Postdoctoral Fellows in the Humanities:
Call for Preliminary Proposals from Departments
and Centers
Sponsored by the Humanities and the Arts Discovery Theme
with funding from the American Council of Learned Societies
Autumn 2016-Spring 2018
The Ohio State University
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has awarded funds to the College
of Arts and Sciences for the support of two postdoctoral fellows in the humanities.
The ACLS defines the humanities broadly to include not only philosophy, literature,
religion, art, music, history and language, but also “related social sciences” such as
anthropology, psychology, and sociology. The full definition may be found at
http://www.acls.org/info/default.aspx?id=198). Additional information about the
ACLS postdoctoral initiative is available at
http://www.acls.org/news/12-02-2015/.
About this opportunity
 The award will cover the stipend ($50,000 per year), benefits, some
relocation costs, computing equipment and support, and a small research
fund for each postdoctoral fellow. All costs will be covered through the ACLS
grant and through the Humanities and the Arts Discovery Theme.
 Hosting units must provide office space for the fellows.
 Each postdoctoral fellow will receive 12-month appointments for up to two
years for the period beginning in Fall 2016 and ending in Spring 2018.
 If a postdoctoral fellow leaves at the end of the first year, the host unit(s) may
identify and appoint another postdoctoral fellow.
 Units applying may be departments, centers, or institutes. Units may apply
individually or jointly. In the latter case, if the proposal is successful, the
postdoctoral fellow will be jointly appointed.
 If a center or institute is applying individually (as opposed to jointly with a
department), arrangements must be made with the chair of a department or
director of a program for the postdoctoral fellow to have teaching
opportunities.
 Host units are responsible for the recruitment and mentoring of the
postdoctoral fellows. For purposes of grant reporting, host units must gather
information related to the search, appointment, mentorship, and eventual
placement of the postdoctoral fellow.
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Fellows must spend approximately half of their time on research, with the
rest of their time divided between teaching, participation in college and
university programs (such as working groups or faculty seminars), and
professional development according to their interests and the goals of the
host units. It is expected that they will teach a minimum of one course per
semester.
Postdoctoral fellows must engage in some capacity with undergraduate
students outside of the classroom and develop a plan for meeting regularly
with other fellows and faculty in the college and the university.
Preliminary Proposals
Units interested in hosting a postdoctoral fellow are asked to review the
information above and answer the questions below. Selected departments and/or
centers and institutes will be invited to submit a full proposal. Once the hosting
units are identified, they will be responsible for conducting a search and selecting a
fellow.
Please submit preliminary proposals to Bethany Dickens, Program Manager
for the Humanities and the Arts Discovery Theme, at Dickens.54@osu.edu by
Friday, December 18, 2015. Preliminary proposals may be attached as a Word or
PDF document, or inserted directly into the body of an email.
Preliminary proposals should include the following:
1. Name of the proposed host department and, if a joint proposal, the names of
collaborating departments, centers, and/or institutes.
2. Name and email address of the preferred contact person.
3. Brief (three-to-four sentence) answers to the following questions:
a. How will a postdoctoral fellow contribute toward the academic
mission of your department?
b. How will the postdoctoral fellow be involved in undergraduate
mentorship and/or teaching?
c. What are your ideas for building community for the postdoctoral
fellow beyond the hosting department or center?
4. Affirmation of the ability and willingness of the host unit to conduct the
search, provide office space (technical equipment needs will be paid for by
the program), and mentor the postdoctoral fellow.
Contact Information
For questions or concerns, please contact Bethany Dickens, Program Manager for
the Humanities and the Arts Discovery Theme, at Dickens.54@osu.edu or 614-6883167.