Opportunities
Fellowships are awarded to scholars to support dedicated research, either remotely or in residence, in the JCB’s collections. Fellowship awards include a stipend, which varies for short and long-term fellowships. Our fellows will need to pay significant attention to the administrative processes associated with visa sponsorship, health insurance, banking and other details (for international scholars in residence), and establishing a payment process (for all fellows, domestic and international, remote and residential).
Short-term Fellowship
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 $2,250 per month.
Long-term Fellowship
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.
Please note that the JCB also co-sponsors a postdoctoral fellowship with the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University. The announcement for 2023-2024 and the application link will be available shortly.
Brown University Opportunities
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. Time contributed to work on the Library project, which is a requirement of the fellowship, should average around one day/week.
Apply-The J. M. Stuart Graduate Fellowship