Carleton Dean of the College Beverly Nagel and St. Olaf Provost and Dean of the College Marci Sortor are pleased to announce the first ten grants through the colleges’ “Broadening the Bridge” grant project, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In this  “Exploration Round” of funding, the selection committee emphasized four priorities:

  1. Exploring curricular collaboration and efficiency;
  2. Advancing connections among departments and programs;
  3. Exploring sharing of equipment and resources; and
  4. Looking to achieve long-term impact.

The funded projects all meet these priorities, covering topics from art to atoms and activities from course planning to scholarly gatherings.  The second round of funding, to be run this fall, will seek to support projects that promise sustainable, long-term collaboration.

“Teaching Art History Collaboratively: The Gothic and the Gothic Revival,” Baird Jarman (Art and Art History, Carleton), Nancy Thompson (Art and Art History, St. Olaf) – Art historians Baird Jarman of Carleton and Nancy Thompson of St. Olaf will examine the logistics of teaching together given the two college calendars while also preparing the curriculum of a team-taught course on Gothic Art in medieval Europe and the Gothic revival in 19th-century Europe and the United States. (Summer 2014)

“Collaborative Arts Institute,” Mary Griep (Associate Dean of Fine Arts & Art, St. Olaf), Steve Richardson (Director of Arts, Carleton) – A workshop for faculty and staff to explore the design of a Collaborative Arts Institute that would take advantage of the strong Fine Arts programming and facilities of Carleton and St. Olaf. (Summer 2014)

“Greece and Rome, St. Olaf and Carleton: Bridging the Divide,” Tim Howe (History and Ancient Studies, St. Olaf), Kathryn Steed (Classics, Carleton) – This project aims to develop both a collaborative seminar on the relationships between Greece and Rome in the later Roman Republic and a model for future collaborations across the curriculum. (Summer 2014)

“Collection Database Improvement as Launching Pad for Perlman-Flaten Museum Collaboration,” Laurel Bradley (Director and Curator, Perlman Teaching Museum, Carleton), Jane Becker Nelson (Director, Flaten Art Museum, St. Olaf) – This project would improve the functionality of the museums’ art collection management web-kiosks at both campuses through shared re-design and photography projects. (Summer 2014)

“Philosophy across the river: a joint colloquium series and discussion group for faculty and students,” Daniel Groll (Philosophy, Carleton), Charles Taliaferro (Philosophy, St. Olaf), Michael Fuerstein (Philosophy, St. Olaf) – This project involves setting up a more permanent colloquium series between the philosophy departments at Carleton and St Olaf, as well as expanding the series to include events to bring philosophy majors at Carleton and St Olaf together. (academic year 2014-2015)

“Exploring opportunities for departmental resonance in physics and astronomy”, Brian Borovsky (Chair, Physics, St Olaf), Melissa Eblen-Zayas (Chair, Physics & Astronomy, Carleton) – We will explore potential opportunities for sharing laboratory equipment, expanding curricular and extracurricular opportunities, and strengthening connections between the Carleton Physics & Astronomy Department and the St Olaf Physics Department. (Summer 2014)

“Exploring Summer Research Opportunities and Course-Sharing for Neuroscience,” Julie Neiworth (Psychology/Neuroscience, Carleton), Sarah Meerts (Psychology/Neuroscience, Carleton), Jennifer Wolff (Biology/Neuroscience, Carleton), Shelly Dickinson (Psychology/Neuroscience, St. Olaf), Jay Demas (Physics/Biology/Neuroscience, St. Olaf) – A team of Carleton and St Olaf neuroscience faculty will explore labs on both campuses to discuss summer research collaborations and the possibility of co-teaching courses related to neuroscience across both campuses. (Summer 2014)

“Institute for the Study of Socio-economic Inequality,” Nathan Grawe (Economics, Carleton), Faress Bhuiyan (Economics, Carleton), Seth Binder (Economics, St. Olaf), Jenny Bourne (Economics, Carleton), Mary Carlsen (Social Work, St. Olaf), Kent Freeze (Political Science, Carleton), Ashley Hodgson (Economics, St. Olaf), Annette Nierobisz (Sociology/Anthropology, Carleton), Prathi Seneviratne (Economics, Carleton) – The Institute for the Study of Socio-economic Inequality will gather scholars working on issues of inequality to generate and highlight cutting edge research on this important issue. (Summer 2014-June 2015)

“Creating and Firing Across the Cannon: An Exploration in Collaboration for the Ceramic Arts,” Kelly Connole (Art, Carleton), Kate Fisher (Art, St. Olaf), Ron Gallas (Art, St. Olaf) – This collaborative visiting artist program provides opportunities for excellence in the making of ceramic objects and atmospheric firing education for Carleton and St Olaf students and faculty. (October 2014)

“Exploring Collaborative Education Programs,” Deborah Appleman (Educational Studies, Carleton), Maria Kelly (Education, St. Olaf) – We propose to conduct research trips to explore collaborative teacher preparation programs and to sponsor workshops for Carleton and St. Olaf education faculty to discuss further collaboration. (October 2014-May 2015)