Research Fellowships

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To apply for a fellowship or grant:

Review the fellowship descriptions below.
Unless otherwise stated, you must submit your application online. Please note that only currently open fellowships will be listed.
Recommenders must submit an online recommendation form.

Questions? Email us at fellowships@sah.org.

Purpose
The Society of Architectural Historians recognizes the work it must undertake to make reparations for past harms and redress foundational structural inequities and has charged the SAH IDEAS Committee with acting to care for its diverse community by reckoning with past injustices and accounting for future sustainability. As a small but concrete step forward, the SAH IDEAS Research Fellowships have been established to support a cohort of emerging scholars who self-identify as members of groups historically marginalized by SAH and the academy at large. These fellowships are intended to nurture research that challenges existing paradigms, as defined by applicants, and represents previously under-recognized and/or unsupported directions for architectural history as researched, thought, or applied. In addition to providing research support, the fellowships are intended to create mentored cohorts to support the work of emerging scholars.

The Awards
SAH will award five fellowships for 2023. Each fellowship includes a one-time award of $1,000 and a commitment of close mentorship from a senior colleague from the SAH community to be paired with the fellow for the duration of one year. The fellowship also involves guided lateral interaction across the cohort, in order to encourage peer support. Awardees and mentors will commit to regular meetings throughout the year. SAH offers one year of digital membership to awardees.

Criteria for Application
Emerging scholars anywhere in the world who have received a terminal master’s degree or Ph.D. on or after June 1, 2017, and who are not currently enrolled in a program of study or applying for further studies for the duration of the fellowship are eligible to apply. SAH aims to support research impacted by foundational structural inequities related to scholars’ backgrounds or areas of research that are not yet well supported in the field of architectural history.

Reporting Requirements
Recipients are required to submit a 500-word report with images, written by the fellow and approved by their mentor. Report and images will be presented to cohorts and form a contribution to the SAH Blog, SAH Archipedia, SAHARA image archive or another SAH publishing platform.

Application Details
To apply, please send a statement of interest that frames your research aims in relation to your goals and need for mentorship and peer support (500 words maximum), along with a C.V. (2 pages maximum). Applications must be submitted via the online portal. The application deadline has been extended to September 15, 2022.

Purpose
This award provides support for travel related to research on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture.

The Awards
The awards consist of a $2,000 fellowship for an advanced graduate student and a $6,000 fellowship for a senior or emerging scholar. The awardees will be notified in December and will be recognized onscreen at the SAH Annual International Conference in April and in the SAH Newsletter.

Criteria for Application

These annual fellowships are intended to support the research of graduate students who have completed their coursework and are engaged in doctoral dissertation research, and senior or emerging scholars who have completed their PhD or equivalent terminal degree. The research to be supported must focus on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture, including colonial architecture produced by the Spaniards in the Philippines and what is today the United States. The applicant must be a current member of SAH.

Reporting Requirements
Following completion of travel and research supported by the fellowship, each de Montêquin Fellowship awardee must submit a written report summarizing their research and explaining what travel was undertaken and how funds were spent. The report will be submitted to the SAH office no later than three months following the completion of work related to the fellowship. Awardees are required to upload images to SAHARA (a minimum of 50 for junior scholars and a minimum of 150 for senior scholars).

Application Details
You will need two recommendations to apply for this fellowship (must be submitted using the online recommendation form), a description of the research project on Iberian or Ibero-American architecture to be funded (500 words maximum), a current curriculum vitae (5 pages max), and a statement of purpose.

The deadline to submit an application is September 30, 2022.

Purpose
The Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship, a joint program of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the National Park Service’s Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), permits a graduate student in architectural history or a related field the opportunity to work on a 12-week HABS history project during the summer of 2023. The Fellow will prepare a written history that focuses on a significant U.S. building or site for the permanent HABS collection at the Library of Congress. The Fellow’s research interests and goals will inform the building or site selected for documentation by HABS staff. The Fellow is usually stationed in the HABS Washington, D.C., office. The Fellow will be selected by a jury of two SAH members and one HABS representative.

The Award
The award consists of a $12,000 stipend and SAH conference registration and travel expenses up to $1,000. The successful applicant will be notified in late January and will be recognized onscreen at the SAH Annual International Conference in Montréal. The award includes travel, hotel accommodation, and registration for the annual conference up to $1,000. The award will be announced in the SAH Newsletter.

Reporting Requirements
In addition to the final project/written history, recipients are required to upload a minimum of 50 images documenting their summer HABS project to the SAHARA image archive prior to completion of the fellowship.

Criteria for Application
Applicants should be pursuing graduate studies in architectural history or other related fields. You do not have to be a member of SAH to apply for this fellowship, but membership is strongly encouraged.

Application Details
Applications for the 2023 HABS-SAH Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship open on October 1, 2022, and must be emailed to Catherine Lavoie by December 31, 2022.

For application instructions, visit: nps.gov/hdp/jobs/tompkins.htm or contact Catherine Lavoie at catherine_lavoie@nps.gov.

Purpose
In a joint program with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Society of Architectural Historians is pleased to offer an annual fellowship that will support the participation of a graduate student in the research and writing of content for SAH Archipedia, the Society’s online architectural resource. This is a unique publication opportunity for graduate students. Proposed content must be related to some aspect of American architecture and/or urbanism prior to 1860, which may include Indigenous, Spanish Colonial, and/or African American topics. This fellowship was established in 2008 in honor of Charles E. Peterson, FAIA, founder of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The prize will be presented at the Society's annual conference in April and will be announced in the SAH Newsletter following the conference.

The Award
The committee will award the fellowship by February 28, 2023. The fellowship grant of $2,500 will be contingent upon the recipient's completion of the project, which is expected to require approximately 150 hours of work. A portion of the award ($500) will be paid in early June to cover the recipient's immediate expenses. The balance of the award ($2,000) will be payable upon completion of the project. The completed project must be submitted to SAH by August 31, 2023.

Criteria for Application
The fellowship is intended for students currently enrolled in graduate programs in art or architectural history, architectural design, urban planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, American studies, or related disciplines. Preference will be given to SAH members. The successful applicant does not need to reside in Philadelphia, although the Athenaeum will be glad to have the fellowship recipient use its collections. Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of BUS/SAH Archipedia editors and authors. You do not have to be a member of SAH to apply for this fellowship, but membership is encouraged.

Application Details
Applicants must submit the following through the online portal:

Cover letter discussing their research interests and professional goals
CV or resumé
Proposed content (1 page). Applicants will propose 5–8 building entries to be included in SAH Archipedia, with a brief statement about the significance of each. The buildings/sites must be extant and related to some aspect of American architecture prior to 1860 (although each entry should bring the building history up to the present). Please be sure to consult SAH Archipedia to ensure the proposed content is not already published. If there is a unifying theme among the entries, applicants may also propose a thematic essay.
Brief writing sample (5–10 pages)
Recommendation from an advisor or principal professor submitted using the online recommendation form

For examples of work by past Peterson fellows, please see the following: Buildings of Connecticut; Gulf Coast Tribes; Schools for the Deaf, 1817–1865.

Applications for the 2023 award will open October 4, 2022. The application deadline is December 31, 2022. If you have any questions, please contact Catherine Boland Erkkila, Managing Editor of SAH Archipedia and Buildings of the United States, at cerkkila@sah.org.

Purpose
The SAH Dissertation Research Fellowship supports dissertation research in the field of architectural history and related areas including, but not limited to, the history of interiors, landscapes, urbanism, architectural theory, and architectural criticism by graduate students whose work has potential to impact discourse in the field.

The Award
The Award consists of a $5,000 stipend paid to the recipient to be used for dissertation research needs and expenses including travel, accommodations, fees, etc. Like other SAH awards, the recipient will be announced at the SAH Annual International Conference and in the SAH Newsletter.

Criteria for Application

Applicant must be admitted to candidacy for a doctoral degree in architectural history or a related field including, but not limited to, the history of interiors, landscapes, urbanism, architectural theory, and architectural criticism.
Applicant must be a current member of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Application and dissertation must be written in English.
Application is open to citizens of any country who are studying at a university in the United States.
Applicant has been nominated by their department and invited to apply by SAH. SAH will reach out to department chairs or graduate program directors in architectural history, architecture, and related fields to invite them to nominate a doctoral candidate they believe would meet the criteria to apply for the Gill Family Dissertation Fellowship. Department chairs may submit a candidate by completing the nomination form below and emailing it to info@sah.org by June 20, 2022.
SAH will reach out to their nominee to invite them to apply for the Fellowship.
A department may only nominate one applicant per year. Multiple departments at a university with qualified PhD programs may each nominate a candidate.

SAH Dissertation Research Fellowship Nomination Form 2023

Reporting Requirements

Upon announcing the fellowship recipient, SAH will release the first payment of the fellowship, $2,000. At a mid-point to be determined by recipient and SAH, recipient will submit a blog post (500 words) about their research or the challenges/process of researching their dissertation; after review and approval of the blog post, SAH will release the 2nd payment of $2,000. At the conclusion of the recipient’s stated research timeline, the recipient will submit the following materials: a written narrative and financial report summarizing the research funded by the award and how funds were spent. The recipient will also submit a minimum of 25 images to SAH’s digital image archive SAHARA. After review and approval of the report and submission to SAHARA, SAH will release the final payment of $1,000. The fellowship has a maximum timeline of two years from initial payment by SAH to submission of the narrative, financial report and photos into SAHARA by the recipient.

Application Details

The application submission window is June 1–July 31 each year.
Applicant must be nominated by their department and invited to apply by SAH (by June 20, 2022).
Applicant must submit their completed application packets to the SAH office via the online portal. (Opens June 1, 2022.)

All submissions must include the following and be assembled into a single PDF document in this order:

A cover letter with full contact details and identification of author and the main academic advisor(s), along with advisor contact details
A dissertation abstract (150 words)
A project statement that describes the project goals, the significance of the work, and its contribution to the field (1,000 words)
A literature review that explains how the project fits into the existing literature or research on the topic (500 words)
A work plan for research (250 words)
A writing sample (10–15 pages)
A curriculum vitae

Eligibility will be focused on projects that are original and have the potential to impact the field of architecture through:

Demonstrating an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new approach or methodology.
Potential to make a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry.
Sound methodology and clear, realistic goals; a reasonable timeframe for research or writing; available and accessible sources.

Applicants will possess strong qualifications and/or knowledge and demonstrate an ability to complete the dissertation successfully.

Nominations by department chairs or graduate program directors for eligible applicants will be accepted until June 20, 2022. Applications will open on June 1, 2022. The deadline to submit an application is July 31, 2022.

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