Faculty Support

How the BU Arts Initiative can support your faculty/academic program

The Case for Arts Integration from the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) is a tool for connecting across campus, outlining the “what,” “why,” and “how” of arts integration, including best practices.

Interdisciplinary Program Grants
Proposals are accepted every semester for projects that would engage BU students in the arts and occur in the following semester. Funding of up to $2,000 for up to half the cost of the program is available. A committee of faculty and students reviews proposals. Deadlines and proposal criteria are available on our grants page.

Arts Integration Grants
Funding of up to $500 is available for faculty who teach non-arts courses and wish to, in some way, integrate the arts into that course. Funds can be used for guest speakers, trips, or more. There is no deadline for these applications. Information and application forms can be found on our grants page.

Promotions and Marketing
The BU Arts Initiative has built a solid marketing and promotions network that includes an email list of more than 10,000 individuals combined with social media. We are more than willing to help faculty promote arts events. In order for the BU Arts Initiative to feature an event on our page and include it in the weekly email, it must be listed in the BU calendar, and tagged as an arts event. This will also automatically feed our online calendar.

Arts Based Teaching and Learning
Check out the resources listed with our colleagues at the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Faculty Driven Programming
The BU Arts Initiative regularly produces significant, multi-day, faculty driven programs, often some type of residency, designed to have maximum impact by presenting high-quality national or international artists or scholars. These programs are always designed in partnership with at least one faculty member and academic unit and programming is intentionally inclusive and interdisciplinary, directly engaging other academic units. They are expected to bring visibility to the arts at BU and provide multiple opportunities for student contact with artists. If you have an idea for a program/residency, please fill out the inquiry form and we will connect with you for a meeting.

Select outstanding programming may lead to the faculty partner being acknowledged as a Provost Faculty Arts Fellow. We also hope that these programs provide opportunities to partner with and engage organizations in the greater Boston area and offer opportunities to serve the community. These strategic programs are a great way for faculty to work with the BU Arts Initiative to present programs that highlight their unit’s teaching and research priorities. For examples check out our residencies page.

Research, Conference, and Publication
Boston University is a partner institution of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru), which fosters and champions the role of the arts and design in research universities. Underpinned by research and synthesis, the mission of a2ru is connected to knowledge and empowered leadership-to uphold and advance the arts and design in research, teaching, scholarship, and creative practice. We encourage faculty to sign up for the a2ru newsletter (scroll to the bottom of the homepage), propose sessions for the annual conferences, and submit for publication in Groundworks, a peer-reviewed platform for arts-inclusive research projects and reflection on the processes that drive interdisciplinary collaboration. As a partner institution, BU students can also attend the annual Emerging Creative Students Summit.

Special Initiatives
The BU Arts Initiative is willing to work with schools and programs to support student engagement in the arts in other creative ways. This could include program design, support, or implementation along with possible financial support.

Museum Group Tours

*Live Group Tours Currently Unavailable* When available, if you wish to take your students to any of the following museums, please review below for their policy:

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (now open): Virtual Visits for College Students are currently available. Please visit the MFA’s Events for College Faculty and Staff website for more info.
Institute of Contemporary Art (now open): Visit the ICA virtually with their on-demand programs and videos at ICA at Home.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (now open): Any group larger than 10 participants, guided and self guided, needs to be reserved with the Tours Manager by completing the University Tours Form at least 3 weeks in advance.