John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute/A.W. Mellon Foundation
HBCU FACULTY FELLOWSHIPS 2008-2009
Call for Proposals from Humanities Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Deadline: Monday, March 31, 2008
Click here to open a PDF of the HBCU Faculty Fellowships Call for Proposals
With support from the A.W. Mellon Foundation, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI) at Duke University is pleased to announce a new residential fellowship program for faculty in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The program provides support for a year of scholarly research in a collegial environment, with access to many opportunities for substantive interaction and collaboration with Duke faculty and students.
Founded in 1999, the FHI is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to supporting research and teaching in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences. The FHI’s mission also encompasses the support of scholarship on issues of social equity, especially research on race and ethnicity in their most profound historical and international dimensions. In this mission, we are inspired by our namesake John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History.
THE HUMANITIES AT DUKE: INTERDISCIPLINARITY, EXCHANGE, AND COLLABORATION
Duke’s commitment to interdisciplinarity is apparent at all levels of its curriculum, culture, and operations. The university’s strengths in the humanities – art, history, religion, literature, critical theory, race and gender studies, and new initiatives such as Visual Studies and Transcultural Humanities – also demonstrate this commitment, while the university maintains an equally strong foundation in the core disciplines.
The FHI provides an ideal context in which fellows can interact and work within the diverse array of intellectual currents at Duke. The FHI maintains close relationships with the Duke Human Rights Center, Nasher Museum of Art, and Duke University Press, and libraries, as well as institutes and centers in the humanities and social sciences, biological and computer sciences. The FHI is also a locus for external relationships, with institutions including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the National Humanities Center. The FHI is also the administrative home of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), an international membership organization with links to over 120 humanities organizations around the world. Each of these connections and affiliates represents myriad intellectual possibilities for visiting fellows.
THE FELLOWSHIPS
Two one-year fellowships will be offered in each of the three years of the program (2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11). The program also offers an option for one-semester fellowships, but proposals for full-year fellowships will be prioritized. In addition to a stipend, fellows will be provided with health and dental insurance, a fully equipped office, library privileges, and a small pool of research and/or travel funds. Full-year (September 1 - May 1) stipends for Assistant and Associate Professors are $40,000. Stipends for full Professors are $60,000. The FHI may also be able to provide funding for special projects developed by the fellow. The FHI cannot provide direct support for relocation or housing. No teaching is required, but fellows will be encouraged to participate in many on-going and ad hoc intellectual formations at Duke, including seminars, reading groups, symposia and other special projects. Fellows will be asked to present a lecture on their work during the fellowship.
ELIGIBILITY, SELECTION PROCESS, AND CRITERIA
The FHI’s HBCU Fellowship Program is designed for regular-rank faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Faculty members who hold positions in departments focused on the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences are eligible to apply. For the purposes of this program,“HBCU” is defined as those institutions listed at www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whhbcu/edlite-list.html.
Prospective fellows will be selected based on a review of their academic accomplishments and the quality of their proposal. Selection criteria will focus in equal measure on the innovative nature of the proposal and the ways in which the proposed project might best utilize and connect with the intellectual strengths in the humanities at Duke. A faculty committee will review all proposals.
Fellowship proposals should include the following components:
1. A one-page cover letter addressed to Srinivas Aravamudan, Director of the Franklin Humanities Institute. The cover letter should include a brief summary of the proposal described in #2, below, and the reasons for your interest in working at Duke and the Franklin Humanities Institute. Please also indicate whether you are interested in a full-year or one-semester fellowship, and if the latter, whether you are interested in fall or spring semesters in 2008-09 (proposals for full-fellowships will be prioritized). Finally, please include in your cover letter a brief explanation of your institution’s faculty leave policy, and how the FHI might assist you in obtaining leave if you are awarded a fellowship.
2. A proposal of 1500 words or less including a description of the project you propose to undertake during the fellowship year, and the ways in which it builds on or relates to your past or current work. Applicants should also identify specific areas of overlap and connection between their work and the faculty, academic programs and ongoing scholarly initiatives at Duke.
3. A current curriculum vitae.
4. A recent writing sample or publication excerpt of 20-30 pages.
5. Two letters of recommendation from scholars who are familiar with your work.
One copy of the complete proposal with original signatures must be postmarked or shipped on or before Monday, March 31, 2008. Letters of recommendation may arrive separately but must be postmarked by the deadline. Send materials to:
HBCU Fellowships 2008-2009
c/o Grant Samuelsen, Associate Director
John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute
Duke University
Box 90403
2204 Erwin Road
Durham, NC 27708
If you have questions about this program, the Franklin Humanities Institute, or the Duke context and its resources, please write to grant.samuelsen@duke.edu or call (919) 684-6469.