Sponsored by the Tabb Center with co-sponsorship from the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, Inheritance Baltimore, the Singleton Center for the Study of Premodern Europe, Bill Tyler, and the Virginia Fox Stern Center for the History of the Book in the Renaissance.
Next deadline: April 4, 2023
The Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards, or DURAs, are available for undergraduates working on independent research projects that draw on primary source materials in the rare book, manuscript, and archival collections of the Sheridan Libraries. These collections span 5,000 years of rare and unique objects and texts, from ancient cuneiform tablets and Egyptian papyri to 20th-century African American photography and U.S. suffrage movement records.
Each award, in the amount of $3500, supports research conducted from May 2023-April 2024 and the development of projects based on this research, e.g. an academic essay, online exhibition, film, digital humanities project, or other deliverable. (See “Recent DURA Projects” below for examples of past student research projects.) Applicants should submit a proposal and one letter of recommendation by April 4, 2023. Eligible research repositories include University Archives, Special Collections, the Institute for the History of Medicine in East Baltimore, The George Peabody Library, and the John Work Garrett Library at Evergreen Museum & Library.
A fellowship award of $3500 will be given to each recipient, which is intended to be used as a cost-of-living stipend but can be utilized for additional research expenses. Fellows will receive half of the award at the beginning of the project and the other half at completion.
Two additional awards of up to $5000 are available for the summer of 2023, funded by Inheritance Baltimore, for research with JHU Africana collections. Awardees will be mentored by Inheritance Baltimore fellows within their areas of expertise. Interested applicants for these specific awards should contact Dr. Shawntay Stocks, sstocks3@jhu.edu, Assistant Director of Fellowships and Community Engagement for Inheritance Baltimore, for more information about eligible collections.
Requirements
- The fellowships are restricted to JHU freshman, sophomore, and juniors. Seniors are eligible to apply if their proposed project will be completed prior to their graduation.
- Applicants must identify a faculty mentor and/or Library curator who can help them identify materials for research, formulate proposals, and conduct research.
- Awardees must submit a final project based on their research (e.g. essay, film, digital humanities project, etc.) no later than April 18, 2024 and give a brief presentation about their research at a public event in April 2024.
- Awardees must write a short blog post about their research by April 18, 2024.
Application Instructions
Applicants are strongly urged to contact DURA coordinator Dr. Joseph Plaster or Inheritance Baltimore DURA coordinator Dr. Shawntay Stocks in advance to discuss proposals and collaboratively develop applications.
Applicants should submit via email to Dr. Plaster, at jplaster@jhu.edu, by April 4:
- A two- to three-page, single-spaced proposal that addresses each of the following:
- the specific topic to be explored and question(s) you want to investigate
- specific rare book, manuscript, oral history and/or archival materials in the Sheridan Libraries’ collections that you propose to examine
- qualifications for conducting the research (e.g., your undergraduate status, general academic interests, related classes, personal or work experience, related research)
- your timeline for completion of the project scheduled, including how often you and your mentors will meet about the project
- expected outcome(s) of the project (e.g. developing an honors thesis topic, research paper, exhibition, digital application, etc
- One letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor or librarian mentor. Your mentor should send a recommendation letter indicating their support and commitment to mentoring your project by e-mail, to Dr. Plaster, at jplaster@jhu.edu, by April 4.
Applicants will be notified of our decisions by April 20, 2023.