Call for Proposals: 2016 UC Public Scholars

Call for Proposals: 2016 UC Public Scholars

Deadline: Monday, January 4, 2016

The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at UCSB invites graduate students in the humanities, arts and humanistic social sciences to apply to participate in the UC Public Scholars program. An extension of the UC Davis Mellon Public Scholars program, this new UC-wide initiative is aimed at introducing graduate students to the intellectual and practical aspects of identifying, addressing, and collaborating with members of a public through their scholarship. The Public Scholars Program addresses two separate but related goals of supporting community-engaged scholarship and broadening the career opportunities of humanities PhDs. UCSB will choose one Public Scholar, who will participate remotely in a quarter-long seminar in spring 2016; this seminar will be based at UC Davis, and will include the UC Public Scholars and the Mellon Public Scholars. The seminar will introduce Public Scholars to the intellectual and practical aspects of public humanities scholarship. Over the course of the seminar, and in consultation with a faculty mentor, UCSB’s Public Scholar will develop a community-engaged research project, and will receive a $4,500 stipend to support his or her work on this project in summer 2016.

The UC Public Scholars and their faculty mentors will be invited to attend a March 7, 2016 launch of the Public Scholars program at UC Davis.  Funding will be available for the Public Scholar’s travel expenses.

Eligibility
We welcome doctoral students in the arts, humanities and humanistic social sciences at any stage in their graduate training. Although priority may be given to those who are post-candidacy, anyone with an interest in public humanities is encouraged to apply, whether or not that interest is obvious in their dissertation research.

Application procedure:
Please submit a CV and letter of intent to ihcucsb@gmail.com by Monday, January 4, 2016.

CV: No longer than two pages, including academic accomplishments, contact information, academic department, advisor’s name, and projected date of graduation.

Letter of intent: No longer than two pages, addressing the following:
How do you see this experience enriching or expanding your graduate training?
How do your background and experiences relate to your interest in public scholarship?
Describe a project (at any stage of development) that engages the public, draws on your scholarly or creative skills, and has an end product. If you have spoken to a faculty member about your project, feel free to list him or her by name.

Application decisions will be announced in early February.  Please contact IHC  Director Susan Derwin (derwin@ihc.ucsb.edu) with any questions.