Public Humanities Fellowships for the ZIP Code Memory Project
Sponsored by the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities
and the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life
All proposals must be submitted by May 24, 2021.
The Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life (IRCPL) and the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities (SoF/Heyman) invite applications from advanced graduate students throughout the university in support of the ZIP Code Memory Project: Practices of Justice and Repair at The Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD). Led by Marianne Hirsch (Columbia) and Diana Taylor (NYU), The ZIP Code Memory Project seeks to find reparative ways to memorialize the devastating losses resulting from the COVID pandemic while also acknowledging its radically differential effects on different Upper New York City neighborhoods. In partnership with community, arts, religious, and academic organizations, and working across the ZIP Codes of Morningside Heights, Harlem, Washington Heights and the South Bronx, the ZCMP will gather with a group of scholars, artists, and activists to develop a series of humanities and arts practices that aim to build a sense of shared responsibility and belonging. ZCMP will comprise group meetings and discussions, reparative memory workshops, larger public roundtables and memorial events, the building of an interactive website, and a final exhibition.
Public Humanities Fellows will each work closely with one of the community, arts, or religious organizations participating in the project, as well as with a small group of participants selected by that organization.
Fellows receive a stipend of $4000. The fellowship is for 2021-2022, with the possibility of renewal.
Duties include:
Assisting with event and workshop organization
Liaising with workshop leaders and community groups about needs and goals
Assisting in writing workshop description with the community group in mind, outlining aims and requirements.
Attending all ZCMP community group activities and writing up summaries of each meeting
Working with project organizers, workshop leaders, and other PH Fellos to analyze the methods and the reparative/theoretical implications of the project
Attending ZCMP team meetings and coordinating with other PH fellows
Assisting in organizing materials for inclusion in the website
Qualifications:
Commitment to publicly engaged scholarship
Knowledge of Spanish and/or other neighborhood languages preferred
Familiarity with the participant communities preferred
Contact:
Please contact Marianne Hirsch (mh2349@columbia.edu) with any questions about the project.
Application:
A statement of interest (750 words), including qualifications for the position
1-2 page CV, including languages spoken and names and contact information of three references
Submission Guidelines:
Applications must be submitted as a single PDF document, containing Statement of Interest and CV. Label the file thus: Last Name, First Name—ZCMP Public Humanities Fellowship Send the application file as an attachment in an email to: heymanfellowships_applications@columbia.edu
All proposals must be submitted by May 24, 2021. Applicants will be informed of decisions by June 1, 2021.
ABOUT IRCPL: The Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life supports academic research, teaching, and scholarship on the study of religion, culture, and social difference at Columbia University. In addition, it convenes academic conferences, public forums, and collaborative programming to support and extend academic and scholarly understanding of these topics, and to disseminate and distribute such new understandings to broader publics and communities.
ABOUT THE SOF/HEYMAN: Founded in 1975 to support postdoctoral research in the humanities, the Society of Fellows in the Humanities is today the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities--dedicated not only to fostering innovative scholarship, but also to applying the critical, reflective, and interpretive practices of the humanities to address real-world challenges. Through workshops, conferences, lectures, seminars, performances, and public humanities collaborations, the SOF/Heyman offers opportunities for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, students, artists, practitioners, and community members to participate in cross-disciplinary inquiry intent on illuminating the past, engaging the present, and imagining new ways to produce knowledge that promotes the public good.
ABOUT CSSD: The Center for the Study of Social Difference is an interdisciplinary research center supporting collaborative projects that address gender, race, sexuality, and other forms of inequality to foster ethical and progressive social change.