Humanities Without Walls National Predoctoral Career Diversity Residential Summer Workshop

Applications Due:
Monday, November 7, 2022

In summer 2023, the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts will host HWW’s annual summer workshop for doctoral students interested in learning about diverse careers for humanists. Through a series of workshops, talks, and site visits, participants will learn how to imagine possible futures and leverage their skills and humanities training towards careers in the private sector, the nonprofit world, arts administration, public media, and many other fields. The Twin Cities will serve as the primary location for workshop activities. The location will provide students with the opportunity to experience the vibrant humanities ecosystem that exists in our region.

We invite applications from doctoral students pursuing degree in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to participate in this three-week summer workshop. The Institute for Advanced Study is managing applications from the University of Minnesota. Applications are due to the IAS on Monday, November 7. Supporting letters of recommendation are due Friday, November 11.

Because the University of Minnesota is the host institution for the 2023 summer workshop, five workshop spots are guaranteed for U of M graduate students. The University will nominate one student for the national competition who, if selected, will additionally be provided with on-campus housing for the duration of the workshop. You can learn more details on the Humanities Without Walls website.

APPLICATIONS DUE NOVEMBER 7
Applications are now open.
Complete application instructions can be found here.

Workshop Details

The workshop will be conducted in person at the University of Minnesota. Participants are expected to be in residence in the Twin Cities for the duration of the workshop, to attend all workshop activities each day and be active participants in the program for its entirety. University of Minnesota students are expected to stay in their resident housing in the area.

Dates

July 17–28, 2023. Students selected as fellows are expected to arrive Sunday, July 16, 2023 by 4:00 p.m. (CDT) and depart no sooner than Friday, July 28, 2023, 4:00 p.m. (CDT).

Eligibility

All applicants must be enrolled in a doctoral degree program in a humanities or humanistic social science discipline at the University of Minnesota. Applicants may be at any stage of their doctoral work, but they cannot have already received the doctoral degree at the time the workshop takes place. Applicants cannot have a graduation date on or before August 1st, 2023. International students are eligible to apply, but are responsible for confirming their registration and eligibility status at their home universities; HWW is not responsible for issuing visa paperwork.

Fellowship Award

Five University of Minnesota fellows will receive a $3,000 award. If the student nominated for the national competition is selected, this student will receive a $4,000 award and stay in on-campus housing. All Fellows are expected to attend all workshop sessions and be active participants in the program for its entirety. Some meals are provided through the workshop. The stipend is provided as a participation award and to support meals not otherwise provided, parking if needed, and any other expenses not otherwise provided directly through the workshop.

About the Workshop

The Humanities Without Walls summer workshop utilizes a cohort-based approach to assisting humanities PhD students with the development of their careers. Our principles emphasize student agency while giving attendees space to reflect on their values. We have learned that centering the needs of each fellow results in empowered PhD professionals ready to tackle the world which awaits them post-degree. Our sessions intentionally layer foundations for the fellows as they do the real-time work of discerning personal career values, building community within the fellowship cohort, and researching potential career paths. The workshop models effective strategies that enable our fellows to prepare for a successful job search today and for the career transitions which will come in the future.

The very concept of “humanities without walls” commits us to the work of racial and social justice in the context of career diversity programming. Therefore, we work to create sessions which help us grapple with the long history of implicit racial, gender, and class bias so often concealed in the guise of “professionalism.” HWW’s commitment to the values of reciprocity and redistribution allows our fellows an opportunity to thread the work of racial justice and social equity into their developing life and career goals and to think about inclusion by design as part of their work in the world, whatever shape that may take.

Launched in 2015 as an initiative of the HWW consortium, the workshop welcomes participants each summer from higher education institutions across the United States. HWW Summer Workshop Fellows work in a variety of academic disciplines. They are scholars and practitioners who come with experience in community building, museum curation, filmmaking, radio programming, social media, project management, research, writing, and teaching. They are typically invested in the pressing social justice issues of our time and are seeking ways to bring humanistic values, insights, and skills to their work lives, whether in the public and private sector.

In the spirit of practice-oriented learning, HWW has partnered with entities such as IDEO, a design and consulting firm, the Joyce Foundation, and the Canadian Museum of History, amongst others, to lead students in real-world problem-solving exercises around important contemporary issues. Recognizing that each fellow’s skillset has been primarily oriented toward an academic track, the workshop includes sessions on values-based career planning, resume and cover letter construction, networking, and social media strategies from experts in career development.

Graduates from the workshop will emerge with a network of contacts in a range of professional realms; a significantly broadened sense of the career possibilities that await humanities PhDs; a cohort of HWW Summer Workshop Fellows (and friends!) from whom they may draw support and advice; and a set of resources aimed at helping them advance into the various realms considered under the broad rubric of “the public humanities.”

Humanities Without Walls National Predoctoral Career Diversity Residential Summer Workshop

Workshop Details

Dates

Eligibility

Fellowship Award

Institute for Advanced Study

Contact

Affiliation

Twin Cities Campus

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Humanities Without Walls National Predoctoral Career Diversity Residential Summer Workshop

Workshop Details

Dates

Eligibility

Fellowship Award

Contact

Affiliation

Connect

Twin Cities Campus