The Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities invites all eligible tenured and tenure-track faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor and above to submit applications for a BNC Faculty Fellowship. A maximum of two Fellowships may be awarded. The Fellowship provides a release from teaching for one semester, accompanied by a release from service commitments. Supported projects will be in the field of the humanities broadly defined and proposals may be submitted by any qualified member of the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences. The proposals will be evaluated and ranked by an external advisory committee, which will take into account the following criteria: the intellectual quality of the research project; the applicant’s record of achievement and demonstration of promise; and the appropriateness of such an award at this point in the applicant’s career.
Eligibility:
All full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor and above are eligible to apply, provided that they have not received a semester of release from teaching and service to perform research during the preceding five academic years. This would apply to any combination of sabbatical, a BNC Faculty Fellowship, or an external fellowship, but it would not include, for example, parental leaves, releases in exchange for service, etc. Any questions about eligibility should be addressed to the Director of the Baker-Nord Center. All applicants are required to apply simultaneously for comparable funding to at least two external sources, and if successful, must agree to accept such funding in place of a BNC Fellowship. Information about some possible sources of such funding can be found on the External Funding Opportunities page. Assistance is also available from the Grants and Fellowships Specialist in the Dean’s Office. Each application must be accompanied by a letter of support from the Chair of the applicant’s department. If the applicant is herself the Chair, a letter of support from the Dean must be included. In addition, each application must be supported by two letters of recommendation from scholars not affiliated with Case Western Reserve University. The BNC Fellowship may be held in conjunction with a sabbatical leave.
Application Deadline:
Applications are due by 5:00 pm on the date indicated.
2025-2026 Academic Year - December 2, 2024
Policies and Expectations:
- All awardees will be required to collaborate with the Baker-Nord staff in publicizing their research and fellowship to the Case Western Reserve University community through the website and other relevant outlets.
- Resulting publications and presentations should acknowledge the support of the Baker-Nord Center. Please submit links to scholarly and/or creative products that result from funding.
- Each Faculty Fellow will submit a written report, not to exceed 300 words, to the BNC describing the work completed and plans for publication or other distribution. In addition, each BNC Fellow will deliver a presentation of the project at the BNC.
Application Procedure:
To apply, please complete the Faculty Fellowship Application Form.
As well, each application must be accompanied by:
1) Letter of support from the Department Chair, which should be sent separately to the BNC (bakernord@case.edu). This letter should indicate the Chair’s support of the project and approval of the release from teaching and service, which must in turn be approved by, and coordinated with, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences if the application is successful.
2) Two letters of support from scholars not affiliated with CWRU. These letters should also be emailed by the writers directly to the BNC (bakernord@case.edu) before the application deadline and must clearly reference your application.
Previous Recipients:
2024-2025 -
Brian Clites, Department of Religious Studies
Cassi Pittman Claytor, Department of Sociology
2023-2024 -
Elizabeth Bolman, Department of Art History and Art
Lihong Shi, Department of Anthropology
2022-2023 -
Georgia Cowart, Department of Music
Robert Spadoni, Department of English
2021-2022 -
Francesca Brittan, Department of Music
Thrity Umrigar, Department of English
2020-2021 -
Evelyn Adkins, Department of Classic
Laura Hengehold, Department of Philosophy
2019-2020 -
Anthony Jack, Department of Philosophy
2018-2019 -
Daniel Goldmark, Department of Music
Gillian Weiss, Department of History
2017-2018 -
Justine Howe, Department of Religious Studies
Rachel Sternberg, Department of Classics
Thrity Umrigar, Department of English