Engaging Complexity Course Development Grants are available for new or returning First Year Seminar instructors interested in joining with colleagues to enhance strategies for preparing their first-year students to encounter complexity in the classroom and gain confidence in engaging in robust dialogue across differences. Successful applicants will propose innovative ways to develop the skills needed to learn from differing points of view and contribute to the open-ended exploration of ideas.

Learning Outcomes for all First Year Seminars

• Students will experience a deep dive into scholarship in a specific field/discipline, helping students understand how arguments are made and what counts as evidence in a specific field/discipline.
• Students will gain skills that enable them to engage complexity. This will include explicitly learning what it means to participate in a seminar: learning and practicing discussion skills; understanding and taking on multiple perspectives; learning and practicing critical reading skills; being exposed to the modeling of and/or being offered opportunities to participate in the evaluation of existing knowledge/scholarship and the creation of new knowledge.

Engaging Complexity Course Development Grants may include two possible components: strengthening dialogue and co-curricular activities (see below). You may apply for one or both of these components using the Qualtrics form emailed to all Fall 2026 First-Year Seminar instructors. Proposals, along with a prospectus or syllabus, are due July 31, 2026, by 5pm. We also ask that all instructors of First Year Seminars upload a prospectus or syllabus to Courses In Touch by June 20, 2026, so that first-year students can review the courses and find a good fit.

Component 1—Strengthening Dialogue

There are two Strengthening Dialogue options. 

Option 1. Faculty-to-Faculty Workshops.

($1,000 stipend): Commit to incorporating into your First Year Seminar opportunities for students to practice engaging in dialogue and to participating in three faculty workshops with fellow First Year Seminar instructors. This might include engaging in debate, recognizing multiple points of view, wrestling with questions that do not have easy answers, or addressing problems that require nuanced contemplation. 

The first faculty-faculty workshops, on syllabus design and strengthening dialogue in the classroom, will occur at the beginning of the Fall Semester and the remaining workshops will be held over the rest of the semester, chosen from a range of topics. Fall 2026 topics may include  “Structuring In-Class Activities that Are Topic-Specific and Encourage Dialogue,” “Introducing Library Resources to Help Students Gain Perspective,” “Supporting Students to Thrive during Small-Group Projects,” “Incorporating Field Trips to Expand Student Understanding of Complex Problems.”  This grant assumes that you will attend at least three faculty-faculty workshops (though you are welcome to attend more) and participate in the First-Year Seminar Showcase with other First-Year Seminars participating in the Engaging Complexity grants.

Option 2. Paired Observation.

($500 stipend as research funds.*)

First-Year Seminar Instructors who previously participated in the Engaging Complexity Faculty-to-Faculty Dialogue workshops in 2025-2026 have the option to be paired up with another FYS instructor to observe each other’s classes and then meet to exchange feedback on: What seems to be working well for fostering dialogue in your seminar? Where are you encountering challenges?

Along with assuming you will observe and be observed, this grant assumes that you will participate in an initial session to orient you to the observation exchange, a debrief session, and the First-Year Seminar Showcase with other First-Year Seminars participating in the Engaging Complexity grants.

*Staff who do not have access to research funds may arrange to receive this grant as extra pay.

Component 2—Co-Curricular Activities

(up to $1,500): Funds up to $1,500 are available for First Year Seminar faculty who wish to incorporate co-curricular activities and field trips into their courses. This grant may be used for activities and shared experiences outside the classroom that can enhance your course and help to strengthen communication and trust within your class cohort and sense of belonging at Penn. We recommend finding local activities that might include museum visits, concerts, theater shows, restaurants with closely tied themes or communities to your course, community art events, sports events, or live lectures. We ask that you limit to one guest speaker who could engage the students either on campus with a meal or as a tour guide in the community in your budget request.

Deadline: July 31, 2026, for the Fall 2026 First Year Seminars