Burch Faculty Proposals

Faculty interested in leading a Burch Field Research Seminar are invited to submit proposals outlining the program, including the courses that students will take and the "hands-on" experience in which they will be engaged. Since these seminars typically require extensive planning, proposals must be submitted a minimum of 18 months in advance of the scheduled launch date. Proposals are reviewed by the Burch Field Research Seminars Faculty Advisory Board, which recommends four to five seminars each year to the Director of Burch Programs and Honors Study Abroad and the Associate Dean for Honors.

A number of successful models have been used to deliver the "hands-on" experience of the Burch Field Research Seminars, and new models are always welcomed. Proven models include:

1. Data Collection and Analysis. Students work as research assistants on a faculty-led project. Experience has shown that archival work has been less successful than engaging students in the site where the seminar is located. For instance, a Burch seminar in the Eastern Sierras involved students in collecting and analyzing soil samples for evidence of climactic change and seismic activity. Another in Beijing sent students into public spaces around the city to collect material on Chinese popular culture.
   
   
2. Internships. Students work with business, non-governmental organizations, or governmental agencies. In Burch Seminars in Washington and Cape Town, students have worked in policy institutes and social welfare agencies, as well as for newspapers, hospitals, and schools. A future Burch seminar in New York will place students in internships associated with the theater world.
   
   
3. Unique Observation and Experience. Students are invited to observe and experience first-hand unfolding world events. In a Burch seminar in Vienna, students sat in on parliamentary sessions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and took a fourteen-day trip to Bosnia, where they met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office of High Representative (OHR), and representatives of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) and OSCE.
   
   
4. Documentary Projects. Students investigate and document the history or culture of the field site. In Prague, students joined Czech academicians in recording the life experiences of émigrés who returned from years of exile after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Another Burch seminar in Ghana will involve students in recording Ghanaians' memories of Kwame Nkruhmah.
   
   
5. Performance. Students are provided a special opportunity to engage in an artistic endeavor. A recent Burch seminar in Prague created a unique Czech-American wind ensemble with students from Carolina and the Prague Conservatory. The students rehearsed together throughout the semester, studied privately with members of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed concerts in Prague, Budapest, and Vienna.

Burch Field Research Seminars ordinarily provide 12 hours of academic credit in a mix of independent study and formal course work.

Proposals should include a budget that, where appropriate, addresses the following costs:

• Fixed Costs
  • Part-Time Faculty Salaries (Not yours)
  • Honoraria
  • Administrative Costs at Host Institution(s)
  • Faculty Travel (and your family’s if applicable)
  • Faculty Housing
  • Faculty Excursions
  • Faculty Computer Access
  • RA Salary (if applicable)
  • RA Housing
  • RA Computer Access
  • RA Excursions
  • Equipment (if appropriate)
    
    
• Variable Costs
  • Housing
  • Food
  • Insurance
  • Computer Access
  • Excursions
  • Public Transportation

Proposals should also include a c.v. and a letter from the faculty member's department chair endorsing the project.

For additional information, or to discuss ideas for a seminar proposal, please contact Dr. Jim Leloudis, Associate Dean for Honors: 966-5110 or leloudis@email.unc.edu.