The University of Nebraska–Lincoln's U.S. Law and Race Initiative and Digital Legal Research Lab are seeking applications from graduate students to be part of a three-week residential fellowship program in summer 2024, funded by the Mellon Foundation.
The Mellon Graduate Fellows will have the opportunity to advance their own research and writing projects, contribute to an Open Educational Resource, and engage with faculty mentors. We seek proposals addressing race and racialization in U.S. law and history broadly, aiming to understand racialized people’s use of the law to advance personhood, citizenship, rights, and sovereignty throughout American history.
The Fellowship
Fellows will have the opportunity to workshop their own research and writing projects, receive training in digital methods to support data structuring and textual analysis, and enjoy seminar- style discussion of shared readings in U.S. Law & Race to develop their historiographical and methodological approaches. The 3-week program features tailored mentoring with U.S. Law & Race affiliate faculty and staff, along with opportunities to meet and network with UNL's History & Digital Humanities communities. Faculty mentors include William G. Thomas III (History), Katrina Jagodinsky (History and Women’s and Gender Studies), Jeannette Eileen Jones (History and Ethnic Studies), Genesis Agosto (Law), Eric Berger (Law), Danielle Jefferis (Law), Laura Muñoz (History and Ethnic Studies), Jessica Shoemaker (Law), and Catherine Wilson (Law).
Benefits
$4,000 stipend; all housing and meals provided; and all travel costs are covered.
Eligibility
We seek Graduate Fellows researching topics broadly related to U.S. Law and Race. We are not able to accept proposals that are solely quantitative social science research. Fellows must be from Ph.D. programs in History or relevant humanities or humanistic social science disciplines, including joint J.D./Ph.D. programs. We are especially interested in applications from scholars who identify with traditionally underrepresented groups or attend Minority Serving Institutions.
How to Apply
Send 1.) a letter of interest describing both your research project and how you would contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Initiative, 2.) a CV, and 3.) a list of two references the committee may contact. Please send materials to uslawandrace@unl.edu with the subject line “Mellon Graduate Fellows”. Review of applications will begin January 15, 2024.
Contact
For questions about the U.S. Law and Race Initiative, please contact William G. Thomas III, Angle Chair in the Humanities and Professor of History (wthomas4@unl.edu).
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) seeks to achieve a working and learning environment that is open to all people. Diversity is the hallmark of great institutions of learning and has long been one of the strengths of our society. Dignity and respect for all in the UNL community are the responsibility of each individual member of the community. The realization of that responsibility across the campus is critical to UNL’s success. As an EO/AA employer, qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination.
