Advice on grant writing, from Dr. Laure Astourian (Part II)

How did that opportunity come about? What did you learn from that experience?

Scholars rarely get to ask colleagues these questions. Everyone is too busy - bustling from projects to deadlines. That’s why I run the Scholar Voices series: to slow down and learn from others.

As part of the series, I’m delighted to share part II of my interview with Dr. Laure Astourian, a scholar of French and Francophone film history. Laure is an Associate Professor at Bentley University, a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, and the author of The Ethnographic Optic. Here’s her grant writing advice below.

~~~Part II of an Interview with Dr. Laure Astourian~~~

• People outside of your field can be interested in your work. You may feel like, "If someone works on film, they're going to go for the film grant. Or if someone is a neuroscientist, they're going to support the neuroscientist.” And that's not the case for me. I would not fault the person who's in my field, but I can very happily be convinced by a proposal on a totally different topic, if it's well done. That's part of the point - communicating your ideas on a niche topic and making it enticing to a broader audience. That's one of the goals of scholarship.
• Applying for and reapplying for grants is helpful. You get to think through your ideas. When you reapply, you see your progress—you have more research, more information. It also forces you to address feedback.
• Apply for small grants and internal grants. If something seems like a good fit, it's worth a try. The smaller grants can help practically with travel or research. Smaller grants can also help you get bigger grants. Moreover, material you've written for an internal grant can be built upon for a bigger grant. But the reverse is also true. If you write a big proposal that does not get funded, you may be able to break it into smaller proposals. Applying generates material for your projects.
• Think about the seasons of your career. Think about what you need personally and in your work. There are seasons when it’s impossible, due to family, university, or other obligations and constraints, for you to leave to go somewhere or to apply for certain grants. And there are seasons when you can and should try to create opportunities.
• Appreciate and remember colleagues, advisors, and anonymous peer reviewers who’ve done their jobs with integrity and generosity. This can mean striving to be constructive and generous in our feedback when it’s our turn to review applications and articles. This might also mean mentioning excellent work and praising it in a genuine way when there is an opportunity to do so. It could mean making other colleagues’ work visible. Zoom and other online video conferencing platforms have expanded the possibilities for making meaningful connections with colleagues and highlighting their work.

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Thank you to Dr. Astourian for sharing her experiences. If you missed part I of her interview, it’s here. For more scholars’ stories, check out art historian Hannah Darvin, psychologist Caitlin Martin-Wagar, freelance academic editor Letitia Henville, and sociologist Michelle Meyer.

If you know someone who might enjoy thinking about career directions, would you mind forwarding this email to them? Thanks for reading and believe that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas.

Betty

Stay in touch: The Newsletter, Bluesky, and The Grant Writing Guide book.

P.S. What's your opinion on chocolate banana bread? Made it for the first time, and my house has divided opinions.