Call for Applications: Fellowship Program for Emerging Displaced Scholars

Fellowship Program for Emerging Displaced Scholars

Through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Program in Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities, Columbia Global Centers | Amman has established a fellowship program starting on January 1, 2019 that offers 12-month fellowships for emerging displaced scholars interested in the humanities to continue and further develop their scholarly pursuits. This opportunity can serve as a vital component in ensuring that emerging displaced scholars obtain relevant skills and embark on viable career paths in academia or other sectors serving the public good.

The Amman Center will help foster the skills and abilities of scholars, facilitate their successful integration into the academic community, and create opportunities whereby they could also contribute to advancing the conditions of other refugees worldwide.

The 12 month fellowship will provide support for exceptional emerging displaced scholars’ working in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. The program is intended to enable fellows to focus on issues that are of interest to their scholarship. A major consideration in the selection process is the expectation that each scholar’s period of residency at the Center will result in research of significance and originality.

Through the various support mechanisms that will be made available to fellows by the Center, it is hoped that the fellows, upon completion of the program, will have a better opportunity to continue their academic pursuits and integrate into academia.

To support the fellows the program will:

• Build academic capacity of incoming fellows through access to online courses at Columbia University and other platforms, and/or through training workshops held at the Center;
• Support the academic development of fellows by matching them with a relevant faculty member that would provide mentorship, advice and support;
• Strengthen global connectedness by linking emerging displaced scholars to academics, practitioners, and experts across the Columbia Global Centers’ network;
• Facilitate experiential learning opportunities for fellows, where they could assume a supporting role in program administration and implementation;
• Support fellows with convening roundtable discussions, planning conferences, and giving talks related to their subject areas;
• Enable emerging displaced scholars to embark on academic projects, including publication of their work, in a safe environment; and,
• Highlight the research work of emerging displaced scholars by disseminating their intellectual products and facilitating exchange through the Columbia Global Centers’ network and with relevant Columbia University schools and institutes.

Eligibility requirements

Eligible candidates are PhD students who have had their doctorate disrupted, post-doctoral fellows who were awarded a doctorate in the humanities or humanistic social sciences, or early career scholars who were employed at an accredited institution of higher learning and were forcibly uprooted from their home countries and respective academic institutions for reasons related to the emergence of security concerns and/or armed conflict.

This fellowship program is intended primarily for displaced scholars with refugee status or those who have submitted an asylum application. Applications from individuals who have been displaced or in exile for more than two years will also be considered. Applicants must have advanced English language proficiency to be considered for the fellowship program.

Scholars applying to the program are expected to submit an application dossier that includes the following materials:

1. A curriculum vitae that includes academic credentials and professional experience
2. A personal statement (two pages) which includes motivations for applying to this program, research and future academic interests, as well as providing a description of, and reason for, displacement
3. A proposal describing the academic project that will be undertaken during the 12-month fellowship. Please include reasons for wishing to undertake this project, its overall significance, and how you think this project will advance knowledge in the humanities. This proposal should also be accompanied by a timeline for your project
4. Two to three samples of research publications or current writing
5. Two recommendation letters from academic colleagues who can speak of your research
6. Copies of academic transcripts

Candidates are eligible to apply for the fellowship program only if their projects are based in the humanities. This generally covers any discipline that studies the human experience. It includes the familiar subjects such as literature, linguistics, philosophy, archaeology, religious studies, musicology, as well as the history, criticism and theory of the arts. Aspects of social sciences that have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods, such as anthropology, sociology, gender and ethnic studies, and history will also be considered.

Please direct any inquiries regarding eligibility to Dr. Ahmad Mousa, Programs Manager, T: +962 6 5777955, E: [email protected]

Selection process

The principal criteria for selection are: (1) the overall substance and validity of the proposed research project, (2) a well-developed plan for the research project that can be completed in an one-year time frame, (3) the candidate’s trajectory prior to their displacement, (4) the quality and depth of the applicant’s previous work, and (5) language proficiency.

Applicant materials will be reviewed by a selection committee comprised of Columbia University faculty, the Amman Center’s Program Manager, and two local/regional academics. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed by the selection committee.

Terms and conditions

The fellow will receive a stipend of $25,000 USD for the duration of the 12-month fellowship, including individual health insurance. The fellows will be based at the offices of Columbia’s Global Center in Amman. Fellows will be provided with office space, access to meeting rooms and conference facilities, as well as IT equipment, including a computer device, internet connection, printer, scanner, phone line, and IT technical support.

The fellows will have access to Columbia University online library resources as well as online courses at Columbia University and other platforms. As part of the program, fellows will be matched with a relevant faculty member at Columbia University who will guide them throughout the year.

Fellows are expected to be free of their regular commitments so that they may devote themselves full-time to the work outlined in their proposal. Please note that fellows are responsible for their housing costs.

How to apply?

Please send all the materials listed in section 3 (eligibility requirements) in a combined pdf file to: Lina Sharaan, Human Resources and Finance Officer, at [email protected] with the subject line: Application - Fellowship Program for Emerging Displaced Scholars.

The deadline for the application is December 17, 2018.