deepens that understanding. The program supports scholars, artists, and humanists expanding the reach of cultural inquiry through research, writing, creative practice, and public engagement.

This program recognizes that ideas can change systems and that humanities research is foundational to how we imagine the future.

Purpose

The Liberal Arts Career Enhancement Award celebrates scholarship that informs, challenges, and transforms. It supports projects that illuminate human experience, bridge disciplines, and amplify public impact.

Vision

• Support faculty advancing new approaches to humanistic and creative research.
• Build pathways from academic inquiry to public dialogue.
• Strengthen competitiveness for external humanities and arts funding.
• Elevate UTEP’s presence in national conversations on culture and equity.

Crafted for Influence

• Award Amount: Varies by cycle
• Eligibility: Full-time faculty in the College of Liberal Arts
• Apply via: InfoReady

Proposal Development Path

Faculty funded through this program participate in R&I-led sessions on:

• Essential Grantseeking Skills
• Navigating PIVOT for Strategic Funding Searches
• Building Competitive Proposals with Research Development, and Sponsored Projects Services

The goal is not only to fund a project, but to prepare each faculty member for external submission and long-term visibility.

Selection Priorities

Reviewers look for:

• Contribution to Knowledge and Culture. Enriches understanding of human experience, social systems, or creative expression.
• Originality and Voice. The clarity, craft, and distinctiveness of the proposed scholarship, artistic vision, or interpretive framework.
• A clear, achievable plan for research, writing, performance, or creative production within the funding period.
• Public and Disciplinary Impact. Potential for dissemination beyond UTEP, through publications, exhibitions, performances, digital media, or community engagement.
• Preparation for External Funding. Evidence that the project will position the applicant to pursue external funding from a federal or foundation sponsor.

Annual Cycle

The Liberal Arts Career Enhancement Award opens in late fall. Applications are due mid-spring, with awards announced and funding released in late spring. Awards are announced, and funding is released in late spring. Each project runs for one year and concludes with a report that documents outcomes, data generated, partnerships formed, publications submitted, and planned external proposals. These reports become part of UTEP’s collective story of discovery and competitiveness.

The Humanities at Work
(Coming soon: featured faculty projects that brought new voices, exhibitions, and publications into the national spotlight.)