Deadine: 15 October 2015
Open to: Applicants worldwide with PhD degree, or equivalent
Fellowship: $4,200 per month
Description
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship for advanced research based on the Kislak Collection. The Kislak Collection is a major collection of rare books, manuscripts, historic documents, maps and art of the Americas donated to the Library of Congress by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation of Miami Lakes, Fla. The collection contains some of the earliest records of indigenous peoples in North America and superb objects from the discovery, contact, and colonial periods, especially for Florida, the Caribbean, and Mesoamerica.
From Estampas Copiadas de las Figuras, Palenque, Mexico: 1787. Jay I. Kislak Collection
The Kislak Fellows Program supports scholarly research that contributes significantly to a greater understanding of the history and cultures of the Americas. It provides an opportunity for a period of up to 8 months of concentrated use of materials from the Kislak Collection and other collections of the Library of Congress, through full-time residency at the Library. The program supports research projects in the disciplines of archaeology, history, cartography, epigraphy, linguistics, ethno-history, ethnography, bibliography and sociology, with particular emphasis on Florida, the circum-Caribbean region and Mesoamerica. We encourage interdisciplinary projects that combine disciplines in novel and productive ways. Select the “Sample Kislak Collection Items” tab for a representative selection of the types of items available for research in the Kislak Collection.
Eligibility
Applicants may be of any nationality and must possess a PhD degree, or equivalent terminal degree, awarded by the application deadline date of the year they apply.
Fellowship
The Kislak Fellowship for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas is for a period of up to 8 months, at a stipend of $4,200 per month, for residential research at the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress will pay stipends monthly by means of electronic transfer to a U.S. bank account. Transportation arrangements, housing, and health care insurance and costs are the responsibility of the Fellow. The Library will provide Fellows with information on housing and can provide Fellows with contacts for commercial providers of health care insurance. The Library is required to ensure that nonresident alien visitors maintain minimum levels of medical insurance, and will provide information about insurers that offer qualifying policies to nonresident aliens.
How to apply?
Applicants must submit:
- A completed application form, in English;
- A curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages; additional pages will be discarded);
- A single paragraph abstract;
- A statement of proposed research (maximum 3 pages);
- An explanation of why the Library of Congress is the required venue for your research (maximum 1 paragraph);
- A bibliography of works you have consulted for your proposal;
- 3 letters of reference (in English) from people who have read the research proposal.
Successful proposals will clearly indicate the purpose and principal scholarly contribution of the project, and the benefit to the project of working in the Library of Congress using both the Kislak materials and the Library’s other collections.
Applicants have to submit their application materials online to scholarly@loc.gov or by fax (202-707-3595).
For more information please see the official website
