Funding Opportunity: Graduate Research Associates with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky (2023)

Charles Welsko Discussion

The Kentucky Historical Society's project, the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition looks to hire three graduate students (at least in the second year of their M.A. in a humanities discipline and with a familiarity of 19th century U.S. history) to serve as remote Graduate Research Associates (GRAs) for the project between February 2023 and January 2024. GRAs work remotely from their home institution, researching and annotating 120 documents.  

This fellowship opportunity comes with a production-based stipend of $4,000 as well as experience working in the digital humanities, applying the theory and practice of digital history to historical documents. GRAs are expected to annotate 120 documents. These positions are funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a branch of the National Archives. NHPRC support has allowed CWGK to hire 17 other GRAs in previous years.

CWGK is an annotated, searchable, and freely accessible online edition of documents associated with the chief executives of the Commonwealth, 1860-1865. Yet CWGK is not solely about the five governors; it is about reconstructing the lost lives and voices of tens of thousands of Kentuckians who interacted with the office of the governor during the war years. CWGK will identify, research, and link together every person, place, and organization found in its documents. This web of hundreds of thousands of networked nodes will dramatically expand the number of actors in Kentucky and U.S. history, show scholars new patterns and hidden relationships, and recognize the humanity and agency of historically marginalized people. To see the project’s work to date, visit http://discovery.civilwargovernors.org/.

Applications are due January 6, 2023 to charles.welsko@ky.gov and include a cover letter, CV, and contact information for two references who could provide a letter of recommendation (only applicants invited for a second round interview will be asked to submit letters). Applicants may submit option writing samples or examples of digital humanities work to support their application.

Further information about the position, expected workload, and application process can be found here: https://civilwargovernors.org/2023-graduate-research-associates/.

Please direct any questions to Dr. Charles Welsko: charles.welsko@ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society will evaluate the applicants based on their research ability, familiarity with the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, as well as relevant experience with digital or public history work, as demonstrated through their applications materials.

CWGK staff anticipate conducting interviews in late to mid-January and hiring new GRAs in the early part of February.