Visiting Humanities Fellow for 2019-2020

The DePaul University Humanities Center (DHC) is inviting applications for Visiting Fellows for 2019-2020.

All applicants must have a Ph.D., and research projects must be in the humanities. International applications will be considered. Fellowships may run for nine months (from September 2019 to June 2020) or six months (from January 2020 to June 2020). During their tenure, Visiting Fellows are required to make an intellectual contribution to the DePaul community and participate in the programming and activities of the DHC and the university.

We are especially interested in applications that involve a project around the theme of “Scale,” broadly construed. All applications regardless of topic will be considered, but preference will be given to applicants that draw connections between their proposed project and the 2019-20 DHC theme, “Scale.” NB: The DHC will be hosting events that touch on such topics as, e.g., literary narratives of scale, works of art of various scales, the city versus the town, size and scale in botany, weight-based bias, the scales of justice, encounters with things that are “not to scale,” etc.​ We are interested, that is, in interdisciplinary, creative, innovative projects that take up the topic.

The DHC serves as a site for discussion and research in the arts and humanities at DePaul University and in Chicago at large, engaging these communities in the most recent and impressive scholarship in the humanities, with special attention paid to the exchange of ideas across disciplines. Recent guests of the Center have included actor Michael Shannon, author George Saunders, photographer Sally Mann, painter John Currin, dancer Edward Watson, filmmakers the Brothers Quay, and Native American activist “Water Protectors” from Standing Rock. Recent domestic and international Visiting Fellows have come from Saint Louis University (British literature); the College of William and Mary (American studies); Theatre du Soleil, Paris, France (acting/directing); the University of San Diego (medieval and renaissance studies); Rutgers University (law); and Macquarie University, Australia (cultural theory).

The DHC Visiting Fellow program is generally a sabbatical/leave-based position, as there is no large stipend associated with this position. However, apart from the mutual benefits of being engaged with our vibrant local intellectual community in the heart of Lincoln Park in Chicago, Visiting Fellows will be given an office in the Center with computer, staff support, library privileges, and an honorarium of up to $3,000 ($1,000 per quarter) to support the public presentation of Fellows’ work (with at least one public lecture supported and expected of all Visiting Fellows) and for participation in other DHC programming.

Applications are due by Friday, January 25, 2019. An application contains (1) a cover letter including contact and biographical information about the applicant and the length of Fellowship requested; (2) a current CV; (3) a brief description (not more than 1,500 words) of the research project stating the objectives, significance, and originality of the project in a manner clear to a nonspecialist; and (4) one confidential letter of reference (which may be sent under separate cover).

Applications will be judged on the project's potential interest to scholars in different fields of the humanities; the promise of the specific research project being proposed; the originality and intellectual distinction of the applicant’s previous work; the way in which the application takes up the theme of “Scale” (if applicable); and the applicant’s ability to engage in collegial interaction and to contribute to the intellectual life of the DHC. A goal of the selection process is to create a diverse community of scholars. Applicants who are members of traditionally under-represented groups are encouraged to apply. Fellows will be announced in April 2019.

Email or mail complete applications (and have letters of reference sent to):

Prof. H. Peter Steeves, Director
DePaul Humanities Center

psteeves@depaul.edu

Visiting Fellows 2019-20
The DePaul Humanities Center
2347 N. Racine Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614-3107
USA