Who is eligible to apply?
Junior and Senior level Undergraduate Students and all Graduate Students across NYU who are making creative works on the intersection of technology, the climate emergency, and equity are welcome to apply.
ABOUT
Photo by Patrick Perkins
At the dawn of the new 20s, we are seeing a major shift in public perception around issues of equity and the climate emergency, paired with the reckoning that traditional ways of approaching these kinds of issues have led to failure. There is vast potential to shape not just policy interventions, but to help birth new and more equitable ways of knowing what the issues are, where they come from, and how they can be addressed.
We need a new public pedagogy to combine technology, the arts, critical thinking and activism to address the intractable social problems that are entangled with both the rise of technology and the climate emergency. Artistic imagination and creative ways of learning and knowing are crucial for avoiding the binary traps of techno-optimism or -skepticism which so often lead to paralysis.
A public pedagogy is an emerging assemblage of forms, processes, and sites of education and learning that occur beyond formal educational practices. This assemblage often brings into focus cultural, artistic, performative, critical, and activist pedagogical approaches to learning in the public sphere. A public pedagogy also sets out to redefine education by exploring posthuman reconceptualizations of pedagogy that push beyond anthropocentric modes of performative rationality, binarism and colonialism.
The *This Is Not A Drill* program on technology, the climate emergency, equity, and creative practice collaboratively develops such a public pedagogy. It is led by Director and inaugural FIC Fellow Mona Sloane and explores what Arturo Escobar has called “designs for the pluriverse”: designs that account for the pluralities of being, that dismantle the harmful hierarchies that were created between human/non-human and culture/nature, and that reorient us towards sustainment, maintenance and care for each other and for the planet.
Each year, the *This Is Not A Drill* program convenes five NYU faculty fellows and five to ten NYU student fellows. Faculty fellows receive a $10,000 reimbursable research stipend to develop their *This Is Not A Drill* project. They convene regularly as the *This Is Not A Drill* working group. Student fellows receive a $1,000 reimbursable research stipend to work on their project over the summer. All fellows exhibit their work at the annual *This Is Not A Drill* exhibition.
GET INVOLVED
If you are interested in learning more about *This Is Not A Drill* and hear about *TINAD* Team, exhibition news, the student competition, and the fellows’ projects, you can sign-up to the *This Is Not A Drill* Google Group here.
If you are a student interested in applying, check if the student applications are open (typically Spring semester). If you are a faculty member interested in applying, check if the faculty applications are open (typically in the Summer semester).
SELECTION COMMITTEE
The *This Is Not A Drill* program has a rigorous and equitable selection process. To date, the following artists, activists, scholars, and technologist have served on a *This Is Not A Drill* selection committee:
How many fellowships are awarded?
Each year five to ten fellowships at $1,000 are awarded to students.
Can I apply in a group or do I have to apply alone?
Students are welcome to apply as a collective. However, the fellowship amount will stay the same as it is awarded per project.
What goes into the application?
The components of the application are: project title, project description, exhibition vision, timeline, budget, environmental impact assessment, project management experience, collaborators, a proposed call to action, envisioned learnings, and any work samples you wish to include. Applications are due by April 4, 2022 @ 11:59 PM anywhere in the world.
What are the characteristics of a *This Is Not A Drill* student project?
A *This Is Not A Drill* student project: is an artistic project that focuses on the intersection of technology, equity, and the climate emergency; must be executable over the course of 3-4 months; must culminate in a format suitable for exhibition; and must be shown at the annual *This Is Not A Drill* exhibition in the fall.
How long does the student fellowship run?
Fellowships will be announced by the end of May and run through summer ‘22. The exhibition will take place in September ‘22.
What do I have to do as part of the fellowship?
You have to complete the work outlined in your project proposal within the giving time and budget restrictions. You have to keep your project on track and ensure you are compliant with university policy pertaining to permissible expenses. You have to check in regularly with the *This Is Not A Drill* faculty fellows about your project. You have to produce exhibitable work for the exhibition and participate in the mounting of your work.
How do I access the funds?
Unless otherwise noted, funds are disbursed on a reimbursement basis. All expenses are subject to University and TSOA spending policies. Reimbursement for items purchased with personal funds must be approved prior to purchase.
What expenses are permissible?
All expenses must be related to advancing your research on technology, the climate emergency, equity, and creative practice; and showcasing your project at the exhibition. Fellows must take into consideration a product’s life cycle and environmentally safe disposal prior to purchases, and choose eco-friendly options wherever possible (more information on Green Procurement here).
What is the timeline?
Applications are due by April 4, 2022 @ 11:59 PM anywhere in the world. Successful applicants will be notified in May and will then have the summer to complete their project. All receipts must be submitted by mid August, and projects must be ready to be mounted in early September.
Who is eligible to apply?
Any NYU US-based full time faculty member eligible for PI/PD status is eligible to apply. This includes Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty, Continuing Contract Faculty and Honorific Research Faculty (ie, employees who also hold faculty titles such as Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, etc.). Professional Research Personnel (ie, employees with professional research titles such as Assistant Research Scientist, Associate Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist, etc.) are also eligible. Adjunct, emeriti and retired faculty are not eligible to apply.
I work in a collective, do I have to apply alone or can I apply with my group?
You are welcome to pitch collaborative work, but only one eligible person can apply and is then expected to participate in the working group.
What does the selection process look like?
A selection committee comprised of non-NYU experts in the arts, climate activism, and technology will carefully review the application materials and select the cohort in a selection meeting.
Can I get course buy-out through the reimbursable research fund?
No.
Can I pay contractors outside of NYU with the reimbursable research fund?
Yes, you can. They have to be registered in NYU iBuy.
How can I access the reimbursable research fund?
Funds will be accessible via reimbursements for research-related expenses (subject to University spending policies) through your department.
What expenses are permissible?
All expenses must be related to advancing your research on technology, the climate emergency, equity, and creative practice; running your project over the course of the year and showcasing it at the exhibition. All reimbursements are subject to university and TSOA reimbursement policies.
Do I have to show my project at the final exhibition?
Yes.
How often will the working group meetings take place?
Working group meetings will take place once a month.
Can I attend the working group meetings virtually?
The working group will meet in person. If you cannot attend the meeting in person for any reason, you can join virtually. You are expected to attend the opening of the exhibition in person.
What is the work that is expected of me?
Working group members will develop their respective projects for the final exhibition; participate in monthly working group meetings (including presenting progress updates; providing feedback on group members' projects; inviting and/or being in conversation with invited guest speakers, etc.); running a student competition for their related projects and mentoring awardees; assisting in the planning and execution of the final exhibition; and helping to build community at NYU focused on art, technology, equity, and the climate emergency.