The Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) offers the Michael G. Karni Scholarship and Grants in Aid to support scholars traveling to the University of Minnesota during 2011-2012 for research in the IHRC’s historical collections.
IHRC will accept applications from graduate students, independent scholars and faculty for residencies of five to ten days and make awards of $500 and $1000. The deadline for applications is June 1, but applications will be accepted and reviewed beginning May 1, 2011. International applicants and those requesting residencies during summer 2011 may request early notification. Information about these funding programs is available at www.ihrc.umn.edu.
The Michael G. Karni Scholarship provides $1,000 for a ten-day research residency. The scholarship is named in honor of Michael Karni, a Finnish-American scholar whose work at the IHRC preserved and created access to numerous ethnic collections. Applicants must propose research in the Center’s Finnish-American or Baltic collections, with preference given to Finnish immigrant topics. Reference letters are required with the application.
Grants in Aid of up to $500 are available to support five-day residencies or $1,000 for a ten-day post-doctoral residency using any IHRC collection(s). Researchers making use of Czech/Slovak, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Near Eastern, Polish and Ukrainian immigrant and 20th-century refugee materials are especially encouraged to apply, but applications will be accepted to support work in any IHRC collection. Applicants may request consideration for both the Karni Scholarship and the Grant in Aid program, but an individual can only receive support from one program in 2011-2012.
Grants in Aid may support research for academic publication, public history projects, interpretive treatments or performing arts exploring the broad theme of immigrant experience. A short list of collections/print materials to be studied and a plan for dissemination of research are required in the application. Scholars holding two-week residencies will provide research-in-progress talks while at the IHRC.
The Center’s scholarship and grant funding is intended to help defray expenses of visiting graduate students, faculty and independent scholars from the U.S. and abroad, who travel from locations outside of the Twin Cities to conduct research in the IHRC’s collections. Grants are available through the generosity of donors to the IHRC’s ethnic and general funds, the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History Fund and the Michael G. Karni Scholarship Fund. Awards are made on a competitive basis and for research specific to the IHRC’s collections. Applicants must have language skills adequate for their proposed research projects.
The IHRC holds one of the most important historical collections in the world of multi-ethnic immigrant experience and migration. The center’s archival and print collections focus on:
(1) mass migration to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, Finland and the Near East; and
(2) 20th-century displaced persons, including those from Europe after World War II and newer migration streams from Africa and Southeast Asia.
About 2,000 archival finding aids and selected digital collections are available online at www.ihrc.umn.edu, with about half of the center’s historical print listed through the University of Minnesota’s cataloging system (www.lib.umn.edu). After reviewing online finding aids, please e-mail ihrc@umn.edu to request a consultation with archival staff to ensure that proposed research matches available collections.
Application Deadline: June 1, 2011, with applications received starting May 1. Early decision may be requested.
Availability: Awards may be used for research at the IHRC between mid-July 2011 and June 30, 2012 during the Center’s normal working hours and days.
Terms: The Karni Scholarship and the Post-doctoral Grant in Aid provide up to $1,000 for a research residency of not less than two weeks (ten research days). Recipients will give a public presentation during the residency. Grant-in-Aid awards for up to $500 support a research residency at the IHRC of not less than one week (five research days). Presentation may be proposed in application (optional).
Who May Apply? Graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, faculty, and independent scholars, in the U.S. or internationally, who live more than a day’s drive from the Twin Cities.
Selection Criteria:
(1) Demonstrated connection between research and specific historical materials at the IHRC (consultation with IHRC archival staff strongly suggested)
(2) Language proficiency for the proposed collections
(3) Preference for the Karni Scholarship is for Finnish-American and, secondarily, Baltic immigration topics. Preference for Grants in Aid given to newer and international scholars (including graduate students), and for use of Czech/Slovak, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Near Eastern, Polish, Ukrainian and refugee materials
(4) Plan for disseminating research
Application Materials:
(1) Application letter of no more than two pages outlining research project, plan for dissemination, collections to be consulted, dates of residency and budget
(2) Current curriculum vitae
(3) The Karni Scholarship application requires two letters of reference to be submitted; Grant-in-Aid applications require only names and contact information (including email) for two references
Send application materials from May 1 to June 1, 2011, with the subject line “Program Director/External Scholar Funding” to ihrc@umn.edu. Applications also may be sent to the following postal address, with appropriate postmark:
Attn: Program Director/External Scholar Funding
Immigration History Research Center
University of Minnesota
311 Elmer L. Andersen Library / 222 – 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Questions about preparing the application may be sent to E. Haven Hawley, Program Director, at ihrc@umn.edu.
The Immigration History Research Center is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.