Call for Proposals for Spring 2016 Residential Faculty Research Fellowships

Application Deadline is May 1, 2015

The Dresher Center for the Humanities invites applications for two Residential Faculty Research Fellowships for spring 2016. Funding is intended to support and promote significant humanities research at UMBC. Dresher Center Residential Research Fellows will reside at least one day a week in the Dresher Center and receive release from teaching (up to two course releases) in order to work on a significant humanities research project or the training necessary to embark on such a project. Faculty wishing to develop expertise in a new field or discipline towards a future project are also encouraged to apply. Each fellow will have the use of a private office in the Dresher Center and will be awarded $500 to hire an undergraduate research assistant (junior or senior) for the semester.

Fellows will conduct two research works-in-progress sessions during the semester. The first will be a Fellows and Others session on their research methods held toward the beginning of the semester. The second will be a session in the CURRENTS: Humanities Work Now series on the work that has been accomplished during the semester. The CURRENTS session should take place by late April. Fellows will also participate actively in Dresher Center programs, including attendance at Fellows and Others and CURRENTS sessions, and at least two Humanities Forum events. A short report on fellowship activity will be due to the director within 3 months of completion of the fellowship. Residential faculty fellows will be considered fellows of the Dresher Center for as long as they are on the faculty of UMBC. After their semester in residence they will be expected to serve for a two-year term on the Dresher Center Advisory Board and remain active participants in Dresher Center programs.

The Dresher Center welcomes proposals from all full-time, tenured and tenure-track faculty members pursuing humanities research in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.  Applications are especially encouraged from, but not limited to, full-time faculty with appointments in departments and programs with a humanities focus. Two fellowships are available. Proposals will be reviewed by the Dresher Center Advisory Board, with decisions by mid-July 2014.

Click the link below for a fillable PDF application. Download the application and attach it in an email, along with your proposal, to dreshercenter@umbc.edu.

Dresher Center Faculty Research Fellows Application 

UMBC welcomed the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a regional grant-writing workshop on February 20, 2015. The workshop, conducted by the NEH’s Division of Research Programs, was sponsored by the Dresher Center for the Humanities; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS); and the Office of the Vice President for Research. 

Faculty participants from UMBC and seven area colleges and universities learned about NEH grant and fellowship programs, and special initiatives. The Maryland Humanities Council also spoke about its grant opportunities. A “mock” evaluation panel, led by UMBC NEH Fellows Kate Brown (History), Thomas Field (MLLI), and Anna Shields (MLLI), discussed the NEH proposal review process. Grant application-writing strategies were also shared. 

"The Dresher Center was pleased to welcome the NEH to campus,” noted director Jessica Berman. “Workshops like these give a shot in the arm to researchers, who then begin to consider how their work fits into national priorities and initiatives. The workshop also showcased the strengths of UMBC faculty work in the humanities.”

With an annual program budget of $108 million, the NEH awards grants to individuals and groups of humanities researchers at universities, museums, libraries and archives, and other cultural and educational organizations. These highly competitive grants, which are evaluated by scholars and other experts in their field, have an average award rate of between seven and ten per cent per year. If denied, NEH encourages applicants to re-submit.

The Endowment also supports public programs and special initiatives, like the new “Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square,” which seeks to bring humanities scholarship to public attention in new, significant ways. The NEH’s Office of Digital Humanities provides grants to projects that integrate new technologies in humanities research, as well as those that study digital culture from a humanistic perspective. 

NEH-funded research projects often cross the disciplinary boundaries between the arts, humanities, and social sciences. At UMBC, NEH fellowships and grants have been awarded to CAHSS faculty in the departments of Africana Studies; English; Geography and Environmental Systems; History; Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication; Political Science, Sociology-Anthropology, Theatre, and Visual Arts. 

For information on NEH programs, contact Rachel Brubaker, Assistant Director for Grants and Program Development, Dresher Center for the Humanities: rbruba1@umbc.edu. 

Photo (from left to right): Anna Shields, MLLI; Tom Field, MLLI; and Kate Brown, History

The Dresher Center for the Humanities invites applications for two residential graduate student research fellowships. Funding will be given for the fall 2015 semester and is intended to promote promising research by graduate students in the humanities. The fellowships are open to all UMBC doctoral and master's level students working on humanities-related research projects that will culminate in a dissertation or master's thesis.

Fellows will reside two days a week in a shared office in the Dresher Center during the fall semester and will receive up to $1,000 to be used for research travel, materials, or other directly-related research expenses. Fellows will present a session as part of the CURRENTS: Humanities Work Now series and attend the Humanities Forum and other Dresher Center events and workshops.

After the fall semester, fellows will submit a summary of the work they accomplished during the semester, as well as a statement on the progress made towards the completion of their dissertation or master's thesis.

Applications for Fall 2015 fellowships must be received by March 15, 2015.

For information and an application: http://dreshercenter.umbc.edu/scholarly-resources/umbc-graduate-student-residential-fellowship-program/ 

Presented by the Dresher Center for the Humanities and the UMBC College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

The National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Research will conduct a regional grant-writing workshop at UMBC on Friday, February 20, 2015 (inclement weather date on February 27), from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in UC 312. Registration is required.

Sessions will include NEH grant and fellowship programs, proposal writing, and the NEH peer review process. Faculty may also register for a limited number of 15-minute appointments with the NEH program officer in the afternoon to discuss specific grants and project ideas (first-come, first serve). The rsvp deadline is February 10th. 

UMBC faculty registration and information: http://goo.gl/forms/DMmlGvc4y6