New Deadline: April 1, 2021

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress offers the opportunity for German scholars to work on specific research projects at the Library of Congress. The purpose of this Fellowship is to enable young scholars from Germany to conduct independent research using the collections of the Library of Congress. At the postdoctoral as well as the Ph.D. level, interested scholars may apply for a Fellowship for 6-12 months beginning in fall 2021. The John W. Kluge Center will offer a workplace with in-kind benefits to successful applicants who are able to secure an appropriate level of funding. Information about funding application options in Germany will be available on request.

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with nearly 145 million items on approximately 745 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 33 million books and other print materials, 3 million recordings, 12.5 million photographs, 5.3 million maps, 6 million pieces of sheet music and 63 million manuscripts, which cover a broad range of subjects from Naval Science to Fine Arts. The scholars are based at the John W. Kluge Center, located within the Library. The Center offers high quality research accommodation for scholars from across the world with a shared interest in exploiting the extensive collections held by the Library. Potential applicants can access the collection catalogue by using the following link: http://catalog.loc.gov/. To strengthen your application, speak with a Librarian, who is able to direct you to unique materials within the Library’s holdings. See “Ask a Librarian” at http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/index.html.

During the Fellowship term the library will provide a workspace, facilitated access to the collections, databases, and access to the curators of the Library. The German scholars will be supported with all services offered to Fellows at these levels in residence at the John W. Kluge Center. The Kluge Center will also provide organizational help for visa, housing etc. Candidates are welcomed especially from disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, with the greatest strengths in the humanities. Research proposals that are relevant to the study of North America are significant in this context, but other proposals may be equally meaningful. The projects proposed should be of a kind to benefit from the Library of Congress collections. Selection criteria include not only the quality of the project proposal but also identification of specific Library collections materials that are useful to the project and that can only be found at the Library of Congress. Of special interest to the Library, but not a requirement, would be studies that use materials in languages other than English and the audio-visual collections, including film and sound recordings. For an assessment of suitable Library research areas and collections, the publicly available resources should be used. The proposed research will need to demonstrate how the Kluge Center research period and the Library’s collections would add value to a Fellow’s existing work.

Further information and consultation:

Potential applicants may send an Email with their curriculum vitae to

German Library of Congress Fellowship

c/o Prof. Dr. Karsten Fitz
Universität Passau
Professor of American Studies
Innstraße 25
94032 Passau
Email: Karsten.Fitz(at)uni-passau.de

They will then receive a proposal form. Applicants from Bavarian universities will be eligible for the John W. Kluge Center Fellowship of the Bavarian American Academy.

Applications should reach the address given by April 1, 2021.