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Applications should be submitted on behalf of programs or departments of Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Literature, Sociology, Anthropology or other related disciplines, with significant enough faculty and student resources to support the advent or further cultivation of the study of secular Jewish history and cultures. Grants will not be awarded to support existing courses in Jewish culture and civilization, but grants may be considered when such courses are to be extended specifically to cover secular and cultural Jewish thought and history. The courses must be broadly conceived and the combination of courses should not be limited to one national experience. In order to encourage enrollment by the largest number of students, the courses should not have a language requirement. Courses on antisemitism or the Holocaust are not included in this grant. To be eligible for the Posen Foundation Grants, the primary course must focus specifically on secular Jewish history and cultures.

Applications in the form of a letter or proposal should include seven (7) sets of the following:

1. Curriculum vitae of faculty being proposed to teach such courses
2. Sample syllabi for at least three different courses in secular Judaism or Jewish secularism, including an interdisciplinary “core” or primary course of the proposal. Peripheral courses need to explicitly examine themes of secularism and secularization, not just secular topics.
3. Statement describing how the study of secular Jewish history might be integrated into existing program and major requirements.
4. Brief history of the program or department and current and past offerings, including number of faculty, majors, and students taught.
5. Detailed budget for the proposal. The budget may not allow for overhead or indirect costs.
6. Timetable for implementation
7. Information sheet with your name, mailing address, telephone number, email, name of institution and title and chair of department in which the courses would be implemented.
8. The grant request must include the signature in support of the application by the appropriate authorities permitted to institute curricula change within the institution.

Interim reports and evaluation will be required.

The deadline for all grant proposals for the 2009-2010 Posen Project for the study of secular Jewish history and cultures is November, 2008.

Direct inquiries to: The Center for Cultural Judaism, 80 Eighth Avenue, Suite 206, New York, NY 10011. Tel: 212-564-6711; Fax: 212-564-6721. Email myrna@culturaljudaism.org

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