Study of History and Cultures of the Early Americas, Washington D.C.

Deadline: 15 October annually
Open to: applicants may be of any nationality and must posses a Ph.D. degree, or equivalent terminal degree
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.

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.

Eligibility

Applicants may be of any nationality and must possess a Ph.D. degree, or equivalent terminal degree, awarded by the application deadline date of October 15 of the year they apply.

Fellowship

The Kislak Fellowship 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. Transportation arrangements, housing, and health care insurance and costs are the responsibility of the Fellow.

Application

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 (reference form HERE)

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.

The annual application deadline is October 15, with the fellowship commencing anytime after September 1 of the next year.

Completed application packets, questions, and other requests for information should be sent to scholarly@loc.gov or to the following address. Please note that continuing mail delivery problems at the Library may require submitting the application packet by fax or email, to insure delivery by the deadline date:

The Kislak Fellowship for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas
The John W. Kluge Center / Office of Scholarly Programs
Library of Congress, LJ-120
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20540-4860
tel. 202 707-3302; fax 202 707-3595

Official website

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