HEAR US 2025

2025 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

HEAR US (Honoring, Elevating, and Recapitalizing Underrepresented Stories) is a mentorship program celebrating and advancing student projects that center marginalized voices and stories. In academic year 2024-25, HEAR US continues to embody Tisch’s IDBEA values by mentoring and funding students who are dedicated to combating systemic marginalization in the creation and leadership of artistic and scholarly works.

The HEAR US awards are designed to catalyze a long-term cultural shift by providing one-on-one mentorship for any proposal advancing through the first of two rounds of review, and supporting projects at all phases of completion (with grants from $100 - $7,500). Mentors will help project leads finalize their budgets, navigate the presentation process, explore issues of representation, and amplify their voices through counsel and community.

Eligibility

All current Tisch graduate and undergraduate students who are making creative and/or scholarly works centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are encouraged to apply. Students graduating in Spring 2025 are welcome to apply, but should note that mandatory cohort commitments will extend through October 2025. 

Project leads must attend an information session prior to submitting their proposal and may only submit one project proposal per award round. If you are unable to attend either of the scheduled information sessions please email us at tisch.HEARUS@nyu.edu.

Successful proposals will:

• Foreground BIPOC voices and/or BIPOC narratives through creative and/or scholarly works FROM ALL DISCIPLINES that center BIPOC experiences. For example: scores, scripts, scholarship, songs, chapters, installations, dances, plays, prototypes, photographs, performances, games, research, films, exhibits, are all eligible.

• Offer an expansive view of BIPOC representation, challenging stereotypes and familiar tropes. (Panelists will be required to consider equally proposals reflecting the breadth of human experience.)

• Consider the impact of mentorship on the trajectory of the project.

• Provide a plan for completion of the proposed activity within the grant period (*Note: Your project, in its full expression, may exceed the capacity of HEAR US funding and/or the grant period – in which case, “proposed activity” refers to the work you’ll be doing with HEAR US funding during the grant period February - October 2024.)  

• Be submitted via Google Form by Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 11:59 PM (anywhere in the world!)

Google Form will require:

• A brief description of what you seek to gain from a mentorship experience, and how you imagine mentorship impacting your project.

• A description of your proposed activity and envisioned project trajectory.

• A description of how funding will be used to advance your project.

• Answers to multiple choice questions meant to assess your project’s current phase of development. (Based on your answers, your project will be eligible for either a Concept Grant or Completion Grant. Grant tiers ensure that projects in similar phases of development are judged fairly against one another and project leads are provided phase-appropriate mentorship. Grant tiers do not determine grant amounts.) 

• Questions based on grant tier:

  • Concept Grants (projects in their initial to mid phases of development)

    • A clear description of the project and its possible trajectory as envisioned by the project lead. 

    • Short bio of the project lead (and creative team if applicable).

  • Completion Grants (projects in their mid to final phases of development)

    • Details about your progress to date and previously secured project resources.

    • A description of the completed project as envisioned by the project lead/creative team and who/what is needed to realize that vision.

    • Short bios of the project lead/creative team.

• A short work sample suitable for a 2-3 minute panelist review (ex: 1-2 pages of written work, 3-5 slides of still imagery, or up to 2 minutes of video, audio, or other digital material, etc.). For Completion Grants, work samples should be from the proposed project.

Please Note: HEAR US awards consist of a multi-step review process.

• First-round proposals will be reviewed between November 19 - 25th by a panel of artists and scholars whose works demonstrate inclusionary practices.

• The second-round review will consist of a presentation to the panel between January 8 - 15th.

• Advancing project leads will be assigned a presentation mentor prior to presenting their proposal and are expected to meet virtually with their assigned mentor prior to the presentation date.

• Grants from $100 - $7,500 will be awarded based on project budgets submitted by advancing project leads in consultation with their mentors.

• Pitches/presentations should be no more than three minutes.

• Presentations may be followed by up to three minutes of panelist questions.

2025 TIMELINE

Dates are subject to change. 

Questions? Email us at tisch.HEARUS@nyu.edu

Learn more about previous HEAR US cohorts here.

To make a charitable gift directly in support of HEAR US, click here and select "Tisch Initiatives" and then "HEAR US Awards" from the dropdown menu. If you would like to make a gift in support of a fund not included on this list, please contact tisch.research@nyu.edu