Application for Public Humanities Workshop
The Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities is pleased to invite applications for the 2022-2023 Public Humanities Graduate Research Workshop. Participants in this cohort-based workshop series will have the opportunity to propose and develop a public humanities project while receiving training, feedback, and financial support from the Institute.
Successful applicants will participate in six workshops distributed across the academic year, culminating in a Public Humanities Symposium where participants will present their work. The workshops will provide a grounding in the theory and practice of publicly engaged humanities work and give participants an opportunity to learn from scholars and practitioners across the University and beyond. Each participant will also receive a $750 grant from the Kaplan Institute to support them in developing their public humanities project.
Deadline
Applications must be submitted by Friday, October 14, 2022 at 11:59 pm CST.
Eligibility
Ph.D. students pursuing a degree in the humanities or humanistic social sciences are welcome to apply. The program is open to students at all stages of their training. Prior experience in public humanities work is not required.
Applicants must propose and pursue a public humanities project throughout the year. Projects may be individual or collaborative in nature, and may take any number of forms—podcasts, public syllabi, short films, walking tours, exhibits, community events, etc. (see our FAQs below for more on what constitutes public humanities work). We welcome projects at any phase of development and understand that your ideas may evolve over the course of the year.
Applicants must commit to attending all six workshops. These events will take place on Fridays at 12:00 pm CST and will be hybrid in nature—we strongly encourage all workshop participants to join us in-person for workshop events, but we also plan to offer hybrid events for those unable to be on campus. Fall quarter 2022 workshops are scheduled for Nov. 4 and Nov. 18 at 12:00 pm CST.
Application instructions
Graduate students should submit their applications via the Online Application Portal:
https://facultysearch.weinberg.northwestern.edu/apply/index/MzMx
The application consists of three components: 1) basic contact and program information (to be entered on the application form), 2) a CV [PDF upload], and 3) a Personal Statement [PDF upload].
Personal Statement instructions
The personal statement should address 1) your perspective on the public humanities, 2) your proposed project, and 3) your interest in the workshop. It should be uploaded as a single PDF document not exceeding 2 single-spaced pages. Please include your name and department in the document.
Here are some questions you may want to consider as you prepare your statement:
- Your perspective: What does publicly-engaged humanistic work mean to you? How do your personal background, experiences, and/or interests shape your vision of the public humanities?
- Your project: What is your topic? Who is your intended audience? What do you envision the final product/event will look like? Why is this project needed? What is its estimated scale (ex. duration, medium, participants, number of episodes)?
- If your project scope extends beyond this academic year, you should provide a clear sense of what you hope to accomplish this year, but feel free to gesture to your larger plans for the project.
- Your interest: Why do you want to participate in this workshop? What are you hoping to gain from it? How might it contribute to your research objectives, your professional development, and/or your personal goals?
FAQS
What constitutes a public humanities project?
We consider any endeavor that seeks to connect to, inform, or support communities beyond the university to be a public humanities project. For a useful description of the Public Humanities, please see A Typology of the Publicly Engaged Humanities by Daniel Fisher at Humanities for All. Note that this site also contains a database of publicly engaged projects that may be a useful source of ideas and inspiration.
I’m interested in publicly-engaged work but don’t have a fully developed project in mind at this stage. Should I still apply?
Yes! In order to apply, you will need to formulate a general idea of a project you would like to pursue as part of the workshop. However, we understand that your ideas may evolve or shift radically during the year as you learn from other participants, outside speakers, and the workshop conveners. You may even find other workshop participants who would like to build a project collaboratively. This is fine, so long as you are committed to pursuing some form of publicly engaged work this year.
At what degree stage is it best to participate in this workshop?
You are welcome to join at any stage in your doctoral training. The workshop is designed to benefit any Ph.D. student interested in developing a public humanities project and theorizing further about the importance of this work. You may wish to consider factors such as your current availability (Do you have time to devote to the project this year?) and your own research and professionalization goals (Do you want your public humanities project to be an extension of your dissertation work? Do you want to create connections early in your program that will benefit you later on? Do you see your project as a multi-year endeavor that you need to start now?)
Application support
If you have additional questions about the program, or would like to discuss potential project ideas before you complete your application, please contact workshop convener Dr. Trish Bredar at trish.bredar@northwestern.edu.
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