Society for the Humanities
Fellowships 2010-2011
The focal theme for 2010-2011 is “Global Aesthetics.” Six to eight Fellows will be appointed. Selected Fellows will collaborate with the Director of the Society for the Humanities, Timothy Murray, Professor of Comparative Literature and English and Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, an international research center on new media and global aesthetics.
Focal Theme 2010-2011
Global Aesthetics
The Society for the Humanities calls for scholarly reflections on global aesthetics. We seek interdisciplinary projects on aesthetics that reflect on the history and practice of artistic form in the context of historical cross-cultural exchange, economic and cultural flows, and contemporary global transformation.
The Society wishes The Society wishes to open the question of what constitutes an “aesthetic” approach to culture, politics, community, and being. The humanities have a long tradition of situating aesthetics in relation to the judgments of sentiment and taste, the pleasure of imitation, the force of the sublime, and the theory of interpretation. Whereas the modernist tradition might be said to have celebrated the autonomy of the work of art, the legacies of semiotics and poststructuralism situate autonomy in the framework of histories of textuality and signifying systems. Similarly, psychoanalysis has positioned the aesthetic in relation to homosocial expressivity as sustained by sublimation, an assumption of critical importance to subsequent theories of sexuality and gender. Of equal influence is the tradition of dialectical materialism for which aesthetics has been understood in relation to cultural superstructures and sociocultural conditions. Rather than seeking the soothing release of catharsis, this approach emphasizes the heuristic value of artistic alienation and social production.
Of particular interest to this discussion will be reflection on global approaches to aesthetics that have been articulated in dialogue with, independent of, or in contention with the Occidental tradition of aesthetics. How does the aesthetic function in Latin American, Asian, and African contexts? Or what about the impact of subaltern and minority discourses? How might the global practices of Marxism, religion, anthropology or communal social systems dialogue with the Occidental philosophical tradition? And how might procedures of criticism and translation enable or enhance cross-cultural expressions of aesthetic difference?
Artistic form and practice themselves also play an authoritative role in setting the terms of aesthetic norms, goals, and customs. How might global artistic production contribute to an ongoing understanding of aesthetics? Do contemporary experiments in new media, performance, film, literature, music, art, and architecture articulate aesthetic ideals that depart from the historical norm? Might new electronic and digital networks, mobilities, and artistic projects alter the terms of global aesthetics? These questions are meant to suggest, not delimit, possible approaches to the focal theme.
Scholars are encouraged to investigate transformations of global aesthetics and interdisciplinary practices across geographies, historical periods, disciplinary boundaries, and social context. The Society for the Humanities welcomes applications from scholars and practitioners who are interested in investigating this topic from the broadest variety of international and disciplinary perspectives.
Qualifications
Fellows should be working on topics related to the year's theme. Their approach to the humanities should be broad enough to appeal to students and scholars in several humanistic disciplines.
Applicants must have received the Ph.D. degree before January 1, 2009. The Society for the Humanities will not consider applications from scholars who received the Ph.D. after this date. Applicants must also have one or more years of teaching experience which may include teaching as a graduate student.
Application Procedures
Candidates should inform the Society of their intention to apply by returning the attached form immediately. The following application materials must be postmarked on or before October 1, 2009. Faxed applications will not be accepted.
1. A curriculum vitae and a copy of one scholarly paper no more than 35 pages in length. Applicants who wish to have their materials returned should enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
2. A one-page abstract in addition to a detailed statement of the research project the applicant would like to pursue during the term of the fellowship (1,000-3,000 words). Applicants are also encouraged to submit a working bibliography for their projects.
3. A brief (two-page) proposal for a seminar related to the applicant's research. Seminars meet two hours per week for one semester (fourteen weeks) and enrollment is limited to fifteen graduate students and qualified undergraduate students.
4. Two letters of recommendation from senior colleagues to whom candidates should send their research proposal and teaching proposal. Letters of recommendation should include an evaluation of the candidate's proposed research and teaching statements. Please ask referees to send their letters directly to the Society. Letters must be postmarked on or before October 1, 2009.
Send applications and letters of recommendation to:
Program Administrator
Society for the Humanities
A.D. White House
27 East Ave.
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-1101
For further information:
Phone: 607-255-9274
Email: humctr-mailbox@cornell.edu
Website: www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/
Awards will be announced by the end of December 2009.
Note: Extensions for applications will not be granted. The Society will consider only fully completed applications. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that ALL documentation is complete, and that referees submit their letters of recommendation to the Society before the closing date.
The Society for the Humanities
The Society for the Humanities was established at Cornell University in 1966 to support research and encourage imaginative teaching in the humanities. It is intended to be at once a research institute, a stimulus to educational innovation, and a continuing society of scholars.
In addition to promoting research on central concepts, methods or problems in the humanities, the Society for the Humanities seeks to encourage serious and sustained discussion between teachers and learners at all levels of maturity.
Fellowships
Fellows include scholars from other universities and members of the Cornell faculty released from regular duties. The fellowships are held for one academic year. Each Society Fellow will receive $45,000. Applicants living outside North America are eligible for an additional $2,000 to assist with travel costs.
Cover: Queenie McKenzie (Warmun, Australia), "The Great Flood of 1922," 1998. Collection of Renate Ferro and Tim Murray.
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