Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Newberry Library Fellowships in the Humanities

The Newberry Library, a Chicago-based independent research library, has announced a series of fellowships in the humanities for 2011-12. The Library aims to facilitate use of its extensive collections. Here is the relevant information, taken from the Library's website

About the collections:
The Library's holdings span the history and culture of western Europe from the Middle Ages to the mid-twentieth century and the Americas from the time of first contact between Europeans and Native Americans. Its strengths include: European discovery, exploration, and settlement of the Americas; the American West; local history, family history, and genealogy; literature and history of the Midwest, especially the Chicago Renaissance; Native American history and literature; the Renaissance; the French Revolution; Portuguese and Brazilian history; British literature and history; the history of cartography; the history and theory of music; the history of printing; and early philology and linguistics. The collections number 1,500,000 printed titles, five million manuscript pages, and 500,000 historic maps.
Long-term fellowships:

Long-term fellowships are available to post-doctoral scholars for periods of six to eleven months. Applicants for post-doctoral awards must hold the Ph.D. at the time of application. These grants support individual research and promote serious intellectual exchange through active participation in the Library's scholarly activities, including a biweekly fellows' seminar. The stipends for these fellowships range from $25,200 to $50,400. Applicants may combine these fellowship awards with sabbatical or other stipendiary support. Scholars may apply for any of the long-term fellowships using the same application. Each fellowship has specific eligibility requirements. Please read the individual descriptions carefully to determine if you are eligible. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements for at least one of these awards, your application will not be considered.

Consult the website for more information about deadlines. Most long-term applications are due on January 10, 2011, but a few have different due dates.

Short-term fellowships:
Short-term fellowships are generally restricted to post-doctoral scholars, Ph.D. candidates, or holders of other terminal degrees from outside of the Chicago area who have a specific need for Newberry collections. Some fellowships, however, are open to other categories of applicants and Chicago residents. Please read the following descriptions carefully for the eligibility restrictions on particular fellowships. The tenure of short-term fellowships varies from one to two months, unless otherwise noted under the award description. Unless otherwise noted, the amount of the award is $1600 per month.
Consult the website for additional details. The application deadline for short-term fellowships is February 10, 2011.

Special awards and fellowships: A number of additional awards and fellowships are also available, including
  • The Newberry Library/École Nationale des Chartes Exchange Fellowship (deadline: January 10, 2011)
  • The Newberry Library/British Academy Fellowship for Study in Great Britain (deadline: January 10, 2011)
  • The Lawrence Lipking Fellowship at the Newberry Library (deadline: Friday April 16, 2010)
  • The Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel Fellowship (deadline: January 10, 2011 for linked long-term fellowship; March 1, 2010 for linked short-term fellowship)
  • The Frances C. Allen Fellowships (deadline: February 10, 2011)
  • The Arthur and Lila Weinberg Fellowship for Independent Scholars (deadline: February 10, 2011)
You can find the Library's responses to frequently asked questions about the fellowships here.

A list of last year's fellowship winners is here.