FRANKLIN HUMANITIES INSTITUTE ANNUAL SEMINAR

* NEW! Applications for Duke faculty, Duke graduate, and postdoctoral fellows are now being accepted for the 2009-10 FHI Seminar, Innovating Forms, to be co-convened by Profs. miriam cooke and Fred Moten. Click here for more details on the seminar project and for links to further information on each fellowship category.

* For more information on the current (2008-09) FHI Seminar, Alternative Political Imaginaries, click here. To see a listing of previous seminars, click here.

Since its inception in 1999, the Franklin Humanities Institute’s core program continues to be an annual seminar on a broadly defined but key issue or idea in the humanities. The aim of the seminar is to create a humanities “laboratory” in which, each year, fellows construct new intellectual communities across departmental and disciplinary divides and think together about a significant theme or problem with an expansive historical, philosophical, or geographical scope. The true legacy of the Franklin Humanities Institute will be in colleagues who return to their departments invigorated by new intellectual partnerships, new ways of thinking about their scholarship, and new ideas for exciting courses for our undergraduate and graduate students.

The FHI Seminar is conceived and co-convened by a team of up to three Duke faculty members. This group selects up to five faculty fellows from Duke humanities and interpretive social science departments, up to three Duke graduate fellows, one library fellow, a fellow from Duke’s professional schools, and up to two external postdoctoral fellows. Working with the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the co-conveners also identify an exchange fellow from the UNC humanities faculty.

Seminar fellows meet every week during the academic year in order to pursue a rigorous, lively, heavily interdisciplinary program of reading and discussion. In addition, the Seminar is provided with resources and funds to bring visiting scholars to Duke, and to produce panels, symposia, exhibitions and screenings. Many of these programs are open to all. In order to take full advantage of a year of dedicated research and collaborative thinking, each fellow is provided with workspace in the FHI’s suite in the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International studies, and the administrative and financial support of the FHI. Duke faculty fellows are provided with release time equivalent to two courses. Graduate and postdoctoral fellows are provided with stipends and research funds.

Duke faculty members are encouraged to contact the FHI if they are interested in proposing a future seminar project. Proposals for seminar themes are accepted throughout the year and themes are selected 12-18 months in advance of the year in which the proposed seminar is to take place. Contact Christina Chia for more information.

The FHI Annual Seminar is supported in equal parts by the office of the Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies and the College of Arts & Sciences.

Seminar Fellowships

Duke faculty members, graduate students, Duke librarians, and non-Duke humanities scholars are encouraged to explore the fellowship options available in the FHI’s Annual Seminar. Click here for more information on all seminar fellowship categories, including selection criteria, application instructions, and forms.

Past Seminars and Fellows

Since 1999, an incredibly wide and diverse range of Duke faculty members and graduate students have participated as fellows in the FHI Annual Seminar. Click here for an index of past seminars and for links to individual seminar pages with year-by-year fellow listings.

Publications, Courses, and Other Results of the FHI Seminar

The FHI Seminar has assisted its participants in generating numerous publications, courses, and projects. Click here for a list of known results of the FHI Seminar. If you are a former FHI Fellow and would like to let us know about something you have done that is related to your participation in the Seminar, please contact Christina Chia.