In 2026, the U.S. will celebrate its semiquincentennial. Many states, municipalities, and communities —including Indiana —will commemorate our national history through the venerable traditions of fireworks, parades, and marching bands and a look back to 1776. However, Ball State has the opportunity to critically explore Indiana’s own 250-year history by using its physical and intellectual resources and connections across the state to continue its role in education and civic engagement. We will work to capture, reveal, and archive the sentiments of a pivotal moment in U.S. history. We seek to do this through coursework, faculty and student research, and community service throughout 2026. Deep inquiry into Indiana’s complicated history on the national stage and the complexity of the current political moment is encouraged.
A small team of EMDD graduate students is actively developing a digital quilt that will collect and deliver stories from BSU students, faculty, and staff. The quilt will be accessible on mobile devices and computer screens through the web, as well as a giant touch screen wall in the new Center for Innovation. Interactors in any of these three spaces will be able to select and explore submitted “quilt squares” that feature text, image, audio, or video stories, designs, or research looking at the past, present, and future of Indiana and the United States.
Submissions to the quilt will be moderated for public engagement, however, no submissions will be deleted from the archive this creates, capturing the sentiments of this moment. The full, unfiltered data set will be archived with Bracken Library for study by request.
Teaching, Scholarship, and Service Proposals
To support the creation or adaptation of courses, research projects, and service initiatives that foster critical thinking and deep inquiry for this anniversary, Provost Marri has approved the following funding for each college:
- Teaching (two $1,000 prep stipends) - $2,000
- Research/Creative - $1,000
- Service - $1,000
Teaching prep stipends will go to new special topics courses or existing courses that apply the semiquincentennial as a semester-long subject of inquiry. At least one of the course assignments should result in submissions by students to the digital quilt and archive during the 2026 calendar year. It is up to the faculty member leading the course to determine the appropriate connection to the topic from their discipline, as well as the form the submitted student artifacts might take. We plan to include creative and critical writing of nearly any length, still and moving images, and audio as potential quilt squares. Objects might be research, poetry, photographs, films, music, dramaturgy, architectural designs, and more.
Research/Creative stipends will support research work linked to the past, present, and future of Indiana as it relates to the semiquincentennial. These projects must involve students as research aids or assistants, but not simply as subjects. The project artifact (publication, presentation recording, performance, display…) must be posted to the digital quilt during the 2026 calendar year.
Community service projects that demonstrate a connection to the semiquincentennial and involve students will qualify for a $1000 stipend as well. Service result artifacts (text, image, video) must be posted to the digital quilt during the 2026 calendar year.
Eligibility
Any tenure-line, contract, or adjunct faculty member teaching a course, conducting university-based scholarship, or engaging in community service projects at Ball State University during the 2026 calendar year may apply for one of the three stipends.
Proposal Submission
Please prepare and email to ktmoloney@bsu.edu on or before Sept. 1, 2025
- Cover pages that include:
a. Applicant name and contact information,
b. Which type of stipend you are seeking (teaching, scholarship, service),
c. 2026 calendar-year semester(s) in which the project will be implemented,
d. A signed statement of support from your unit chair acknowledging you have load time available for the course or project.
2. For teaching, a course proposal that (briefly) includes:
a. Course basics
i. Title of proposed course
ii. Unit and college
iii. Level (undergraduate graduate)
iv. Credit hours
v. Prerequisites (if any)
b. Instructor information
i. Name and credentials
ii. Teaching experience
iii. Subject matter expertise
iv. Past experience with similar courses
c. Course content
i. Course description (concise summary)
ii. Learning objectives/outcomes
iii. Weekly outline of topics
iv. Required and recommended readings/materials
v. Assessment methods (exams, papers, projects)
d. Pedagogical approach
i. Teaching methodologies
ii. Innovation in teaching techniques
iii. Use of technology or other resources
iv. Strategies for student engagement
v. Plans for inclusive teaching
e. Rationale and relevance
i. Alignment with goals and ethos of the IN250 project
ii. Description of high-impact practices (HIPs) or immersive learning strategies
f. Assessment plan
i. How course effectiveness will be measured
ii. Plans for refining the course based on feedback
3. For scholarship, a proposal that includes
a. Project overview
i. Title of proposed research/creative project
ii. Primary discipline and any interdisciplinary components
iii. Keywords/research areas
iv. Number of students involved (as other than human subjects)
v. Student time commitment expectations
b. Investigator information
i. Faculty collaborators/team members (if applicable)
ii. Student collaborators (required)
iii. Relevant prior work in this area
iv. Department and college
c. Project description
i. Clear statement of research question or creative vision
ii. Theoretical framework/artistic approach
iii. Methodology/creative process
iv. Timeline with specific milestones
v. Expected outcomes/deliverables
d. Student roles and responsibilities
i. Specific tasks students will perform
ii. How responsibilities will be allocated
iii. Opportunities for student leadership
iv. Faculty supervision and mentoring plan
v. Student learning objectives
e. Dissemination plan
i. Target journals/conferences for research
ii. Exhibition/performance venues for creative work
iii. Plans for public engagement
iv. Plans for student co-authorship
v. Opportunities for student presentations
vi. Student participation in community outreach
vii. Recognition of student contributions
f. Ethical considerations (as applicable)
i. Human subjects/participant involvement
ii. Environmental impact
iii. Cultural sensitivities
iv. Risk assessment
g. Evaluation criteria
i. How success will be measured
ii. Plans for critical reflection
iii. Potential challenges and contingency plans
4. For service projects, a proposal that includes
a. Project overview
i. Project title
ii. Community partner organization(s)
iii. Faculty lead and development
iv. Project duration and timeline
v. Number of students involved
b. Project description
i. Community location and need being addressed
ii. Service activities planned
iii. Specific goals and objectives
iv. Expected community impact
c. Educational components
i. Learning outcomes for students
ii. Connection to academic curriculum or Beneficence themes
iii. Reflection activities planned
iv. Plan for student submission of content to the digital quilt
v. Student role in project design
vi. Assessment of student learning
d. Partnership details
i. Description of community partner(s)
ii. History of relationship (if applicable)
iii. Partner's role in project design
iv. Communication plan with partners
e. Project implementation (as applicable)
i. Student recruitment strategy
ii. Training requirements for participants
iii. Safety considerations
iv. Transportation logistics
v. Supervision structure
f. Resources needed
i. Faculty time commitment
ii. University resources required
iii. Community resources leveraged
g. Sustainability and continuity
i. Knowledge transfer strategy
ii. Documentation methods
h. Evaluation framework
i. Metrics for measuring community impact
ii. Methods for gathering feedback
iii. Plan for sharing outcomes
iv. Strategy for addressing challenges
Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated shortly after the submission deadline by the university Creative Teaching Committee, which is composed of one voting member per college. Awardees will be notified shortly after.
Quilt Submissions
Courses or projects not funded with one of these stipends are encouraged to continue, and the IN250 project will work with you to include your and your students’ works in the archive. Submissions to the quilt will be open to anyone with a BSU login. Due to the incredible array of submission possibilities, submission will be limited to text, common image formats such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF, videos files such as MOV and MP4, and audio files such as MP3. Games and other interactive media are encouraged, but will need to be rendered as video files demonstrating the game play. Links to external sites will not be possible as they are not archivable.
If you have any questions, contact:
Kevin Moloney, Associate Professor
Center for Emerging Media Design and Development
ktmoloney@bsu.edu
765-285-8692