COLLABORATION AND RECIPROCITY (CORE) PROGRAM

WELCOME TO CORE!

ASAO welcomes anyone who is interested in supporting the shift away from the old, extractive and colonial modes of practicing anthropology to participate in the Collaboration and Reciprocity (CORE) Program. CORE is designed to support Oceania-focused anthropologists in engaging with the communities where they work, with the goal of co-creating and disseminating projects that will directly benefit source communities in Oceania or the diaspora. This program reflects ASAO’s commitment to making research gathered from Pacific Islanders available to Pasifika communities in valuable and appropriate forms that go beyond the usual practice of sending copies of theses, dissertations, or academic publications to relevant libraries and government agencies. Since tenure and promotion reviews rarely recognize publications or other activities outside the formal realm of academia, CORE is meant to particularly benefit junior scholars who are seeking ways to build more collaboration and reciprocity into their work. 

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

ASAO members can participate in the CORE program by contributing to any of the three mission goals. For example:

We welcome your ideas on how to make CORE the best it can be. Please post your thoughts on ASAO social media (see links at the bottom of this page), email the CORE Program Chair directly, or attend the CORE Program session at the ASAO Meeting!

DONATE TO CORE

We welcome financial donations to support the CORE Program. Donations may be made to ASAO by clicking on the button below. 

Donate to CORE

ASAO is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Donations made to the CORE Program are tax-deductible in the United States. 

THE CORE GRANT

CORE Grants are intended to enable ASAO members to pursue the kind of collaborative and reciprocity-based projects that mainstream academic systems tend to overlook or discourage. This one-time award is for a single project, and grantees cannot pair, extend or combine it with any other CORE Grant. Applicants who have already received a CORE Grant will receive lower priority than those who have not.

CORE Grants are specifically designed to prioritize collaboration and reciprocity by supporting the production and distribution of locally based initiatives that will yield positive local outcomes through their dissemination in host communities
 

APPLY FOR A CORE GRANT

Each year, ASAO’s CORE Committee will issue a call for CORE Project Proposals via the ASAO website, member emails and social media channels, to be submitted by October 15. Grant size varies from $500 to $1,500 USD, based on project needs, and will be delivered via a single, lump reimbursement upon project completion. Grants will be awarded in any year that a project meets the criteria below and has been approved by both the CORE Committee and the ASAO Board.

The CORE Grant does not cover stipends, travel expenses, or the purchase of equipment. 

Eligibility
Applicants must be ASAO members for at least two years before submitting a proposal; preference will be given to junior scholars. While it is not mandatory, the CORE Committee recommends that applicants attend at least one CORE Program session at the ASAO Annual Meeting to help them develop their CORE Project Proposal. 

Application Review

CORE Project Proposals should be sent, as an attachment, in an email to the CORE Program Chair, addressed to the CORE Committee (see the Chair's address, below) by October 15.

A three-member CORE Grant panel appointed by the ASAO Board will review applications. Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by November 15, and the new awards will be announced at the following year’s ASAO Meeting.

Types of Projects Awarded
Past CORE (or GRIKPIC) projects include the printing of dictionaries, the creation of oral histories, biographies, and photo books, and the recording of storytelling events, performances, and interviews, among others.

That said, the types of projects that are eligible for a CORE Grant, and their mode of distribution, will continue to evolve. Particularly with the growth and spread of digital technology, it is now possible to produce and disseminate recordings and documentaries through social media or platforms like YouTube, Facebook or other forms of media widely used by Pasifika communities. 

WRITING YOUR PROJECT PROPOSAL

CORE Project Proposals should be 3 to 6 pages long, double-spaced, and should include the following.

Project Statement (Outputs and Assessment)

• A brief summary of the research the proposed project will draw upon or seek to share in its outputs.
• A description of the Pasifika community (or “host community”) served by the project.
• The specific outputs to be produced and distributed by the project, how they will be disseminated to target audiences, and what the host community can gain from them both now and into the future.
• A plan for how the project’s anticipated benefits will be assessed and evaluated after its completion.

Statement(s) of Anticipated Impact

• A statement (or statements) from a member (or members) of the host community describing the need for the project and how it will benefit their community.  

Budget

• A list of the estimated expenses for production and delivery of the project output and materials, including the cost of any digital platforms, websites or online storage services used.
• If the ongoing dissemination of information will require an annual fee (for example, for maintaining a website domain name), the budget should include a plan for covering this expense into the future since CORE Grant funds can only be used for this purpose in the three (3) years following project completion.
• Any additional sources of practical and monetary assistance that the applicant might pursue.

Timeline and Logistics

• A project timeline detailing the expected timing of each stage of the project, ideally to be completed within one (1) year of being offered the grant (see Project Completion section, below).
• A summary of all personnel involved in the project’s design, implementation, and future distribution or dissemination, including one or more host community members.
• Evidence that the project design and dissemination plan fit the host community’s current technological capacities (if relevant).
• Any resource materials currently available in the host community that could be relevant to the project and its outcome.

PROJECT COMPLETION

A CORE Project is deemed “complete” when it has achieved each of the intended outputs described in the Project Statement.

Completion Deadline

If a CORE Project is not completed within a year of being offered the grant, the grantee must submit a brief report to the Committee describing any progress and/or changes made during the first year. To receive the grant, projects must be completed within a maximum of 2 years starting from the date when the grantee receives an email confirming the success of their grant application.

Project Report and Followup
Within 2 months of completing the project, grantees must submit a 2- to 3-page Completion Report to the CORE Committee and a link to, or a copy of, the final project output(s). CORE Grant recipients are also expected to give a 15-minute presentation about their projects at the next ASAO Meeting’s CORE Program session. ASAO will disburse the grant funds only after receipt of this Completion Report and presentation (which may, if necessary, be delivered remotely).

In addition, the CORE Committee encourages grantees to submit a brief follow-up report, one or two years after project completion, assessing the project’s ongoing outcomes and impacts on the host community. By examining both the extent to which the project met its anticipated goals and the quality of its implementation, this report will help improve CORE’s ability to support meaningful projects, and could offer useful insights for CORE Program sessions at the annual ASAO Meeting. 

CORE COMMITTEE

Program Chair: Micah Van der Ryn
Committee Members: Tēvita Ka‘ili; John Wagner; Susanne Kuehling; Suzanna Tiapula; and Line-Noue Memea Kruse.

Past Committee Members
Sa‘ili Lilomaiava-Doktor (Chair, 2021); Mary Good (Chair), Alexander Mawyer, Maggie Cummings (2018); Marama Muru-Lanning (Chair, 2017); Helen Lee (Chair), Mary Good, Chelsea Wentworth (2016); Paige West (2012-2013); Alan Howard (Chair), Ali Pomponio, Joshua Bell, Kathy Creely (2009-2011); Karen Peacock (Chair); David Counts, Alan Howard, Ali Pomponio (2006-2009).

Past Grantees
2019 - Jen Shannon, Jerry K. Jacka, and Paige West (GRIKPIC winners). For providing copies of primary source materials collected from Bougainville Island in 1949 by a US soldier to members of the Kainake Project in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG.

2017 - Susanne Kuehling (GRIKPIC winner). For returning photographs of Kula valuables to the island communities in Milne Bay Province, PNG.

2012 - Kenneth Nehrbass (GRIKPIC winner). For printing and distributing 100 copies of a 281-page English-to-vernacular dictionary featuring six of Tanna's major languages.

2010 - Lila San Roque (GRIKPIC winner). For the delivery of Duna (Yuna) language booklets to the Kopiago area (Papua New Guinea).

2007 - Haidy Geismar (GRIKPIC winner). To help underwrite the publication of a Bislama-language publication, John Layard Long Malakula 1914-1915.