Opportunities

The John Carter Brown Library supports scholarship centered on the history of the colonial Americas, North and South, including all aspects of African, European, and Native American engagements in both global and comparative contexts. Short-term fellowships are open to individuals who are engaged in pre- and post-doctoral, or independent research, regardless of nationality.  Short-term fellowships are available for periods of two to four months and carry a stipend of $2,100 per month.

The John Carter Brown Library offers long-term fellowships, several of which are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent agency of the U.S. Federal government. Additional long-term fellowships have been made possible by Donald L. Saunders; R. David Parsons; and The Reed Foundation, which has endowed the InterAmericas Fellowship (for research on the history of the West Indies and the Caribbean basin). Applicants of all nationalities, however, will be considered for long-term fellowships; fellowships funded by the NEH are only available to citizens of the United States or to those applicants residing in the U.S. for the three years preceding application.  PhD candidates are welcome to apply for long-term fellowships if all degree requirements, including the successful defense of their dissertation, have been met by the application deadline. Long-Term Fellowships are available for periods of five to ten months and carry a monthly stipend of $5,000.

In collaboration with Mexico’s Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), the JCB Library will offer two fellowships exclusively to researchers from Mexico (currently living in Mexico and holding a Mexican passport). These will be two short-term fellowships (2-4 months) for scholars, at any stage of their career, whose research centers on the viceregal period. Instructions to apply are available here.

The Hodson Trust–John Carter Brown Library Fellowship supports work by academics, independent scholars and writers working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas before 1830. Candidates with a U.S. history topic are strongly encouraged to concentrate on the period prior to 1801. The fellowship is also open to filmmakers, novelists, creative and performing artists, and others working on projects that draw on this period of history.

This four month fellowship is divided into two parts – two months of research at the John Carter Brown Library during the academic year and two months of writing at the C.V. Starr Center at Washington College in Chestertown, MD during the following summer. The stipend is $5,000 per month for a total of $20,000, plus housing and university privileges.

The J. M. Stuart Graduate Fellowship is open to Brown Ph.D. students in the Humanities or Social Sciences whose dissertation topic relates to the early history and culture of the Americas and whose research and writing would benefit from privileged and sustained access to the resources of the John Carter Brown Library.

Stuart Fellows are full members of the international community of scholars in residence at the Library in any given year. In addition, although Stuart fellows are primarily engaged in dissertation research, a distinctive component of this fellowship is the opportunity to gain deeper scholarly command of the collections by working closely with leading curatorial experts on a Library project—such as an exhibition, publication, or website—germane to the fellow's area of interest.

The Stuart Fellow must have completed all preliminary exams and is expected to reside in Providence or nearby for the entire academic year in which the fellowship is awarded. He or she is provided with work space in the Library. Time contributed to work on the Library project, which is a requirement of the fellowship, should average around one day/week.

The Interdisciplinary Opportunities Fellowship is open to Brown Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences who will be entering their 5th or 6th year of doctoral study in 2020-2021. The fellowship is open to students whose dissertation topic relates to the early history and culture of the Americas and whose research and writing would benefit from privileged and sustained access to the resources of the John Carter Brown Library. While primarily engaged in dissertation research, fellows are expected to collaborate closely with leading curatorial experts on a Library project about one day per week and be active and engaged members of the international community of scholars in residence at the Library.