The main goal of the Intellectual Life Fund (ILF) is to further enhance the intellectual life of the greater NYU Law community by providing a supplemental funding opportunity for student groups and law journals to propose and execute academic programs. Intellectual Life Funding is made available to all student organizations interested in proposing academic programs that might appeal to law students and serve the needs of our Law School community. Applications are reviewed through a competitive application process with funding decisions made by the Intellectual Life Committee comprised of faculty, administrators, and students. The Intellectual Life Funding Committee welcomes applications that propose shorter academic panels, brown bag lunch series, film showings, workshops, round-tables, colloquia, and other kinds of events that might appeal to students and serve the needs of our Law School community.
Intellectual Life Fund (ILF) Application
Spring 2024-Fall 2024
The ILF Committee welcomes proposals for events that will be held during the spring 2024 or fall 2024 semesters.
- Each proposal must include:
- An abstract in a narrative format that will outline the contours of the topic to be presented. Excluding appendices, proposals are to be described in a maximum of 3 pages, formatted in 12-point font and double-spaced. Appendices are to be outlined in a maximum of 2 pages, formatted in 12-point font, and double-spaced.
- A brief work cited list of academic source materials
- A brief list of relevant NYU Law faculty, legal scholars, practitioners, and other professionals who may be invited to participate (panelist, moderator, interviewee, or keynote, etc.)
- A brief outline of the event structure or schedule
- A brief outline of potential co-sponsors that may include student organizations, journals, centers, or clinics
- Applicants must seek academic advice and support from a member of the NYU Law faculty. A brief email of support from the faculty member should be affixed to the ILF application.
Considerations for Applicants
The successful ILF application will propose an academic event that can be hosted in approximately 2.5 hours (or less) in the form of a single academic panel, fireside chat, or academic talk. Each ILF application should be able to answer basic questions of relevance to the organization’s mission; the topic to be explored; the timeliness of the issue; and the importance of this event to the intellectual life of the law school.
Please consider answering the following questions when crafting your ILF proposal.
- Is the proposal topic firmly grounded in some aspect of the law?
- Is the proposed topic timely and relevant?
- Will the topic have broad appeal across the Law School?
- Is the proposal topic described in a way that strikes a balance between being too broad and too narrow?
- How will NYU Law faculty, Centers, and Clinics be engaged to develop and strengthen the academic content of the proposed topic?
- How will “local” panelists and speakers be prioritized in recruitment?
- How will event co-sponsor recruitment or fundraising contribute to the overall success of the event?
Application materials must be submitted electronically via email to the Office of Student Affairs (law.studentaffairs@nyu.edu) by January 8th.