The IDEA Communities initiative is a project designed to enhance mentoring and support for innovative scholarly work at UMass Lowell. Each IDEA Community involves a small group of faculty and other affiliated researchers from a variety of departments and colleges who share interests around a common topic and who agree to make a commitment to support one another’s scholarship.
Groups meet regularly (usually once a month) and give each other feedback on work in progress as well as general support for research and scholarship. By providing a space for intellectual exchange and mutual mentoring, IDEA Communities not only support individual scholarship but also foster the development of a range of collaborative projects, including grant proposals, symposiums, and invited speakers.
A list of the IDEA Communities for academic year is available. Please contact the facilitators if you are interested in a particular group. For general information about the IDEA Communities initiative, contact the Center for Women & Work via e-mail.