Folger Institute Research Fellowships

Folger Institute Research Fellowships for 2022-2023

Call for applications

www.folger.edu/institute/fellowships

The Folger Shakespeare Library has embarked on a major renovation project. While this work is underway and Folger collections are unavailable for in-person consultation, the Folger Institute is committed to continuing its support of collections-based research, and to providing scholars with the resources they need to pursue and advance their work. The renovation offers the Institute the opportunity to create new kinds of awards and to make fellowships more adaptable. Effects of the global pandemic, ongoing at the time of this announcement, require that adaptability. In 2022–2023, Folger research fellowships will place value on many different forms and phases of scholarly enterprise as well as places to pursue it.

The Folger Institute will offer non-residential research fellowships, in the amount of $3,500, to support four continuous weeks of research and writing. All applications are due by 11:59pm ET on 18 January 2022. Fellowships may be undertaken between July 2022 and June 2023.

In their applications, scholars should make a strong case for their proposed topic’s importance, its relevance to a field of study broadly supported by or contiguous to the Folger’s collections and programs, and the originality and sophistication of its approach. They should also describe the type of work they would like to undertake, with a justification of why and how their research agenda will advance their project.

Applicants are encouraged to make their own best cases to pursue their research. Travel to work in archives, libraries, or museums is not a requirement of fellowship support and will not be the basis of an award for 2022–2023. Here are some scenarios an applicant might propose:

· A researcher requests access to select electronic resources or databases while working from home.

· A researcher notes how fellowship support will relieve them of the need for summer or adjunct teaching.

· A researcher requests funds to pay for reproduction and permissions fees for images of rare materials.

· A researcher requests support for caregiving while researching or writing.

· A researcher needs dedicated time to organize notes and images collected during past visits to libraries and archives.

· A researcher plans to hire local research assistance at an archive to which they cannot travel.

· A researcher plans to create and/or curate digital resources for use in undergraduate classrooms.

Apply now online. Deadline for research fellowship applications is 18 January 2022.