Fellowships and Grants Special Collections Research Center

Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) annually accepts proposals for two Faculty Fellows who want to provide students with an experiential learning opportunity to handle, analyze and interpret SCRC’s primary source materials as a core component in their classes. The program supports innovative curriculum development and fosters new ideas about how to transform the role of special collections in university instruction. Each fellow will receive a $5,000 fellowship payment; a comprehensive introduction to SCRC's collections, primary source analysis and contextualization, designing conversations, activities, and assignments utilizing archival/special collections materials; as well as receive ongoing class support from SCRC’s Instruction & Education Librarian.

SCRC’s primary sources span over 4,000 years--from the 21st century BCE to the 21st century CE--and represent an array of topics and perspectives relevant to the study of human culture and knowledge. They include various formats, including written and printed material, art, architecture and design, and music and recorded sound. Engaging with SCRC’s rare and archival collections allows students, faculty and researchers to explore and question historical evidence and testimonies while connecting with the innovative and enduring ways people have communicated, documented their experiences and recorded personal memories throughout history.

George Bain G'06, a member of the Library Associates, provided generous gift funding towards the Faculty Fellows in 2022-2024. The original funding for the program was made possible through the generosity of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, which promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions that transmit our cultural heritage. For more information about how to financially support a faculty fellow for the upcoming academic year and beyond, contact Ron Thiele Assistant Dean for Advancement for the Libraries, at rlthiele@syr.edu or 315.560.9419.

Eligibility

• Open to all Syracuse University faculty.
• Proposals may be from any discipline taught on campus but must be for the development or revision of a 3- credit course to be taught in the following year.
• The appointment is for 4 consecutive weeks in the summer.
• Course enrollment must be capped at 20 students.
• The course must be offered during SCRC’s regular operating hours.
• Preference will be given to courses with the potential to be integrated into the curriculum and taught on a recurring basis.
• Team-taught courses are not eligible.

Terms of Appointment

• Fellows are considered “in residence” at Special Collections Research Center in Bird Library and are expected to be active conducting research relative to the course, designing course materials and participating in fellowship-related programming in the Special Collections Reading Room and classroom for 4 consecutive weeks.
• Fellows must attend all orientations and participate in various workshop/support sessions and assessment activities relating to the program.
• At the end of the summer residency period, each Fellow will produce a comprehensive course syllabus and an annotated list of SCRC materials for class meetings and student assignments.
• The $5,000 fellowship payment will be awarded upon completion of the summer residency and receipt and final approval of all required materials. It is taxable or the full amount can be deposited into Faculty Research account.
• After completion of the course, each Fellow will present their experience to the university community.
• The program does not provide housing or travel support.

For questions or additional information, contact Jana Rosinski, SCRC Instruction and Education Librarian, at jrosinsk@syr.edu.

Previous Faculty Fellows Recipients:

2024-2025: Stephanie Shirilan [ETS 421: Shakespeare's Natural Worlds] and Lawrence Chua [ARC 432: Queering the Map]

2023-2024: LaVerne Gray [IST 400: Black Information, Memory, and Justice] and Julia White [SPE 644: Significant Disabilities, Shifts in Paradigms and Practices]

2022-2023: Doug DuBois [APH 340/TRM 600: How We Look—Photography, Identity and the Archive]

2021-2022: Joan Bryant [AAS 400/HNR 360: American Freedom Before & After Emancipation] and Kathryn Everly [SPA 400: Culture and Conflict in 20th Century Spain]

2019-2020: Jim Watts [REL 301: Ancient Near Eastern Religions & Cultures] and Kate Hanzalik [WRT 205: Critical Research & Writing in the Arts]

2018-2019: Stephano Selenu [LIT 245/ITA 300: Florence and Renaissance Civilization] and Shannon Novak [ANT 400/600: Excavating Bodies in the Archives]

2016-2017: Brice Nordquist [WRT 303: Research & Writing—Scenes of an (Im)mobile City] and Emily Stokes-Rees [MUS 506: Introduction to Curatorship]

Since 1949 Syracuse University has assembled historical documents, including manuscript, print, visual, and media materials, related to adult education. This material is known collectively as the Alexander N. Charters Library for Educators of Adults, in recognition of Dr. Charters' efforts in promoting and expanding our adult education holdings. Through the generosity of Dr. Charters, we are also able to offer annual grants to one or more scholars or practitioners wishing to do research in our adult education collections.

About Dr. Charters

Alexander N. Charters (1916-2018) earned his Ph.D. in adult education from the University of Chicago in 1948. He served as assistant dean of adult education and then dean and vice-president for continuing education at Syracuse University. With his wife, Dr. Margaret Charters, he was active in all aspects of adult education, from teaching and administration to organization, lecturing, consulting, and research.

The Charters Library Collection

Syracuse University Libraries hold one of the largest and most comprehensive collections on the field of adult and continuing education. The materials come from all over the world and document the international history and development of the field, which includes literacy, human resource development, distance education, international development, andragogy, and more.

The Charters Library is free and open to the public; adult education practitioners and educators are especially encouraged to utilize the collections. Materials include:

• More than 100 archival collections, containing correspondence, organizational records, publications, conference material, memorabilia, photographs, audio and video recordings, and more
• Records of the University Continuing Education Association and the Clearinghouse of Resources for Adult Educators
• 160 periodical titles, including many complete runs
• 220 newsletter titles
• 78 boxes of pamphlets
• More than 500 titles from Syracuse University Publications in Continuing Education
• More than 500 sound recordings
• More than 100 video recordings

For more information on the collections and their history, see the Charters Library website.

Applying for the Grant

SCRC offers annual grants of up to $5,000 to scholars or practitioners wishing to do research using SCRC’s adult education collections, with the amount of the award dependent on the scope of the research outlined in the applicant’s proposal.

Applications are closed for this year.

Applications are submitted as a single PDF file to SCRC Administrative Coordinator, Max Wagh, at mlwagh@syr.edu. The letter of intent describing your proposed research and how our collections will support your project (please be as specific as possible).

• Intended results of research, if any (e.g., conference paper, book, dissertation)
• Expected dates of research trip
• Amount requested, including estimated budget breakdown and term of stay
• Current résumé or CV
• One professional letter of reference

Grant Awardee Expectations

• Conduct onsite research using available adult education collections in the SCRC Reading Room, according to SCRC visitor policies and procedures.
• Present on the progress of your research to the Syracuse University Libraries' community.
• Submit a post-visit report to SCRC within two weeks of research visit.