Applications for AY 2022-2023 are no longer available.
Eligibility
Q: Who is eligible to apply for this fellowship?
A: The Inclusion Imperative Visiting Faculty Fellowship Program welcomes applications from faculty pursuing humanities-based research at four-year colleges and universities in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, who are committed to diversity in the academy and to the advancement of groups historically underrepresented in the professoriate. Full-time faculty from all ranks, including tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenured may apply. Those in the final year of temporary or non-continuing appointments are ineligible.
Q: What does being a Visiting Faculty Fellow in the Dresher Center entail?
A: Fellows will be in residence at the Dresher Center for the Humanities at UMBC for a period of one semester As a fellow, you will have access to an office and to administrative and research development services in the Dresher Center, as well as to the Albin O. Kuhn Library and other UMBC facilities. Fellows are expected to be in the Center at least two days per week.
To broaden and deepen the exchange between the Visiting Fellows and the campus community, each fellow will be paired with a UMBC faculty collaborator with shared research and/or teaching interests (these need not be in the same discipline). Fellows and UMBC collaborators will meet regularly throughout the fellowship period and will be encouraged to develop a joint research or curricular project to be implemented after the fellowship period. You may suggest a UMBC faculty with whom you would like to collaborate, although the program cannot confirm their availability during your fellowship.
As part of the fellowship experience, you will be expected to participate in the Dresher Center’s Fellows and Others workshop and attend its CURRENTS: Humanities Work Now series when possible. We also hope that you will participate in some of the Inclusion Imperative’s programs connected to its regional Diversity Teaching Network in the Humanities and the Humanities Teaching Labs. We also invite you to attend events and seminars, participate in workshops, and take part in the activities of faculty affinity groups and departments and join programs offered by UMBC’s Faculty Development Center where they fit with your research plans.
Q: Is teaching required?
A: Teaching is not required for this fellowship.
Q: Can I continue my service duties at my home institution during the fellowship?
A: When you take up the fellowship, your home institution will agree to provide you with a full release from teaching and service during the fellowship period. You should not be required to continue teaching or service duties at your home institution in the fellowship period.
Q: Can the fellowship be deferred to the following year?
A: No, the fellowship must be taken up during the period of the award.
Application
Q: How do I submit a proposal?
A: Applications must be submitted through the Interfolio portal at the link above or on the Inclusion Imperative Visiting Faculty Fellowship webpage. The link will be active through February 15, 2022. Full consideration will be given to those applicants who submit all materials through the Interfolio portal by 11:59 P.M. EST on February 15, 2022.
A complete submission will consist of
- The Application Form
- Curriculum Vitae (4-5 pages)
- Two recommendation letters. In the required documents, select the option “Request Recommendation.” This will generate a reference request that will be emailed to your recommenders. Recommenders should upload their letters in Interfolio no later than February 25, 2022.
- A letter from an official at your institution (dean’s level or equivalent) that endorses the application and agrees to provide the necessary fellowship release time during your fellowship term. In the application, upload a sheet with the name, title, and email address of the institutional official. No automatic reference request will be generated. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the institutional support letter is submitted by the deadline. The letter (on institutional letterhead) should be emailed to inclusionimperative@umbc.edu no later than February 25, 2022 (include the name of the applicant in the subject line).
- Humanities Research or Scholarly Project Proposal (up to 3 single-spaced pages, 11-point font, one-inch margins).
- Include a clear and concise statement of the specific aims and intellectual significance of your proposed project and its humanities focus.
- Explain how the project will complement, challenge, or expand relevant studies in the field.
- Describe the research method(s) and the part or stage of the project that the fellowship will support.
- Provide a statement about your ability to undertake the proposed work.
- Discuss your usual teaching load and the institution’s standard expectations for professional advancement (i.e. expected research productivity for promotion and/or tenure).
- Describe the intended audience and the intended results of the project. Explain how the results will be disseminated and why these means are appropriate to the subject matter and audience.
- Bibliography (1-2 pages)
- Statement on the applicant’s commitment to diversity in the humanities (2-3 double-spaced pages, 11-point font, one-inch margins). This statement should discuss some or all of the following:
- Your commitment to diversity in your research, teaching methods, and/or curricular perspectives;
- Your ability to work with diverse constituencies;
- Your record of sustained interaction with students, colleagues, and/or community members with broadly different perspectives, experiences, races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, socioeconomic circumstances, or other backgrounds;
- Your ability to bridge divides and/or work with others who are different from yourself in key ways;
- Your experience in building opportunities for students, colleagues, and/or community members to gain knowledge from multicultural, multi-perspective settings;
- Your commitment to helping universities become more diverse and inclusive.
Q: How are the recommendation letters and statement of institutional support submitted?
A: In the required documents, select the option “Request Recommendation.” This will generate a reference request that will be emailed to your recommenders. Recommenders should upload their letters in Interfolio no later than February 25, 2022. The application must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. on February 15, 2022.
You must also provide a letter of institutional support from an official at your institution (dean’s or equivalent level) that endorses your application and agrees to provide you with the necessary fellowship release time during the fellowship term. In the application, upload a sheet with the name, title, and email address of your institutional official. No automatic reference request will be generated. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the statement is submitted. This letter (on institutional letterhead) should be emailed directly to the Inclusion Imperative at inclusionimperative@umbc.edu no later than February 25, 2022. Please ask the official to include your name in the the subject line.
Q: How are proposals evaluated?
A: The program will give serious consideration to candidates who demonstrate one or more of the following:
- A commitment to diversity in their humanities research, teaching methods, and/or curricular perspectives;
- The ability to work with diverse constituencies;
- A record of sustained interaction with students, colleagues, and/or community members with broadly different perspectives, experiences, races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, socioeconomic circumstances, or other backgrounds;
- The ability to bridge divides and/or work with others who are different from the candidate in key ways;
- Experience in building opportunities for students, colleagues, and/or community members to gain knowledge from multicultural, multi-perspective settings;
- A commitment to helping universities become more diverse and inclusive;
- Projects focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning or in public humanities, as well as more traditional forms of scholarly research, are welcome.
Reviewers will evaluate applications based on the
- Quality of the proposed project and its significance in its field;
- Likelihood that the project will benefit from the fellowship;
- Commitment to and experience with fostering diversity and inclusion in the humanities;
- Evidence that the applicant is qualified to carry out the work of the project during the fellowship term and is an active and productive researcher, scholar, and/or teacher in their field;
- Strength of recommendations.
Q: When will I find out if my application is successful?
A: Notifications will be sent in mid-April 2022.
Fellowship Award
Q: What are the monetary benefits of the award?
A: Visiting Faculty Fellows will receive a salary support stipend of up to $25,000 (one semester). This is meant as salary replacement while the fellow is on leave from the home institution not as an addition to the usual salary. It is up to the home institution to determine how to administer the funds and whether it is possible to “top up” the stipend to match the fellow’s usual salary. It is assumed that institutions will continue to fund the fellow’s usual fringe benefits.
This regional program does not provide funds for housing and transportation; however, each fellow will receive funding support of up to $1,250 for research and travel-related expenses during the fellowship term.
Q: How will I receive the fellowship award?
A: Fellows will be notified of their fellowship award by email. This will be followed by a formal Letter of Acceptance to be signed by the fellow. The letter will overview the terms of the award and the progress report requirements. Awardees must also sign a media release and provide a high-resolution portrait image for publicity. The awardee will provide the name and contact information of an authorized official from the institution for the award subcontract.
UMBC will grant the fellowship award to the fellow’s home institution to be used to partially offset your salary during the fellowship. The UMBC Office of Sponsored Programs will work with an authorized official from your institution to discuss the terms and conditions of the Fellowship Subcontract.
After the subcontract is in place, your home institution may invoice UMBC for your award. Your institution will also provide financial reports in accordance with the contract schedule.
Please notify us if your institution is unable to accept the award and administer it on your behalf or if there are questions that arise surrounding the payment of the award.
Q: Must my home institution continue my fringe benefits?
A: The Inclusion Imperative Program expects that the fellow’s home institution will continue all fringe benefits during the term of the fellowship.
Q: Can my home institution charge indirect costs?
A: No indirect charges are allowed on this award.
Q: Whom do I contact with further questions?
A: Contact inclusionimperative@umbc.edu.