No application fee, FHI Book Manuscript Completion Fellowships 2011-12

Deadline: 1 April 2011

Call for Proposals: Book Manuscript Completion Fellowships, 2011-12

With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute (FHI) is pleased to announce a newly expanded program in support of the production and completion of near-complete scholarly manuscripts for full-time Duke faculty in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences. The Faculty Book Manuscript Completion Fellowships builds upon the FHI’s current Book Manuscript Workshops program by offering faculty the opportunity to convene a manuscript workshop (Fall 2011) AND to receive one semester of course release (Spring 2012) in order to address the contributions of their workshop participants. Additionally, each Book MS Completion Fellow’s home department will be matched with a Visiting Professor who will take on the Fellow’s teaching duties. Two fellowships will be offered each year, with at least one in the Assistant rank.

The Program: Workshops, Teaching Releases, Visiting Professorships

The Faculty Book MS Completion Fellowship program supports the development of scholarly monographs. The focus of the program will be on collective learning and constructive, informed criticism of a scholar’s research. The workshops and the ensuing teaching releases are intended to improve the manuscript under consideration, thereby making a good scholarly manuscript into a superlative published monograph. Eligible faculty members will submit proposals and engage in a competitive process.

The workshop component of the fellowship (Fall 2011) enables the author to invite two major experts external to Duke and the Research Triangle whose work is relevant to the subject of the book in question. The FHI will provide these external reviewers with honoraria and will cover all travel and lodging expenses. In addition to the external participants, the workshops will also include an acquisitions editor from a major scholarly press with experience in the field, and a small but select group of scholars from Duke and area universities. The workshops will be limited to 15 participants in total, and will be closed sessions. The faculty member whose book is the focus of the workshop will select each participant, and all participants will be provided in advance by the FHI with up-to-date copies of the manuscript under review.

The half-day workshop will consist of a series of presentations and commentary from the group. The two invited scholars and press editor will be asked to make a formal presentation of their thoughts on the book, to be followed by a response from the author and discussion with the larger group, and the discussion will continue over a working dinner.

Following the Fall semester workshops, the Book MS Completion Fellows will each receive a semester of course release in Spring 2012 in order to address the contributions of their workshop participants. In coordination with this teaching release, each Fellow’s home department will have the opportunity to hire a Visiting Professor to take on his/her teaching responsibilities. The funds for the visiting professorship will be allocated to the Fellow’s home department, and the chair of the department will then determine, in consultation with the Dean of the Humanities or Dean of the Social Sciences, whom they wish to invite as a visitor. The FHI will not be involved in the process of identifying and inviting the visitors.

Eligibility, Selection Process, and Criteria

The Book Manuscript Completion Fellowship program is designed for full-time Duke faculty in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences. Proposals must be focused on scholarly manuscripts being written with the aim to secure a publishing contract. Authors and their book projects will be selected based on the potential significance of the finished work to the field in question, and the potential impact of the book on the author’s career. Academic accomplishments will also be taken into account. The selection committee will be comprised of the Dean of Humanities, Dean of Social Sciences, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Director of the FHI, and a member of the FHI board. Workshop proposals must include the following components:

1. A one-page summary of the book in development, including a schedule for completion. In this summary, applicants should also include a statement indicating whether the work is under contract with a publisher, a list of publishers who have expressed interest, or a list of publishers the applicant feels would be ideal for the project but who have not yet been approached.
2. A one-page narrative explaining why and how this opportunity will be important to the process of completing the work. In this narrative, applicants should include a brief statement specifying their tenure and/or promotion timelines, if relevant.
3. A list of prospective invitees to the workshop, to include: (1) two scholars external to Duke; (2) one acquisitions editor at a major scholarly press; and (3) a list of general invitees to the workshops from Duke and Research Triangle campuses. The list may include no more than 15 people, and should be divided into areas of relevance, with each prospective participant in each area ranked according to preference. Please note that this list is intended to give the review committee a sense of the workshop to be proposed and will not be considered final. Applicants should not make any advance commitments to anyone on their list beyond confirming the general interest of the prospective participant, if this are deemed necessary. Applicants should be sure to include more than one scholar in each category.
4. A current curriculum vitae.
5. A letter from your Department Chair agreeing to one semester of teaching release if you receive the fellowship.

Proposals must be submitted by 5:00 PM on Friday, April 1, 2011, and sent via email attachment to fhi@duke.edu. Please include the phrase “Book Workshop Proposal” in the subject line. The teaching release letter from your Chair may arrive separately by email, by campus mail, regular mail, or express/courier service. Please note the slight difference in addresses for regular and express mail below. Queries about the program should be directed to FHI Assistnat Director Christina Chia at christina.chia@duke.edu or (919) 668-1902.

US postal or campus mail address:
Book MS Completion Fellowships
John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute
Duke University
Box 90403
Durham, NC 27708

Express/courier service address:
Book MS Completion Fellowships
John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute
Duke University
Bay 4 & 5, 1st Floor, Smith Warehouse
114 S. Buchanan Blvd.
Durham, NC 27701

More information here.