Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Central New York Humanities Corridor Visiting Scholars Program

Call for Applications: Central New York Humanities Corridor Visiting Scholars Program The Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries, invites applications for the 2014 Central New York Humanities Corridor Visiting Scholars Program. This goal of this program is to attract scholarly attention to the rich primary sources held by member institutions: -Syracuse University (Special Collections Research Center, Belfer Audio Archive and University Archives) -Cornell University (Rare and Manuscript Collections and Kheel Center) -University of Rochester (Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation and Sibley Music Library) -Hamilton College (Special Collections) -Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Archives and Special Collections) -Skidmore College (Department of Special Collections) -St. Lawrence University (Special Collections and Vance University Archives) -Union College (Special Collections and Archives) This year, two grants of $2,500 each will be awarded. To be eligible, projects must draw upon the collections of at least two corridor institutions. Projects may also draw upon other regional repositories. Faculty and graduate students are encouraged to apply. Some of the Corridor's shared collection strengths include: -Abolitionism, for example, Frederick Douglass and Gerrit Smith -American religion, especially utopian communities and the "burned-over district" of upstate New York -Architecture and design, for example, Marcel Breuer, Russel Wright, Andrew Dickson White, and Claude Bragdon -Gender and sexuality, including Cornell's Human Sexuality Collection, the Grove Press Records, and the women's suffrage movement. -Modern literature, from T.S. Eliot and James Joyce to Joyce Carol Oates -Photography, including Andrew J. Russel and Margaret Bourke White. -Popular culture, from dime novels and pulp magazines to children's literature and broadcasting history -Music and sound media, especially the Belfer Audio Archive, the Sibley Music Library, and the Hip-Hop Collection at Cornell. Awardees are expected to spend at least ten days conducting research. (The amount of time spent at each institution need not be equal.) Towards the close of each visit, each awardee will give an informal presentation of their work at Syracuse University's Humanities Center. Information on previous winners and presentations can be found on SCRC's public programs webpage. The criteria for selection include: impact of the project on the humanities generally, the degree to which the identified collections support the research project, and the innovative use of primary source materials in research and publication. Applications should include the following elements: Narrative. The narrative should frame the overall scope of the project and detail its significance within the context of the applicant's discipline and the humanities generally. It should identify specific target collections from at least two corridor institutions. (3 pages) Project Timeline. This should include start and end dates for the project and the amount of time the scholar will spend at each institution. Applicants may wish to designate a "home base" and then detail how he or she will access other collections in the Corridor. (1 page) Curriculum Vita. (2 pages maximum) Letters of Support. (Maximum of 2. Please send with other application materials.) Please send completed applications no later than May 1, 2014. Barbara Brooker Assistant to the Senior Director Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries bbbrooke@syr.edu http://library.syr.edu/find/scrc/ Applications will be evaluated by a selection committee composed of librarians and faculty from each Corridor institution. Grant recipients will be announced in late May 2014. Research visits may begin as early as June 2014 and must be completed no later than June 2015. The CNY Humanities Corridor The Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor is a unique regional collaboration that focuses on seven different areas of research and humanistic inquiry. Each institution brings a vibrant and distinguished humanistic scholarly tradition to the collective work of the CNY Humanities Corridor. In the aggregate, the Corridor's programs bolster the relationships, productivity, and reciprocity common to the region's humanities community, as well as heightened visibility, enhancing public engagement in its activities. The initiative is today regarded as a highly visible scholarly presence in the region, if not nationally, as a new model of collaboration and resource-sharing that can also be adapted to other regions and inter-university partnerships.