Mellon Post-Doctoral Program
Haverford College is pleased to have the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in establishing an endowed fellowship program designed to nurture the professional potential of an emerging generation of young humanists. As a liberal arts college dedicated to the complementary pursuits of excellent teaching and advanced scholarship, Haverford has a profound stake in ensuring continuity in the tradition of scholar-teachers. We likewise believe that an institution such as ours, with its opportunities for faculty development through intimate interdisciplinary exchange and innovative pedagogy, provides an ideal setting for cultivating the creative energies of young scholars. At the same time, Haverford has much to gain from the steady infusion of fresh intellectual and pedagogical perspectives brought by the Fellows from their recent university training and experience.
Haverford's program for Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellows is organized to provide five key instruments of professional advancement: meaningful teaching (Fellows teach one course per term, with the expectation that they will supplement the curriculum with innovative course designs); collaborative intellectual exploration (through participation during the first year in the year-long John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities Faculty Seminar); interaction with the broader world of scholarship and public life (focused in the Fellowship's second year through the staging of a symposium connected to the Fellow's teaching and research interests); mentoring (through association with host departments and programs, as well as the Faculty Seminar); and the time and resources for scholarly endeavor (a reduced teaching load, support for research, and funds for travel to professional conferences).
2012 John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities Mellon Post-Doc Search Charge
The John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities of Haverford College is accepting applications for its two-year Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities to begin Fall 2012. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2012 and the needs of the 2012-13 Faculty Seminar, The Affective Turn, led by Gustavus Stadler of the English Department were an important part of developing the search criteria.
Faculty Seminar for 2012-13: The Affective Turn, Gustavus Stadler, English
The John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities of Haverford College invites applications for a two-year Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Humanities to begin Fall 2012 (see http://www.haverford.edu/HHC/mellon_post-doctoral_program/index.php for details). Over the course of the past decade, the category of affect(s) has emerged as an especially generative preoccupation in the humanities and social sciences. We seek scholars whose work focuses on affective experience within a cultural and political framework, in a theoretically textured fashion. Area of specialization is open, but might include literature, performance studies, cultural studies, history, music, film studies, media studies, history of art, sociology, philosophy, political science, psychology, anthropology, and religion. Scholars with historical and interdisciplinary concerns are encouraged to apply.
In the first year the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow will play a central role in a seminar entitled “The Affective Turn” led by Gustavus Stadler in English. The seminar will be a survey of important theories of affect, with some attention to the term’s genealogy, and with some attempt made to develop an overview of its position(s) in modern psychology—psychoanalysis and “object relations” approaches in particular. Some questions we may pursue: What various definitions of affect exist—how has it been differentiated from emotion, feeling, and sensation, and what are the stakes of (not) demarcating such differences? Should we think of affects as “pre” cognitive and/or “pre” linguistic? How do we think and/or write about them? What are the strengths and weaknesses of a general theory of “affect,” when there are potentially illimitable number of affects? What is the relationship between affect and theories of the subject? How does the study and theorization of affect extend and modify theories of embodiment? What is the relationship between affect and trauma theory? Why has queer studies provided a conceptual platform for so much recent work on affect? Throughout the seminar, a key heuristic will be the relationship between affect and politics.
During each of the four semesters of his or her time at Haverford College, the Fellow will teach one course at the intermediate or advanced level. Applicants should submit two brief course proposals related to their area of interest, one for a broad-based introductory course, the other for a more specialized or advanced course. In the second year, the Fellow will organize and present a spring symposium funded by the John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities.
How to Apply
Candidates who have received the Ph.D. in 2007 at the earliest, or who have completed the requirements for the Ph.D. by the application deadline of January 31, 2012 are eligible. Please submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, two course proposals and a writing sample of no more than 25 pages, and arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to:
Emily Carey Cronin
Associate Director
John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities
Haverford College
Haverford PA 19041
610-896-1336
ecronin@haverford.edu (for queries only; please no electronic applications)
AA/EOE: Haverford is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, committed to excellence through diversity, and strongly encourages applications and nominations of persons of color, women, and members of other under-represented groups.