Event Date
The DePaul University Humanities Center (DHC) is inviting applications for Visiting Fellows for 2020-2021.
All applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent, and research projects must be in the humanities.
International applications will be considered. Fellowships may run for nine months (from
September 2020 to June 2021) or six months (from January 2021 to June 2021). During their
tenure, Visiting Fellows are required to make an intellectual contribution to the DePaul
community and participate in the programming and activities of the DHC and the university.
We are especially interested in applications that involve a project around the theme of “Age,”
broadly construed. All applications regardless of topic will be considered, but preference will be
given to applicants who draw connections between their proposed project and the 2020-21 DHC
theme, “Age.” NB: The DHC will be hosting events that touch on such topics as the analog age
and the era of cassette tapes; child liberation; birth & infancy; the juvenile justice system; the
gendering of age; childhood, games, and gaming; and sexuality and privacy in the golden years.
Ultimately, we are interested in interdisciplinary, creative, innovative projects that take up the
theme of “Age.”
The DHC serves as a site for discussion and research in the arts and humanities at DePaul
University and in Chicago at large, engaging these communities in the most recent and
impressive scholarship in the humanities, with special attention paid to the exchange of ideas
across disciplines. Recent guests of the Center have included actor Ann Dowd, actor Michael
Shannon, author George Saunders, dancer and choreographer Akram Khan, photographer Sally
Mann, painter John Currin, dancer Edward Watson, filmmakers the Brothers Quay, and Native
American activist “Water Protectors” from Standing Rock. Recent domestic and international
Visiting Fellows have come from The University of Chicago (Italian Literature); Theatre Y
(Chicago); Saint Louis University (British literature); the College of William and Mary
(American studies); Theatre du Soleil, Paris, France (acting/directing); the University of San
Diego (medieval and renaissance studies); Rutgers University (law); and Macquarie University,
Australia (cultural theory).
The DHC Visiting Fellow program is generally a sabbatical/leave-based position, as there is no
large stipend associated with this position. However, apart from the mutual benefits of being
engaged with our vibrant local intellectual community in the heart of Lincoln Park in Chicago,
Visiting Fellows will be given an office in the Center with computer, staff support, library
privileges, and an honorarium of up to $3,000 ($1,000 per quarter) to support the public
presentation of Fellows’ work (with at least one public lecture supported and expected of all
Visiting Fellows) and for participation in other DHC programming.
Applications are due by Friday, January 24, 2020. An application contains (1) a cover letter
including contact and biographical information about the applicant and the length of Fellowship
requested; (2) a current CV; (3) a brief description (not more than 1,500 words) of the research
project stating the objectives, significance, and originality of the project in a manner clear to a
nonspecialist; and (4) one confidential letter of reference (which may be sent under separate
cover).
Applications will be judged on the project's potential interest to scholars in different fields of the
humanities; the promise of the specific research project being proposed; the originality and
intellectual distinction of the applicant’s previous work; the way in which the application takes
up the theme of “Age” (if applicable); and the applicant’s ability to engage in collegial
interaction and to contribute to the intellectual life of the DHC. A goal of the selection process is
to create a diverse community of scholars. Applicants who are members of traditionally underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Fellows will be announced in early-spring 2020.
Email or mail complete applications (and have letters of reference sent to):
Prof. H. Peter Steeves, Director
DePaul Humanities Center
psteeves@depaul.edu
Visiting Fellows 2020-21
The DePaul Humanities Center
2347 N. Racine Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614-3107
USA