Home » ACM and Newberry Library Expand Partnership and Launch New Fellowship Program for Faculty

ACM and Newberry Library Expand Partnership and Launch New Fellowship Program for Faculty

ACM and Newberry Library Expand Partnership and Launch New Fellowship Program for Faculty August 19, 2019
ACM and Newberry Library Expand Partnership and Launch New Fellowship Program for Faculty

Chicago—Two well-regarded and long-standing programs that give scholars access to the extraordinary collections of the Newberry Library are coming together to create a new opportunity for faculty at the 14 campuses in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM).

The Newberry Library is a world-renowned independent research library in Chicago dedicated to building, preserving, and making available to scholars and lifelong learners its collection of rare books, maps, music, manuscripts and other original materials spanning more than six centuries with a particular focus in the humanities.

“The Newberry Library is a phenomenal resource in Chicago, and the ACM has valued our decades-long partnership that creates a distinctive educational experience for the students and faculty who participate,” said ACM President Sonya Malunda. “We’re excited to be able to expand this relationship to create a new resource for the faculty at our member campuses.”

This new Fellowship will give up to three tenured or tenure-track faculty per year the opportunity for a 4-week residency at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where they will be able to access the Newberry’s extensive collection of original source materials and participate in a community of intellectual peers from around the world who can help challenge their thinking and advance their research.

Images courtesy Newberry Library

Newberry-ACM Fellows are selected by a competitive process and receive a $3,000 fellowship to support a 4-week residency, to be taken between June 2020 and August 2021. Applications must be submitted between August 15 and December 15, 2019.  Faculty who wish to apply may do so here.

“The Newberry is delighted to add a new dimension to our 54-year partnership with the ACM,” said Brad Hunt, Vice President for Research and Academic Programs at the Newberry Library.  “I’d encourage tenured or tenure-track faculty at ACM schools to take a look at the breadth and depth of our collections in their areas and apply to join our tight-knit community of curators, librarians, and fellows.  We have so much to offer, as our material spans from early modern Europe to Latin America to Indigenous culture, and from maps and manuscripts to railroad records and postcards.”

Longstanding Partnership

The ACM and Newberry Library have a long history of creative and effective partnership through the ACM-Newberry Seminar: Research in the Humanities This one-of-a-kind program, launched in 1965, has educated more than 1,300 students, and continues to support up to 20 students per year to spend a term at the Newberry learning how to use original source materials for scholarly research.

New Fellowship Details

  • Up to 3 tenured or tenure-track faculty per year each receive $3,000 fellowship stipend
  • 4-week residency at the Newberry Library in Chicago to be taken between June 2020 and August 2021
  • Competitive application process: apply August 15 to December 15
  • Details and application at Newberry Library site

The Newberry Seminar is open to students at the ACM campuses as well as those in the Great Lakes Colleges Association. Students are mentored and taught by two distinguished faculty members each term from the member campuses, and have the opportunity to work as interns in the Newberry’s collections. They also have access to the Newberry’s research centers and community of scholars, as well as living and working in Chicago’s dynamic urban environment.

Through the Newberry Seminar students have explored a compelling, interdisciplinary theme in the humanities; developed their abilities as researchers; and produced a substantial, well-documented research paper equivalent to a senior thesis or graduate-level work.

“The semester I spent at the Newberry enriched both my teaching and research,” said Amber Shaw, Henry and Margaret Haegg Associate Professor of English at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, and Visiting Faculty Co-Director of the Fall 2018 ACM Newberry Seminar, Going and Knowing: Travelers and Travel Writers in the Modern World.  “Not only were we able to integrate the Newberry’s collections—and working with them—into our seminar, but having daily access to the materials at the Newberry was also crucial to the progress of my own research.”

Research support

The purpose of the Newberry-ACM Faculty Fellowship is to support both established and emerging scholars by providing dedicated resources—time, space, intensive research support, and funding—to help them advance their teaching and scholarship. Applicants must be tenured or tenure-track faculty members from ACM-member institutions at the time of submission and throughout the duration of the fellowship, and must remain in residency for the 4-week period.

Applications are encouraged from individuals from underrepresented groups in the professoriate, individuals who have followed non-traditional pathways to college due to exceptional talent and motivation in the face of adversity, and those with a demonstrated commitment to applying and including diverse backgrounds and perspectives to learning, scholarship, service, and leadership in the academy.

About us

The Associated Colleges of the Midwest is a consortium of 14 residential, liberal arts colleges that strengthens its members and enriches educational, academic, and professional opportunities through collaboration. ACM members are Beloit, Carlton, Coe, Colorado, Cornell, Grinnell, Knox, Lake Forest, Luther, Macalester, Monmouth, Ripon, and St. Olaf colleges and Lawrence University.

Questions about this new initiative? Please contact Charlie Barlow, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Programs.

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