2026 IA Regional Collaboratories: Call for Proposals

Imagination Practices, due March 13

Imagining America (IA): Artists and Scholars in Public Life invites IA members to submit proposals to form new regional Collaboratories starting this year. The 2026 invitation for IA Collaboratories welcomes proposals from IA member campuses to form communities around practices of imagination. This year we are prioritizing proposals from regional clusters of campuses and partners with an intentional effort to support and activate regional engagement in the IA network. 

As we approach the transition of Imagining America to a new host campus in 2027, we are interested in supporting IA member campuses to examine how the work of imagining and practices of imagination are critical to organizing personal, institutional, and societal transformation. Through regional activities that allow for creative exploration, convenings that provide space for co-creation, and ways of being together that center curiosity and care, Imagining America asks IA member campuses to demonstrate how we can imagine and make the worlds we want. IA will award up to six initiatives for 2026. 

Collaboratories have long been part of IA’s work to connect members across the IA consortium in the production of public knowledge and collective imagination through collaborative research and experimentation. IA Collaboratories have included Assessing the Practices of Public Scholarship (APPS), the Collective of Publicly Engaged Designers (CoPED), Performing Our Future and other action research initiatives. 2025 Collaboratories featured a virtual speaker series on the Undercommons, a puppet parade performance and communities of practice on radical pedagogy, regional organizing, speculative futures, and student refuge, and were carried out across 10 IA member campuses with 7 other neighboring campuses and communities.

Each IA Collaboratory will receive: 

• $1000 to support activities (paid as a stipend to the lead convenor)
• Tools and resources from IA to use in Collaboratories convenings
• One confirmed presentation slot and one complimentary registration to the 2026 IA National Gathering in Davis, CA (October 23-25)
• Organizing, promotion, and operations support from IA staff throughout the year
• Opportunities to share work through IA programming and network communications

Eligibility and Expectations 

• One or more lead convener(s) must be from an IA member campus. Faculty, staff, or graduate students are invited to propose. We encourage proposals co-lead by conveners at different IA member institutions. 
• Proposals should outline commitments to bring people together within your institution, and within your region around IA work and values. Proposals that identify multiple institutions and regional partners are highly encouraged. 
• Convenings and planned activities are required (virtual or in-person) as well as a final shareback with the national IA community in the form of a workshop, toolkit, or other creative offering.

Dates and Deadlines 

• March 13, 2026: Deadline to submit proposal 
• April 1, 2026: Notifications of acceptance
• Spring 2026: Convene Collaboratories, submit IA National Gathering session proposal
• Summer 2026: Convene Collaboratories, prepare for IA National Gathering session, submit mid-year update on activities 
• Fall 2026: Attend IA National Gathering in Davis, CA, convene for post-Gathering reflection
• Winter 2027: Convene Collaboratories, prepare event/toolkit/resource to share
• Spring 2027: Share event/toolkit/resource with IA national network (by March 31, 2027)

Proposal Requirements 

1. Lead Convener(s) Names, Email, Roles, Affiliations, and Institution (up to two).
2. Collaborators: list confirmed or potential collaborators, include other IA member institutions, community organizations, or campus units.
3. Purpose and Goals: describe how the Collaboratory will engage with the work of imagining and practices of imagination and how that can support and activate regional engagement in the IA network. (500 words or less).
4. Activities: describe proposed Collaboratory activities and convenings (500 words or less). 

Please share any questions via an email to connect@imaginingamerica.org.