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Institutions of Public Culture Fellowships:
Application Information for 2006-2007

Applications for 2006-2007 fellowships are no longer being accepted.

Are you involved in heritage studies, film and media, critical art theory, transforming museums, designing new types of memorials, or any other form of cultural production? Do you teach, study or research at a university on topics related to public culture, public history, museums or heritage debates? Do you work for a museum, local arts council, your local city council, or are you in a private practice, working for a NGO, or operating independently?

Underwritten by generous support from Emory University's Office of the Provost and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Centre for the Study of Public Scholarship (CSPS) is offering fellowships for 2006-07 on its Program on Institutions of Public Culture. Through this Program the CSPS strives to develop an informed and nuanced understanding of how cultural interactions among different communities are and should be conducted in public spaces. 

The Study of Institutions of Public Culture
Institutions of Public Culture are critical social locations where knowledge and perceptions of the public sphere are shaped, debated, imposed, challenged, and disseminated. As sites for the elaboration of ideas about self and society they are also locations for challenging such assertions and experimenting with new definitions. Scholars need to explore the range and variety of "publics" that might be engaged and how the very notion of "public" has changed over time and been inflected by different institutional settings.


South African Cultural Institutions in Transition
The transition from apartheid South Africa to a popularly elected government forged links between institutions and spheres of cultural production that were formerly separated. Many South African public institutions with a complex history of ethnic and racial exclusion underwent changes that called for the rethinking of basic categories and practices. For many institutions, though, this process of transformation is an ongoing one. In this time of continuing transition it remains vital to promote critical engagement and to sustain commentaries and debates.

The Center for the Study of Public Scholarship (CSPS) at Emory University, Atlanta, is collaborating with South African cultural institutions to bring together scholars of public culture who are working from universities, museums, NGOs, political or arts organizations, or other institutional sites.

The Program on Institutions of Public Culture takes a comparative, historical and practical approach in order to explore the parameters and possibilities for change. The Program provides opportunities for South Africans to reflect on their recent experience and relate it to the histories and practices of some institutions in the United States, such as the Center for Public Scholarship's partners:

* The Michael C. Carlos Museum, a university museum which has excellent collections of Ancient Art, African Art and Ancient  American Art.

* The Atlanta History Centre, a major urban history museum, with research and exhibiting programs on urban history and the Civil Rights era.

* The Institute of African Studies at Emory, a vigorous area studies program, that has a regular seminar.

* The Smithsonian Institution's Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, in Washington DC, which is committed to exhibiting cross-cultural work.

 The Center invites applications for 2006-07 for:

Two Research Fellowships, September 2006 to May 2007:

Research Fellows in the Program on Institutions of Public Culture will come from universities and from arts, culture and heritage institutions. They will normally have completed at least a Masters degree or equivalent.

The research fellowships will be of a semester in duration and can be taken up either from September 2006 to December 2006 or January 2007 to May 2007.

Deadline to apply is May 25, 2006. Download Application Coversheet .doc or .pdf

Research Fellows will:

  • Work on a well-developed project dealing with the broad theme of Institutions of Public Culture that will utilize resources available at Emory. This could include work on a book, a series of articles, a specific exhibition plan, or the writing up of a research project.
  • Help organize and participate in CSPS programs.
  • Be asked to participate in other relevant Emory programs and courses.
  • Present their research or project work to assembled colleagues and audiences drawn from the scholarly community of Emory and Atlanta more generally.
Living expenses and airfare:
  • Research fellows will receive a stipend of approximately US$15,500 per semester. 
  • The Program will pay for airfare for fellows between South Africa and Atlanta.
  • Fellows will also receive a research allowance.

Research Fellows will also:

  • Participate in the ongoing seminar of the CSPS and other activities organized by the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, the Institute of African Studies, and other relevant programs.
  • Visit cultural institutions where appropriate.
  • Meet in forums for discussion of their ongoing work, selected readings, program planning and coordination.

To apply for a Research Fellowship, please include:

  1. A completed application coversheet (available above on this website or from the Steering Committee).
  2. A five to ten page statement of purpose, including a description of the project you plan to complete during the fellowship and noting how specific resources at Emory will be helpful.
  3. Specify the period you would prefer to take up the fellowship: September to December 2006 or January to May 2007
  4. Your resume or curriculum vitae (you should also indicate previous scholarships and fellowships).
  5. Three letters of recommendation by persons who know you personally and/or professionally and who know and can comment on your work. In their letters, your referees should comment specifically on your proposed project, its quality and significance, and your qualifications for undertaking it. They might also evaluate the strengths and weakneses of your project and how you and your work would benefit from taking up the fellowship. Your referees must send these letters directly to the steering committee.
  6. A writing sample of ten to thirty pages or any comparable sample of your work.

Closing date: Applications and referees' letters must reach the Steering Committee on or before 25 May 2006. The Committee may interview applicants. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Please send your application to:

Prof Leslie Witz
Steering Committee, Institutions of Public Culture
Centre for Humanities Research (Institute for Historical Research)
University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17
Bellville 7535
South Africa

Email: lwitz@uwc.ac.za
Phone: 021-9592225 (from outside SA: 27+21+9592225)
Fax:   021-9593598 (from outside SA: 27+21+9593598)


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Gabe Sibley & Corinne Kratz
1/26/2001