Now accepting applications for Academic Year 2026-2027.
Description
UTSA Special Collections Faculty Teaching in the Archives (FTIA) Grants are aimed at instructors who wish to enhance or create undergraduate or graduate courses using unique materials from Special Collections. These grants support the development of innovative primary source assignments and projects for students.
UTSA’s manuscript and rare book collections are well suited for teaching evidence-based research methods, public history, book studies (broadly defined), or material culture in a variety of subject areas and topics.
Our strengths include Latinx/Texas history and literature, Mexican culinary history, Chicano studies, women and gender studies, urban development, as well as book arts, printing, architecture, and photography documenting the region. Additionally, the University Archives provide a rich source of faculty and staff papers, UTSA photograph collections, and UTSA institutional history.
Eligibility
The grants are open to UTSA tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure track faculty teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at any level. Interdisciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged.
Applicants must consult with the Special Collections librarian prior to applying in order to identify materials relevant to course topics.
Types of Awards
FTIA Micro-grants: Supports development of primary source assignments and projects that use course appropriate material from Special Collections’ holdings. $1,000 award. Funds can be used for professional memberships, workshops, research, conferences, and similar activities. The recipient must work with the Libraries and Museums’ Business Service Center to process the approved expenses. Courses must be taught in academic year 2026-2027 (Fall 2026, Spring 2027, or Summer 2027) and the funds must be utilized by the end of the 2026-2027 academic year.
Diana Kennedy Foundation FTIA grants (DKF FTIA): Generously funded by the Diana Kennedy Foundation, this grant supports development of primary source assignments and projects that utilize Diana Kennedy’s papers or working library and integrate the core values championed by her:
- Cultural preservation through responsible documentation
- Profound respect for Indigenous knowledge
- Environmental stewardship rooted in sustainability and ecological responsibility
- Fair treatment, education and empowerment for women and children
- Culinary integrity grounded in tradition, regional identity and authenticity
- Education and research to deepen public understanding of traditional foodways
$5,000 stipend. Funds will be processed as supplemental income at the conclusion of the semester in which the course is taught. Courses must be taught in academic year 2026-2027 (Fall 2026, Spring 2027, or Summer 2027).
Selection Criteria
Successful proposals will demonstrate how students will benefit from the opportunity to select, analyze, and use primary sources to learn and create new knowledge. Proposals will be evaluated for:
- Feasibility: Is the project realistic in terms of what can be accomplished? Does the proposal clearly communicate the project’s central goals, learning objectives, and approaches?
- Depth of integration:
- For FTIA Micro-grant: To what extent will Special Collections materials be integrated throughout the course?
- For DKF FTIA: To what extent will Diana Kennedy’s collections be integrated throughout the course? Additionally, to what extent does the project integrate the core values championed by Diana Kennedy?
- Innovative pedagogy: Does the project employ well designed practices or approaches that are either new to the instructor, course, or department or new to the application of those practices? If so, how do these novel approaches facilitate student learning?
- Partnership building: Does the instructor-librarian/archivist collaboration help to build or strengthen connections between the academic program and the Libraries? What is the extent and the nature of the collaboration between the instructor and the librarian?
To Apply
FTIA Micro‑grant applicants must consult with the Special Collections librarian before submitting an application to confirm that relevant materials are available to support their course topics.
DKF FTIA applicants must review the Diana Kennedy papers finding aid and catalog of her working library so they can clearly articulate how and to what extent the collection will be incorporated into their course.
To apply, submit a 2 to 3-page proposal narrative and an endorsement letter from the Department Chair to isis.brockman@utsa.edu.
All applications and Department Chair endorsements are due by 11:59 p.m. on May 15th, 2026. UT San Antonio Special Collections will notify applicants of its decision by end of June 2026.