The Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP)

  • students in class

The Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP) is an initiative at the University of New Hampshire that promotes ethics, citizenship, principled leadership, responsible governance and the creation of sustainable institutions. It provides opportunities for students and citizens of New Hampshire to learn how to be involved citizens and members of ethical, responsible, and productive communities, businesses and organizations by bringing the past into dialogue with the present in order to inform the future.

RGSCP Coming Events

RGSCP Citizenship Symposium

Friday, April 19, 3:00-5:00PM in Hamilton Smith, Room 205

What is a Citizen? Who is a Citizen? A Conversation about Citizenship and Diversity in Historical Perspective

Join us for a series of wide-ranging talks about the relationships between citizenship and diversity in the ancient and modern worlds. We will discuss how citizenship is defined in the midst of racial, cultural, and ethnic difference, how states across history have restricted the rights and privileges of citizens to certain groups, and how definitions of citizenship impact questions of sociopolitical equity and justice. A light reception will immediately follow the conclusion of the discussion. 

Find more information about the citizenship symposium

 

Future Leaders Institute

Sunday, July 28 - Saturday, August 3, 2024

A UNH Residential Summer Camp in Philosophy, Politics, Ethics, and Global Justice

Founded in 2014, The Future Leaders Institute offers a residential philosophy camp at UNH for thoughtful high-school students to discuss big ideas in a collaborative environment while making friends and enjoying summer in coastal New Hampshire.

Award winning faculty Nick Smith (UNH Philosophy), Nina Windgätter (UNH Philosophy), and Eden Suoth (Oyster River Social Studies) bring interdisciplinary and highly interactive learning approaches to immerse students in social and political philosophy and coach them to apply these powerful tools to current issues. The theme for 2024 is Technology and the Future of Humanity, and we will discuss various topics related to human progress, artificial intelligence, automated labor, advanced weaponry, social media and big data, gaming and virtual reality, space exploration and colonization, and the search for alien intelligence.

We aim to introduce students to challenging ideas while creating an emotionally comfortable “pre-college” environment. Past participants have flourished in their cohorts, and we channel this infectious energy toward building leadership and social skills that will serve them well in college and beyond. FLI tends to be an especially good fit for students interested in Ethics Bowl, Socratic Society, Model United Nations, debate, and similar activities.

Thanks to funding from RGSCP, all accepted applicants will receive full scholarships. Accepted participants will submit a deposit to hold their spot, and this will be returned at the completion of the camp.

Find more information about FLI

The Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP) is an initiative at the University of New Hampshire that promotes ethics, citizenship, principled leadership, responsible governance and the creation of sustainable institutions. It provides opportunities for students and citizens of New Hampshire to learn how to be involved citizens and members of ethical, responsible, and productive communities, businesses and organizations by bringing the past into dialogue with the present in order to inform the future.

The project uses the humanities to investigate ethics and citizenship, as well as partners with other programs across the university, like the Sustainability Institute, to include as many students as possible from all backgrounds. It is part of the classics program, the unit responsible for the university's teaching and research on the civilizations of the Greeks and Romans and their deep influence on later time periods. RGSCP and the classics program supports a variety of teaching, research, programming and engagement activities across the campus with the intention of expanding successful initiatives to the rest of the University System of New Hampshire. The project also looks for opportunities to support related curriculum and outreach at elementary and secondary schools across the state.

Funding comes from a $5 million endowment created by the N.H. Secretary of State's Office and the Center for Public Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship. The funds to establish the endowment come from a settlement reached between the New Hampshire Securities Bureau and Tyco International, LTD in 2002.

Grant Amount: up to $1,500 (for interdisciplinary proposals, up to $2,000)
Deadline: Rolling review of applications will begin September 15, 2023
Funding Release: Oct. 1 (and in rolling fashion for later applications)
End Date of Funding: June 30, 2024
Total Grant Amount: $25,000


Grants of up to $1500 are available to faculty and academic partners in support of various endeavors that align with the mission of the Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project. Discretionary grants may be used to bring speakers to our campus, put on workshops, create and sustain working groups, facilitate promotion of faculty and student research, promote public engagement, and support other initiatives that relate to responsible governance and sustainable instituions. We are particularly interested in proposals that connect faculty and academic partners from different disciplines, which will release up to another $500. Grants may be used for honoraria, but the maximum allowable amount for that line item is $500.

To apply, write the Director of RGSCP, Scott Smith (Scott.Smith@unh.edu), with a succinct description of proposed activities, including an itemized budget and an explicit statement about how the proposal fits into RGSCP’s mission. Maximum length: 1 page.

The management of the grant will be the responsibility of the faculty member.  Further guidance will be provided to grant awardees at the time of the announcement.  A short final report will be required at the end of the grant period.

*THE DEADLINE FOR THIS GRANT HAS PASSED*

Grant Amount: from $5,000 to $15,000
Deadline:  November 1, 2023
Review of Proposals: November 2023
Funding Release: February 1, 2024
End Date of Funding: June 30, 2025
Total Grant Amount FY24: $30,000


Grants of between $5,000 and $15,000 are available to faculty and academic partners to create a lab-model or another collaborative enterprise that supports research, engagement, and curriculum around the broad theme of democratic and sustainable citizenship, as well as to highlight and/or expand COLA’s contributions to the public good.

Faculty members may submit proposals as individuals or groups, and they may involve staff and students in their planning. A panel convened by the RGSCP director will review proposals. Proposals should include:

  • Cover sheet with project title, names and positions of organizer(s), and an abstract of the proposal (100 words or less).
  •  A project narrative (no longer than 5 pages) that covers:
    • Purpose and details of the planned work
    • Significance of the work to RGSCP, citizenship and the public good
    • Projected list of events/initiatives with benchmarked timetable
    • How the initiative be evaluated and publicized
  • A budget outlining expenses. Please note other possible sources for funding.
  • Faculty CVs or biosketch (no longer than 2 pages each).

The management of the grant will be the responsibility of the faculty member and the administrative support in the home department.  Further guidance will be provided to grant awardees at the time of the announcement.  A final report will be required at the end of the grant period.

To apply, please submit the above materials in PDF form to the Director of RGSCP, Scott.Smith@unh.edu, by Nov. 1, 2023.