University Hosts Information Session on Public Humanities Fellowships Dec. 8

Graduate students interested in applying for 2018-19 Public Humanities Fellowships are encouraged to attend an information session on Friday, Dec. 8, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in room 304 of the Tolley Humanities Building.

Tolley Humanities Building (right)

The session, which includes light refreshments, features presentations by 2017-18 fellow Matthew Stewart, a Ph.D. candidate in history, and 2016-17 fellow Jesse Quinn, a Ph.D. candidate in geography.

Syracuse awards two Public Humanities Fellowships a year. Both are co-sponsored by the Syracuse University Humanities Center and the Central New York Humanities Corridor, in partnership with Humanities New York. They also are supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

For more information about the session, contact Aimee Germain, program coordinator of the CNY Humanities Corridor, at 315.443.8685 or aagermai@syr.edu.

Click here to apply for a Public Humanities Fellowship. The application deadline is Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.

“We are committed to supporting emerging and established scholars,” says Vivian May, director of the Humanities Center and professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. “By bringing together researchers from diverse backgrounds, we inspire a cross-disciplinary dialogue that explores the humanities in a global context, contributes to Syracuse’s vibrant intellectual community and showcases the wide relevance and scope of humanities inquiry.”

Gregg Lambert, Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and director of the CNY Humanities Corridor, echoes these sentiments: “Our fellows reflect the innovation and excellence for which the University is known, and their projects highlight the humanities’ vitality in both traditional and interdisciplinary contexts. Notably, their work explores histories, narratives, genres and communities that have been overlooked or underappreciated.”

For instance, Stewart is using his fellowship to explore human and environmental history in the City of Syracuse. Quinn used his to analyze industrial mining and resource extraction in the Adirondacks.

Organizers hope to attract promising applicants who wish to engage in “public-facing work in partnership with community organizations.”

“We see the information session as an opportunity to encourage interest from prospective fellows and to get faculty mentors to see the value of public scholarship,” Germain says.

The $8,000 fellowship runs from August 2018 to June 2019, and includes an all-expenses-paid, two-day orientation in New York City and $500 in travel and research support. The award may be combined with other sources of University support, including graduate student aid, other fellowships, graduate assistantships, scholarships and travel grants.

The fellowship program is open to any Syracuse student pursuing a doctoral degree in anthropology, composition and cultural rhetoric, English, geography, history, philosophy, religion, sociology, cultural foundations of education or literacy in education. A student pursuing an M.F.A. degree in creative writing or a three-year graduate program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts also may apply.

“The skills and experiences afforded by the fellowship are intended to serve scholars who have a record of working with the public, as well as those starting to explore the public humanities,” Germain adds. “It is equally valuable for scholars planning to pursue careers within the academy and within other nonprofit or for-profit sectors.