Today I went to the inaugural meeting on the Culture, Media and Technology theme of the Kule Institute for Advanced Studies (KIAS). KIAS is a new interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Alberta set up with generous support from the Kules. The inaugural director Jerry Varsava took us through the background and activities of the institute. Some of the key features of the institute are:
- It is led by the Faculty of Arts, but supports research generally in the SSH area
- It organizes activities around themes of which there are now three including Culture, Media and Technology
- The initial activities/programmes include funding for research clusters and interdisciplinary seminars
- There is also support for external collaborations, doctoral dissertation completion fellowships and for post-doctoral fellows
The key is the cluster grants that are designed to support interdisciplinary teams.
I should mention that I am on the Administrative Board.