Award Categories

Research Fellowship

Research Fellowship will support doctoral candidates and faculty who wish to use the Kislak Collection at the University of Miami Libraries as a primary resource for a dissertation or scholarly work with the Kislak Collection. Fellowships of $4,000 per month will be granted for periods of one to two consecutive months, depending on the range of materials the applicant wishes to consult and the centrality of Kislak materials to their research. These fellowships will take place between June 1 of the award year and May 31 of the following year.

Artist-in-Residence

Residencies of up to two months will support those who wish to use the Kislak Collection to advance their artistic practice. The artist can be at any stage of their career and in any discipline, such as literary, visual, and performing arts. The Artist-in-Residence will collaborate with the Kislak Collection and Special Collections to create works inspired by our collection materials. The Kislak Collection requests that all drafts, edited iterations, interviews, sketches, etc., be added to our Collection. The artist can retain total intellectual control over the final work. The Artist-in-Residence will receive a stipend of $4,000 per month.

Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel based on:

• Overall substantive merit of the proposal
• Applicant’s qualifications and recommendations
• Ability to demonstrate the relevance of Kislak Collection materials to the proposed project

Eligibility (one of the following)

• All citizens and permanent legal residents of the United States who are enrolled in doctoral programs are eligible to apply.
• Foreign nationals residing in the U.S. on F-1 student visas in a doctoral program at a university in the U.S. are also eligible to apply.
• Faculty at all levels (junior, mid, and senior) in U.S.-based institutions
• U.S.-based independent scholars
• Artists and performers, including but not limited to poets, playwrights, short fiction writers, novelists, painters, choreographers, composers, and others in artistic fields.
  • Preference will be given to applications from underrepresented communities.

Application Instructions

• Application Form
• Current Curriculum vitae, limited to no more than five pages.
• Research proposal: an overall project description of at least 500 words stating how the project would potentially benefit from using the Kislak Collection.
• Material List: Kislak Collection materials to be consulted during the fellowship. The list need not be comprehensive; however, applicants are expected to make a convincing case that the Kislak Collection can support their project. Applicants can use the following to find relevant materials for their project:
  • Books and periodicals: Special Collections | University of Miami Libraries
  • Archives and manuscripts: Special Collections – Archival Collections
  • Digital collections: Jay I. Kislak Collection of the Early Americas, Exploration and Navigation – Digital Collections
  • Jewels of the collection: Open New Worlds Exhibition
• Two confidential letters of reference. Letters may be written in English or Spanish and must speak to the scholarly contribution of the proposed project, the importance of the Jay I. Kislak residence to the applicant, and the applicant’s qualifications.

Scholar and Artist-in-Residence Responsibilities

• Acknowledge the Jay I. Kislak Collection and the University of Miami Libraries in any publication that results from the fellowship.
• Author a news story for the Libraries’ website.
• Facilitate/lead one in-person public event.
• Partner with Special Collections staff to promote their residency on social media.
• Residency Requirement:
  • The Fellow will be in residence for the duration of their fellowship. The Fellow is expected to work in the Kislak Center full-time throughout the tenure of the fellowship without significant interruptions.

Fellowships will take residence between June 1 of the year the applicant has been awarded and April 30th of the following calendar year. Fellowship dates must be consecutive. A month is defined as 30 days and does not have to coincide with the beginning and ending of a calendar month.