RACE.ED Stuart Hall Foundation Fellowship

Applications are invited for the RACE.ED Stuart Hall Foundation Fellowship from postdoctoral scholars working in any area of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. While applicants are not required to be limited solely to focusing on the work of Stuart Hall, the proposal should display a meaningful engagement with his wide-ranging repertoire, either in theory, method or topic.

RACE.ED is a cross-university network concerned with race, racialization and decolonial studies from a multidisciplinary perspective. Working across different traditions of thought, research, and teaching commitments, RACE.ED is made up of more than one hundred colleagues across the three colleges of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.

The Stuart Hall Foundation is a charity committed to public education and addressing urgent questions of race and inequality in culture and society. It works collaboratively to forge create partnerships with universities and arts organisations in order to build a network of scholars, fellows and artists-in-residence.

IASH provides an enviable location in one of the world’s most intellectually inspiring cities, together with a dynamic network of international connections. Home to the Scottish Enlightenment, Edinburgh has a rich cultural heritage of scholarship and creativity that continues to the present day. In this haven of libraries and archives, galleries and music venues – all set amid iconic architecture – IASH helps scholars to take the humanities beyond campus to engage the public and work with organisations in a variety of sectors.

The Institute welcomes visiting researchers from across the world. Since 1970, over 1,250 Fellows have stepped through our doors. Up to 30 researchers are in residence at any one time in our amazing – and eclectic – nineteenth-century building just on the edge of the University’s central campus, boasting views of the Meadows. From more than 65 countries, IASH Fellows form a global alumnae/i community, and many career-long connections begin at the Institute.

What does the RACE.ED Stuart Hall Foundation Fellowship offer?

IASH hosts a lively scholarly community of visiting fellows. It is a supportive environment for postdoctoral researchers, while also offering networking opportunities with successful mid-career and eminent senior scholars. The Institute occupies a historic building with private courtyard and leafy views – perfect for uninterrupted thinking, reading and writing. Yet there is also plenty of opportunity to socialise and share ideas.

In short, a 2024-2025 RACE.ED Stuart Hall Foundation Fellowship provides:

• Research visit at the University of Edinburgh for three to ten months
• Bursary of £1,500 per month, plus grants for visa fees if required
• Dedicated office space at IASH, University e-mail and library access
• An allocated University mentor from the RACE.ED Network and/or a School within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Weekly Fellows’ Lunch to build community
• Collegial work-in-progress seminar series for testing new ideas
• Calendar of engaging events at the Institute and College

Who can apply?

We warmly welcome applications from postdoctoral scholars from around the world. Selection will be subject to the immigration rules governing the UK.  Applicants must have a suitable project or study to undertake which engages meaningfully with the works of Stuart Hall, although it does not need to focus solely on Hall’s ideas.

Applicants must have been awarded a doctorate at the time of application, and normally within the last seven years (you must be able to produce a transcript, testamur, or a letter of completion/eligibility to graduate as part of your application), or to have published work of doctoral character and quality. You should not have held a previous Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Those who have held temporary and/or short-term appointments are eligible to apply.

Application procedure

The closing date

The closing date for the receipt of the next round of applications (for visits from August 2024 to July 2025) is 17:00 GMT on 26 April 2024. Applications received after that date will not be considered. Decisions will be communicated in July. Please ensure that you supply a valid email address so that you can be contacted quickly after decisions are made.

The application form

Please complete the online application form here.
Any additional supporting documents connected with an application should be emailed to iash@ed.ac.uk.

References

• In addition to the application form, a minimum of two and a maximum of three confidential references are required.
• Applicants should ask their referees to email their reference to the Director at iash@ed.ac.uk by 26 April 2024.
• Referees should comment on the nature and quality of the research proposal, as well as on the qualifications of the applicant. One referee should certify the successful viva (defence) and final examination of the candidate’s PhD thesis.

Notes

• Consideration will be given to the academic record and the publications of all applicants and their capacity to disseminate their views among a community of like-minded people. Candidates must give evidence of any contact they have made with researchers at the University of Edinburgh, are required to make such contact before submitting their applications, and those who can evidence the relevance of their proposed project to the University of Edinburgh research community will be regarded favourably.  Particular weight will be placed on the quality and timeliness of the project proposed, and we encourage innovative and interdisciplinary topics and approaches.
• Fellows are expected to participate in RACE.ED’s activities (such as delivering a workshop or seminars on their chosen topic).
• Fellows are expected to become involved in RACE.ED and to commit to agreed objectives such as contributing to contextual description of collections, a workshop and seminar on the nature of such work and challenges around it, or a series of blog posts. Events could include curating a virtual pop up exhibition. This will form part of the evaluation of candidates.
• Only fully completed formal applications will be considered. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that all documentation is complete, and that referees submit their reports to IASH by the closing date. Candidates may like to submit a copy of any one article or publication that is thought to be especially relevant to the research proposal and Fellowship submission. It must be emphasised, however, that no such submitted publication will be returned to the candidate.
• The Institute was established in 1969 by the then Faculty of Arts to promote enquiry of the highest standards in the Humanities, broadly conceived. It began to receive Fellows in 1970, and is now located as an independent institute within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science. Inter-departmental and inter-disciplinary study has always been encouraged.
• Fellows must make the Institute their main place of work for the duration of the Fellowship.  It is expected that Fellows will be in residence throughout the tenure of their Fellowship and will contribute fully to the life of the Institute during that time. Fellows give at least one seminar presentation during their tenure, and submit a report on their research at the end of their Fellowship. No regular teaching is required.
• For information about the scope of work undertaken at the University of Edinburgh, see Edinburgh Research Explorer, or browse through the staff pages of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Applicants looking for suitable accommodation in Edinburgh may find these links useful.

In order to take full advantage of the seminars and lectures which take place during the semesters and to meet with staff in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, applicants are encouraged to apply for periods that will include at least part of one of the semesters.