The University of Oklahoma Libraries Western History Collections (WHC) invites applications from established and emerging scholars for two newly-endowed research fellowships. The fellowships support research residencies in the Western History Collections and are designed to connect researchers to the rich archival, print and visual resources at OU.
DEADLINE: January 15, 2019 for Summmer 2019 fellowships
The Masterson Fellowship provides opportunities for visiting scholars to conduct research in the Western History Collections for one to three months. The fellowship is open to advanced graduate students, faculty, or independent scholars engaged in an original research project of significant scholarly merit that will benefit directly from the utilization of materials in the Western History Collections. Several awards of one to three months will be made, and priority consideration for at least one fellowship line will be given to research on range management history, the impact of cattle ranching in the American West, or related topics. The stipend for the Masterson Fellowship is $2,500 per month.
Founded in 1927 and an integral part of the OU Libraries' Special Collections, the Western History Collections are one of the nation’s most important collections of Western Americana. The WHC's greatest strengths are in documentation of Oklahoma and the southern Great Plains, and constitute exceptional resources for scholarly research across many disciplines, including environmental history, economic geology and extractive industries, Native studies, art history and visual culture, transportation and settlement, military history, local and regional studies, and community life. Collections include more than two million historical photographs, more than 2,000 collections of rare manuscript material, and more than 80,000 rare books relating to the history of Native peoples, Oklahoma, the Southern Plains, and the American West. The WHC is also home to the institutional archives of the University of Oklahoma. Through resident fellowships, the WHC seeks to serve as a site of intellectual exchange as well as one of individual research. Learn more at the Western History Collections page.
OU’s extensive resources for the study of the West include the WHC, the OU Press, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the Charles M. Russell Center, Carl Albert Center for Congressional Research, the recently acquired Western Historical Quarterly (WHQ, the flagship journal for western historians), History and Art History graduate programs, and the departments of Anthropology, English, Geography and Environmental Sustainability, and Native American Studies.
Applications must be submitted online at the WHC Research Fellowship Application Form. All candidates must submit the following:
- Indicate the fellowship for which you wish to be considered.
- A research proposal (1,500 words) outlining the research project and plan of work, citing specific WHC collections and their centrality to the research project
- A curriculum vitae
- Candidates for the Masterson Fellowship must attach two letters of support for their specific project from individuals familiar with their work
Successful applications will describe the importance and impact of the research inquiry and will identify defined resources in the Western History Collections that are essential to their work. Fellows will be asked to present their work to the OU community as part of their award. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Bridget J. Burke