Insurrect! Radical Thinking in Early American Studies is launching a Writing Fellowship, designed to support up to two fellows in working with our publication to produce a series of original writing in line with Insurrect!’s mission, with a further option to guest curate a roundtable around a singular theme.
We are an online publication devoted to critical scholarship in Early American Studies, especially invested in publishing the work of precarious and early career scholars on topics across the humanities related to the colonial Americas. You can read more about our mission here. As such, we are looking for writers enthusiastic about public-facing work in the humanities that connects the early American past and present concerns through an anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-sexist lens. Graduate students of all levels, non-tenure track scholars, librarians, archivists, curators, and advanced undergraduates interested in gaining experience in this area are all warmly invited to apply. In addition to publishing the fellow’s portfolio of work, we aim to offer a supportive environment to engage in the editorial process outside the more formal processes of academic journals. We will begin reviewing applications on May 20th for a start date in mid-June.
We envision two options for the structure of the fellowship in order to make the experience suit different levels of availability, which applicants will be asked to indicate on the application form. Both options include a fairly rigorous—but suitably supported—publication schedule.
The first option spans the summer months (est. June through September), and will consist of a publication schedule of 3-4 sole-authored pieces, with one guest-curated roundtable, interview, or article invited from an additional author. The fellow will receive $1000 in support across that time. Any additional contributors will be compensated at our usual rates.
The second option will be held at a time in consultation with the applicant over a period of 3-4 months commitment, and will consist of three sole authored pieces. The fellow will receive $800 in support across the fellowship.
We acknowledge that these fellowships are only sufficient as supplemental income; as such, we anticipate this support would be held in conjunction with some other form of employment, and aim to be flexible in managing multiple claims on the fellows’ time.
To apply, please fill out this form. Rather than a traditional CV, we are primarily interested in your goals in working with Insurrect!, any prior public humanities experience or aspirations in that field, and abstracts of 2-3 pieces you would hope to write during your fellowship period. We especially invite applicants to think creatively in terms of genre, and would be enthusiastic about publishing personal essays, exhibit reviews, conference reviews, book reviews, and pedagogical reflections alongside long-form essays. Examples of some of the forms we have published recently can be found in our archive. And for some further inspiration on writing for the public, please see our panel on the topic.
Any inquiries can be directed to insurrect.history@gmail.com.