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Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies

Spectators record Pope Francis as he speaks from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Spectators record Pope Francis as he speaks at St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

About
Fellows

About the Program

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress announces a new Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies to examine the impact of the digital revolution on society, culture and international relations using the Library’s collections and resources.

History teaches that groundbreaking technological innovations can be agents of broad and profound change. Their transformative effect on society can be greater than is anticipated or originally understood. Innovations such as the printing press and aerial flight continue to affect every level of human experience. The digital revolution is another such transformation.

The Library’s John W. Kluge Center seeks proposals from scholars worldwide that will generate deep, empirically-grounded understanding of the consequences of the digital revolution on how people think, how society functions, and on international relations. Proposals may also explore and analyze emerging trends and new phenomena that may generate consequential changes in the future. All proposals must state the importance of the research to fundamental thinking about the human condition.

Scholars should include a discussion of how the resources of the Library of Congress will inform the intended research. Resources at the Library of Congress include:

The National Digital Library with more than 30 million online documents in support of the study of the history and culture of the United States.
The World Digital Library, a collaborative digitization of national and cultural treasures from countries worldwide.
The Library of Congress web archiving program, which preserves millions of websites pertaining to significant events such as the terror attacks of 9/11 and United States Presidential elections.
The National Digital Newspaper Program of 5 million newspaper pages.
The Records of the U.S. Copyright Office, including digital deposits.
The Law Library of Congress collection of more than 2.8 million law books and other legal resources.
The Library’s general collection of 35 million volumes.
The Library’s subscriptions to e-journals and electronic databases.

Scholars are encouraged to think creatively of how the Library’s collections may inform a study of the digital revolution’s impact on how we think, how we live, and how we relate to one another.

PLEASE NOTE: Although the Library of Congress continues to collect and archive tweets, the Twitter Archive is not currently available to researchers

Eligibility

Open to scholars and practitioners worldwide.
Open to U.S. citizens or foreign nationals.
Open to scholars from all disciplines.
Ph.D. or other advanced terminal degree strongly preferred.

Tenure & Stipend

For residency up to eleven (11) months. Constraints of space and the desirability of accommodating the maximum number of Fellows may lead to an offer of fewer months than requested.
$4,200 per month, paid monthly by the Library of Congress, by means of electronic transfer to a U.S. bank account.
For residential research at the Library of Congress only.

Applications

Applicants must submit:

A completed application form, in English
A curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages; additional pages will be discarded)
A complete project proposal, including:
- A single-paragraph abstract
- A statement of proposed research (maximum 3 pages)
- An explanation of why the Library of Congress is the appropriate venue for your research (maximum 1 paragraph)
- A bibliography of works you have consulted for your proposal
3 references with completed reference forms from people who have read the research proposal

Applicants should indicate the collections of the Library of Congress that will be used for research.

Due Date

The annual application deadline is December 6. Application materials must be submitted by the deadline date via the Kluge Center's online application system.

Expectations

Kluge Fellows in Digital Studies will give at least one public presentation of their research. Two copies of any ultimate product of this research (book, article, film, website, etc.) should be sent to the Library of Congress Kluge Center. Fellows can expect to have opportunities to meet with Library specialists and curators while in residence. This is a residential fellowship, and the Fellows are expected to be in full-time residence (for up to 11 months) at the Kluge Center within the Library of Congress while conducting research at the Library. The Fellows will be provided with research space and support in the Kluge Center and are expected to engage in the life of the Center while in residence. The Kluge Center cannot at this time provide any specialty software or nonstandard equipment that may be necessary for the Fellows' proposed research. Fellows should utilize specialty software on their own personal computers.

Evaluation

A panel of scholars will review your application materials. The panel will consider your application in relation to numerous other proposals. Evaluation criteria will include:

The significance of the project’s contribution to knowledge in the field.
The quality of the conception, definition, organization and description of the project.
The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project.
The appropriateness of the research for the Library of Congress.

Awards

Up to three (3) Kluge Fellowships in Digital Studies will be awarded by the Library of Congress.

Awards will be announced in the spring of the year following that in which the application is due. For non-U.S. fellows, your award is conditioned on visa and payment eligibility, which are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Your payment may be subject to federal and state income taxes. To qualify for entry into the United States under a Library-sponsored J-visa, you must obtain specific types and amounts of medical insurance to cover you during your stay in the United States. If your present medical insurance does not meet these requirements, you are required to arrange for a separate policy prior to your arrival. Staff members are available to provide guidance regarding insurance requirements. The Library does not provide health insurance coverage but can provide contacts with commercial providers.

If you are a U.S. resident, the Library will provide you with an annual report of Library payments to you during the calendar year, but it will not issue you a Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC. Determining the amount of federal and state income taxes that you may owe will be your responsibility.

Award letters will include a form that must be filled out and submitted to the Library of Congress to determine tax residency status and the potential for U.S. Federal income tax withholding. Scholars who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents and who do not already have a U.S. Social Security number will be required to obtain either a Social Security or tax identification number, as appropriate, at the start of their fellowship at the Library, regardless of the taxability of their income under this program or exemption under a treaty with the United States.

Transportation arrangements are the responsibility of each fellow. Housing is not provided by the Library of Congress.

Contact Information

Completed application packets should be submitted via the Kluge Center's online application system. Applications submitted via email, fax, or regular mail will not be considered. For questions about application procedures, eligibility, stipend or deadlines, please email [email protected] or write to us at:

The Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies
The John W. Kluge Center
Library of Congress, LJ-120
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20540-4860
tel. 202 707-3302; fax 202 707-3595
email: [email protected]

"It's been a really inspirational environment to work at the Kluge Center and to work at the intersection of technological topics and classical humanities."

-Katrin Weller, Kluge Fellow in Digital Studies, 2014-2015

Application Deadline: December 6

Apply online

Research Areas: Research related to the impact of the digital revolution on society, culture, and international relations.

Eligibility: Open to scholars and practitioners worldwide.

Stipend: $4,200 per month (up to eleven months).

Further information:
   The John W. Kluge Center
   phone: (202) 707-3302
   fax: (202) 707-3595
   email: [email protected]

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More about this fellowship

View more fellowships

Past Fellows

Iván Chaar-López (2015)

The third Kluge Fellow in Digital Studies, Iván Chaar-López was a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. His work traversed the boundaries of digital studies, Latina/o studies, the history of technology and U.S. history. His project at the Kluge Center examined digital technologies such as databases, computers and drones as instruments of border and migration control along the U.S. southern border.

Event: “Migration, Asylum and the Role of the State: Defining Boundaries, Redefining Borders”

Wendy W Fok (2014-2015)

One of two inaugural Kluge Fellows in Digital Studies, Fok arrived in November 2014 to research the intersection of architecture, digital design and intellectual property. Fok is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston’s Hines College of Architecture.

Event: “#Scholarfest: Life/Future: Definitions of Life in the 21st Century & Beyond”

Katrin Weller (2014-2015)

One of two inaugural Kluge Fellows in Digital Studies, Weller's research examines the use of social media platforms and user-generated content in the study of historical events. Weller is a senior research fellow and information scientist at GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Cologne.

Application Deadline: December 6