Women@MIT Fellowship

MIT Libraries’ Department of Distinctive Collections (DDC) is seeking applicants for its 2023 Women@MIT Fellowship. We invite artists, activists, musicians, writers, and scholars who are engaged in the expansion and expression of knowledge to help inform the understanding of women in MIT’s history and the history of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We are particularly interested in those who will apply the interdisciplinary lenses and methodologies of women’s studies, gender studies, and/or race and ethnic studies to their work.

The selected Fellows will work with the Women@MIT project archivist and other staff within MIT Libraries’ Department of Distinctive Collections. Successful candidates must be willing to engage in archival research either in person or in a remote environment. The fellowship is supported by a stipend of $5,000 for each Fellow.

About the Fellowship

Fellows will focus on the creation and sharing of knowledge and history present in the Women@MIT collections in informative and engaging ways within the scope of the interdisciplinary fields of women’s studies, gender studies, and ethnic studies. Participants will help inform the narrative of women’s history at MIT and contribute to the greater understanding of the history of women at the Institute and in STEM.

This year, two Fellows will be selected. These may be researchers working as a team or two individuals.

Fellows are encouraged to produce work in fields outside of traditional academic research and publication. A few examples of possible projects include:

• Short film
• Artistic performance (musical, theatrical, etc.)
• Podcast
• Comic book, graphic novel, or zine
• Develop a video game prototype
• Essay, group of poems, or work of fiction
• Sculpture, installation, or other artwork
• Curation of an online exhibit

Expectations

• Participants will spend 10 to 15 hours a week engaged in research (either in person or using digital copies of materials) or other work related to their project
• Participants will spend 1 to 3 hours a week taking part in meetings, programs, and opportunities for collaboration with other MIT Libraries staff
• All participants must complete a project that will be shared with the public within 60 days of the completion of the fellowship

Timeline

• Applications are due by midnight on May 20, 2023 with expectations of reaching out to candidates for next steps by mid-June.
• The process will include a review by committee members, selection of finalists, with interviews scheduled for early June.
• Fellowship dates are flexible but should take place between July and September 2023

Stipend and Benefits

The Women@MIT Fellows will each receive a stipend in the amount of $5,000.

Other benefits include extensive research support from DDC staff as described above, with opportunities to build connections with librarians, archivists, and curators in other local libraries and museums.

Eligibility

The Fellowship is open to applicants 18 years or older.

In order to make the archives more accessible to researchers from a wide range of interests and practices, we encourage people to apply regardless of their educational, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Application

Application materials

• A 1500-1800 word project proposal detailing the applicant’s plan for the fellowship’s work product and commitment to interdisciplinary methodologies of women’s studies, gender studies, and/or ethnic studies.
• Curriculum Vitae/Resume or Statement of Experience

Apply using our submission form.

Proposal guidelines

Applicants should provide a detailed description of the proposed research and the resulting project. The description should:

• outline the major question, problem or themes to be explored
• summarize the plan for carrying out the project, including an estimated timeline
• describe how this proposal intersects with the applicant’s work and area of expertise
• discuss how this work will inform a greater understanding of women in STEM
• summarize how you are equipped to complete this project and what unique experience or skills you bring to it

Selection

The 2023 Women@MIT Fellows will be selected based on the quality and consistency of work samples, the potential of the proposed project to be accessible and interesting to a diverse audience, and the connections between the proposed project and the MIT Libraries’ Department of Distinctive Collections’ materials.

About MIT Libraries’ Department of Distinctive Collections

Distinctive Collections collects, preserves, and fosters the use of unique and rare materials such as tangible and digital archives, manuscripts, ephemera, artists’ books, and more. With these collections the Libraries seek to cultivate an interest in the past, present, and future; the humanistic and the scientific; and the physical and the digital in order to inspire and enable research, learning, experimentation, and play for a diverse community of users.

The Women@MIT archival initiative seeks to add the records of women faculty, staff, students, and alumnae to the historic record by collecting, preserving, and sharing their lives and work with MIT and global audiences. Extending from this initiative the MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections is also making efforts to acquire, preserve, and make accessible the papers of gender non-binary and non-conforming individuals at MIT to help preserve their stories and contributions.

MIT is strongly and actively committed to diversity within its community and particularly encourages applications from qualified women and minority candidates. People who enthusiastically embrace the empathy, courage, self-reflection and respect of a multi-cultural, diverse and inclusive workplace, and who strive to incorporate those values in their work and interactions are encouraged to apply.