The Renaissance Society of America has issued a call for proposals for its RSA High School Teaching Grants.

High school teachers are invited to submit innovative teaching projects in the field of Renaissance Studies for consideration for these grants, which offer a monetary grant and travel expenses to the next RSA conference.

Northern Illinois University graduates who are serving as high school teachers in Illinois should feel free to contact me via email at bsandberg@niu.edu to coordinate on their teaching projects in Renaissance Studies.

Here is the call for proposals from the Renaissance Society of America:

We are pleased to announce that the Committee on Renaissance Studies for High School Students is once again calling for proposals for innovative teaching projects in Renaissance studies by RSA members who are high school teachers.

In 2019, the RSA Board of Directors formed an interdisciplinary committee made up of members who all have experience teaching at the secondary level. The members of this committee include Susan Forscher Weiss (Professor Emerita, Modern Languages and Musicology, Johns Hopkins University), Lorenzo Buonanno (Assistant Professor of Art, University of Massachusetts, Boston), Monica Calabritto (Associate Professor of Italian, Hunter College/CUNY), and Lawrence Rhu (Professor Emeritus of English, University of South Carolina).

These innovative teaching projects might include, but are not limited to, such activities as attending a theatrical or musical performance, bringing visiting specialists to the school to work with students, studying early modern art objects in a museum or texts at a collection of manuscripts or rare books. Whatever the proposed project, there is an expectation that it would result in work done by the students that could be shared in some form on the RSA website to serve as a model for other teachers and students. We would also expect that the teachers leading these projects would present an account of their experience at the RSA Annual Meeting in Chicago in March 2024 or Boston in March 2025 (conference travel and lodging expenses will be covered for grant winners).

Our membership is committed to ensuring the future of the society and one of the ways we are doing that, thanks to the contributions of a generous donor and numerous RSA members, is by promoting the study of the Renaissance among the next generation of students. We will award two grants this year, each of approximately $2500 (plus travel expenses to the RSA conference). Do spread the word among your colleagues and friends who are secondary school teachers, and please feel free to e-mail us at rsa@rsa.org with any questions you may have or with ideas about how to promote Renaissance studies in the schools.

Please click on this link to access the application, which will be due on June 22. The winners will be announced on July 17, and their projects will take place during the 2023–24 academic year.