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Medical Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship

Call for 2010-12 Fellowship

Receipt deadline: December 15, 2009

(Materials must be received - not postmarked - by this date.)

The Humanities Research Center at Rice University will award one Postdoctoral Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Medical Humanities for a two-year appointment beginning July 1, 2010. The second year's appointment is contingent on successful review of the first year's performance. The Fellow will receive a stipend of $40,000 per year, plus benefits eligibility, as well as an allowance for research and relocation. In consultation with a faculty mentor, the Fellow will develop an introductory-level interdisciplinary medical humanities course that will be taught once each year of the fellowship. In addition to teaching, the Fellow will collaborate with the faculty mentor in to develop a year-long series of lunch lectures with invited outside speakers, to be held at Rice and at nearby medical institutions. The Fellow will be expected to make significant progress in research and to present that research at a lunch lecture. This fellowship will be awarded pending funding.

The fellowship recipient will also participate in the intellectual life of the center by sharing research activities through a brown bag series with other HRC fellows. Applicants should describe how their research project would contribute to the intellectual community at Rice, and in particular, how it would contribute to medical humanities faculty research activity in the School of Humanities. For details, please visit:

Criteria for selection

  • The promise of the research project, including prospects for publication or significant advances in tangible research outcomes.
  • The research project's potential interest to a range of scholars in different fields of medical humanities. Engagement with research problems and methods across disciplinary boundaries is expected, and a background in history, philosophy, art history, media studies, or literature would be especially welcome.
  • The potential appeal of the proposed course to a broad audience.
  • The applicant's potential to contribute to the intellectual community at Rice and in the HRC.

Selection Process

Each proposal is evaluated by members of an interdisciplinary committee comprising Rice faculty. Applicants will be notified of fellowship decisions in February 2010.

Application Process

Applicants are welcome to email materials to hrc@rice.edu (subject: Medical Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship) or to send hard copies by mail or delivery. Please include your last name in the filenames of any electronic documents you send. While it isn't required, we appreciate your converting and combining your documents into a single PDF with the materials in the order indicated below.

Applicants may send materials by mail:
Humanities Research Center - MS 620
Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston TX 77251-1892		 Or by delivery (including FedEx):
Humanities Research Center - MS 620
Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston TX 7700
  • Coversheet
  • Cover letter
  • Curriculum vitae
  • 1000-word research project proposal and one-page bibliography, in language appropriate for a multi-disciplinary panel of non-specialist readers. Please double-space and use 12-point type.
  • 250-word statement of the project's potential contribution to Rice medical humanities faculty research activity in the School of Humanities.
  • A brief course proposal for an introductory, interdisciplinary, one-semester undergraduate course in medical humanities, broadly defined. The course may be based in the applicant's primary field of research but must demonstrate the ability to engage students in a wide range of majors across campus.

Recommendations

Three letters of reference, should be solicited by the applicant and sent by hard copy, or by a dossier service such as Interfolio, directly to the HRC are required. The most effective letters show a detailed knowledge of the candidate's past work and address directly both the importance of the proposed project and the candidate's qualifications to pursue it. General praise is less helpful to the committee. Referees may be directed to our Fellowships Referee Guide . Recommendation letters must be received by the HRC by the application deadline. Consideration of letters received after that date cannot be guaranteed.

Eligibility

  • The Fellowship is awarded to support a research project in the humanities. This includes, but is not limited to history, philosophy, languages, literature, linguistics, religious studies, art history and the arts. Proposals employing medical humanistic approaches are welcome from anthropology and other social sciences, natural sciences, music, architecture, and engineering.
  • Applicants should have received a PhD in 2007 or later, and before July 1, 2010.
  • Fellowship recipients cannot have accepted or currently hold a tenure-track position.
  • Rice University is an Equal Employment Opportunity/ Affirmative Action employer. Scholars who are members of traditionally under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.
  • There is no citizenship requirement or restriction for this fellowship. Non-U.S. nationals are welcome to apply.
  • Employment eligibility verifications requested upon hire.