Every year, the School of Humanities and Sciences invites proposals for the Fred L. Emerson Humanities Collaboration Award. This fall, the review committee made an award to Nethra Samarawickrema '08 for collaborative work she will undertake with Tom Kerr, associate professor of writing.
Nethra will be working with Professor Kerr during the spring semester on a project entitled "Conversations in Restorative Justice." This project will be a collaboration with Spoon Jackson, an inmate and writing teacher at New Folsom prison; Jackson's students at the prison; and students in Professor Kerr's Persuasive Argument class.
Nethra and Professor Kerr will weave together writings by all the participants to produce a non-academic essay for publication in mainstream periodicals that addresses the need for a shift to a restorative model of criminal justice in the U.S.
The Emerson Collaboration awards are granted to meritorious H&S students who are eligible for financial aid to collaborate directly with a member of the humanities faculty on a scholarly project. Such collaborations require a commitment from both parties: faculty members mentor the students as they take on major responsibility for an independent component of a scholarly project, while students devote significant time and intellectual effort to these projects as they aim to meet the high expectations of their faculty mentors. The award offers a stipend of up to $3,000 in the summer and $1,500 during the semester to enable student recipients to devote time and attention to the work required to succeed in such scholarly projects.
Proposals for projects that will take place during summer 2008 or the fall 2008 semester will be invited in spring 2008. Please direct any questions about this program to Stacia Zabusky, assistant dean (274-3102, szabusky@ithaca.edu).
More information on the Emerson Humanities Collaboration Award application process can be found at: https://www.ithaca.edu/hs/community/fundingopps/emersoncollabawards/
