2020-21 SHASS Faculty Fellowship in Digital Humanities
*Not currently accepting applications*
The Mellon-funded Programs in Digital Humanities at MIT warmly invite proposals from SHASS faculty and lecturers for projects at the intersection of computing and the arts, humanities, or social sciences to be conducted in the digital humanities lab in AY22 and AY23.
Funded proposals will enable a semester-long collaboration between the Faculty Fellow and the DH lab in developing digital tools and computational methods to advance humanistic or social scientific inquiry or to create new pedagogical resources. The digital humanities lab consists of a diverse group of 20–30 UROPs, who work closely with pre- and postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, staff, and faculty on groundbreaking research and teaching in the School.
Accepted proposals will receive $12,500 for teaching replacement and benefits for one subject (given to the scholar’s home department or section), a substantial portion of the lab’s research time for one semester (value: approximately $40,000), and up to $4,000 for materials and external services. Final deliverables include open-source code, websites, databases, and interactive tools.
In exchange, the Fellow agrees to be in residence in the lab at least 6 hours per week during the funded semester, working with the lab’s staff on project design and implementation and collaborating with the lab’s UROPs as both a teacher and co-creator. In addition to providing significant, discipline-specific instruction for UROPs in humanistic or social scientific sources, methods, and questions, the Fellow commits to developing the basic level of technical communication needed to use the tools that the lab develops on his/her behalf and to take an active role in project management.
No prior experience in digital humanities is necessary. A spirit of collaboration between teacher-scholars and students is, however, essential. Proposals are open to humanistic research defined broadly (including cultural, historical, and creative approaches to the arts and social sciences). Individuals eligible to apply include full-time regular faculty at all professorial ranks, senior lecturers, and full-time lecturers. (Visiting faculty, temporary and part-time lecturers, and sponsored research staff are not eligible.)
We are now accepting applications for both AY22 and AY23. To apply, please send a proposal of approximately 500 words by Monday, February 1, 2021 to digitalhumanities@mit.edu. Please include in the description the expected research or pedagogical goals, some ideas of how MIT undergraduates would be able to help advance those goals, and an indication of your scheduling availability/preferences (available fellowship terms are: Fall '21, Spring '22, Fall '22, Spring '23). A note of support from the Department Chair or Section Head allowing the teaching release, if funded, is also required. We anticipate funding up to four projects in AY22 and AY23.
The faculty director and staff are happy to discuss potential projects with prospective applicants before the deadline. To schedule an appointment or to ask any questions, please email digitalhumanities@mit.edu.