Call for proposals: Cross-divisional co-taught courses

[Summary: FAS and SEAS faculty are invited to submit proposals for cross-divisional, co-taught courses that bridge the humanities and sciences, broadly defined. Courses must be taught by teams of two ladder faculty members, each from a different academic division of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering & Applied Science. Courses are to take place during the Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 academic terms. The deadline for proposals is December 11, 2023.]

To: FAS and SEAS Ladder Faculty
Cc: FAS Steering, FAS Dean’s Office, SEAS Dean’s Office

Dear colleagues,

Since 2020, in an effort to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration and curricular innovation, we have invited proposals for new co-taught Yale College courses that bring together the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

In 2022-23, we offered four courses through this initiative. These courses represented exciting collaborations that cut across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences:

• Biology of Humans through History, Science, Society - Valerie Horsley (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) and Carolyn Roberts (African American Studies)
• Electromagnetism: Physics, Magic, Religion - Paola Bertucci (History) and Alison Sweeney (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Physics)
• Law, Security, and Logic - Ruzica Piskac (Computer Science) and Scott Shapiro (Law)
• The Science and Culture of Memory - R. John Williams (English) and Sam McDougle (Psychology)

You can read faculty reflections on the experience of teaching a cross-divisional course here.
We are delighted to offer this opportunity again and we invite your proposals for co-taught undergraduate courses for the Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 terms that bring together the humanities and the sciences.

The proposed courses should be taught by teams of two ladder faculty members, each from a different academic division of the FAS or from SEAS. In exceptional cases we may consider collaborations between an FAS or SEAS faculty member and a faculty member from one of Yale’s professional schools. Proposed courses should bridge humanistic and scientific disciplines, approach topics of common interest to different disciplines in the humanities and sciences, or otherwise investigate the interface between humanistic and scientific inquiry. We broadly construe the sciences to include the biological and physical sciences, engineering, and the social sciences.

Courses are to be taught during the Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 term. Each successful team will be awarded $10,000 in research or programming funds, to be used for activities directly related to the course. These funds may be used to conduct research necessary for the development of the course, for course materials, or for costs related to guest speakers, field trips, or other programs that will enhance the educational experience of students in the course.

Course proposals should include a course description of 300 words or less, a provisional reading list, and a brief description of proposed assignments. We encourage collaborative student projects that pair students working across divisions.

Proposals are due on December 11, 2023. Proposals selected for this program will then need to be submitted to the Yale College Course of Study Committee for approval.

To apply, submit a proposal via email to fas.dean@yale.edu.

Best wishes,

Jeffrey Brock, Dean, School of Engineering & Applied Science

Tamar Szabó Gendler, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Pericles Lewis, Dean, Yale College