The Ohio State Center for Feminist Research, Education, and Engagement (FREE Center) is pleased to announce two new initiatives for 2024: faculty-led research and connection clusters and a writing group for faculty and graduate students.

Building off the FREE Center Collaborative Dream Session in November, in which faculty identified potential research and connection clusters, the FREE Center is now offering funding to formally organize clusters and spur collaboration. Clusters will bring together scholars across campus around shared areas of interest related to feminist research, education, and engagement, broadly defined. 

Faculty who are interested in forming research and connection clusters can now submit requests for funding. Grants of $500 are available for clusters with at least three members, and funds of up to $1,000 may be available depending on budgetary needs. These funds can be used for a variety of activities, such as books and supplies, catered meetings, workshops, cultural and community events, etc. More information can be found at wgss.osu.edu/community/free-center.  

Additionally, in response to feedback from the Collaborative Dream Session, the FREE Center is introducing a new writing group — FREE Writes — for feminist scholars across campus. The group will include a faculty section as well as a graduate student section. Starting in January 2024, writing group sessions will take place in person at both on-campus and off-campus locations, with the opportunity to join virtually via Zoom. The first FREE Writes faculty section session will be held Tuesday, Jan. 31, from 1-3:30 p.m. at 286A University Hall. Faculty are invited to RSVP at go.osu.edu/freewrites. 

The FREE Center is a new hub for community-engaged feminist research and teaching that brings together individuals from across the university and the Columbus community. It is led by a faculty advisory board including Dr. Mary Thomas, Dr. Alison Norris, Dr. Lori Patton Davis, and Dr. Mytheli Sreenivas. 

Additional FREE Center initiatives and programs will be announced in the coming months. Learn more about the FREE Center at wgss.osu.edu/community/free-center.