CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Graduate Working Group:
"The Humanities and Work: The Next Generation"

UCHRI invites applications for a graduate working group on the Humanities and Changing Conceptions of Work, to be held during the 2013-14 academic year.

Who Can Apply: Advanced UC graduate students (see below for eligibility details)
Level of Award: $1,000 research stipend plus reimbursement for travel to UCHRI
Funding Source
: UC Humanities Research Institute
New Extended Deadline
: January 11, 2013 (11:59 pm PST). Apply online via FastApps.

OVERVIEW

"Pessimists like Thomas H. Benton see graduate education in the humanities as 'professional training for a job that you are not likely to get, after a decade of discipline, debt, and deferred opportunity.' And even the optimists admit that doctoral work is a delicate balancing act. Students must maintain enthusiasm and self-esteem, but keep a realistic sense of their prospects in a difficult job market. They must plunge into coursework, teaching, and research while picking up extra skills that might be useful if a tenure-track job isn't in the cards. Those with fellowships feel pressure to finish the PhD before their funding runs out, and those without adequate financial support must find jobs, or loans, to make ends meet."
-http://tableau.uchicago.edu/articles/2010/05/humanities-phd-students-prepare-uncertain-future
"Given the [current] economic, technological, social and ideological contexts, it is perhaps no surprise that many have called into question the value of a humanities education. In addition, over the course of the last five years, the government has developed new targeted research programs which are directed towards health, engineering, sciences and environmental studies and which do not seem to make much place for the humanities and social sciences. At the same time, humanities scholars' sense of marginalization within the academy, their withdrawal within and from active participation in public debate only contributes to doubts about the value of humanities education and research. When they consider employment prospects, both students and parents question the choice of a humanities education as impressions persist that in today's and tomorrow's marketplace, the skills and competencies of humanities graduates appear to be obsolete."

-Report of the Working Group on the Future of the Humanities, SSRC, 2001

By all accounts, the humanities are in trouble. And yet, applications to PhD programs remain level, and across the UC graduate students continue to produce top quality scholarly research and to translate their humanities training and skills into a range of careers both inside and outside the academy, challenging and transforming current conceptions of the work and relevance of the humanities in the process.

This special working group invites the perspectives of this "next generation" of humanities scholars across the University of California on the future of work in the humanities. Funded by UCHRI as part of the Humanities and Changing Conceptions of Work research initiative, the working group provides an opportunity for an interdisciplinary group of advanced graduate students to think in community about their own scholarship in relation to rapidly changing conceptions and conditions of work in the 21st century as well as to explore innovative strategies for framing, translating and sharing their humanities research and training.

WORKING GROUP STRUCTURE

UCHRI will host two convenings, one in fall 2013 and one in winter 2014. Each 1-2 day convening will include a writing workshop with faculty mentors and a meeting with the faculty participants in the Working Group on The Humanities as Work/The Work of the Humanities. Participants will ALSO be expected to work together virtually and with faculty interlocutors over the course of the year.

The fall workshop will focus on Writing for the Public, offering participants an opportunity to share their own research and develop strategies for framing their work for broader audiences.

The winter workshop will focus on The Work of the Humanities in the Public World, exploring relevance of their work and of the humanities in general beyond the academy.

Each participant will be expected to produce two substantial essays for publication on a digital platform hosted by UCHRI. Participants will also share their experience and findings as panelists at the culminating conference of the Humanities and Work research initiative in spring 2014.

Each participant will receive a $1,000 research stipend and will be reimbursed for reasonable travel expenses from their home campus to attend the workshops and meetings at UCHRI.

Up to seven participants will be selected for the Working Group. Applications will be evaluated by UCHRI's Advisory Committee, and will be assessed on the basis of intellectual merit, engagement with overall theme, and potential contribution to the research initiative and the humanities as a whole. Awards will be announced in spring 2013.

Applicants must be UC graduate students in the humanities or humanistic social sciences in good standing and must have passed all required oral and/or written doctoral exams no later than August 15, 2013 and must be expected to advance to candidacy in Fall 2013.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications are accepted exclusively online via UCHRI's FastApps system.

Required documents include:

  • Dissertation Title and Abstract (200 words max.)
  • Narrative Statement of Interest (2,000 words max.).
  • Curriculum Vitae (no more than two pages).
  • Two letters of recommendation

All materials should be submitted to UCHRI via FastApps no later than 11:59PM on January 11, 2013.
For technical assistance, contact techsupport@hri.uci.edu.

For general questions about the grant and proposal development, please contact Kelly Brown, UCHRI Research Projects Manager, at kbrown@hri.uci.edu.