Fellowship Deadline: January 17, 2012.
Rice University will award up to six external, year-long faculty fellowships to scholars from any rank (senior to postdoc) and any discipline during the academic year 2012-13. Fellows will receive $60,000 in salary, eligibility for Rice medical benefits, and an allowance for reallocation expenses. Fellows must be in residence at Rice during their appointments.
Fellows will participate in the Rice Seminar, “Human Trafficking Past and Present: Crossing Borders, Crossing Disciplines,” co-directed by two Rice historians of slavery, James Sidbury and Kerry Ward. This academic think tank will begin with the history of slavery and slave trading, considering both U.S. and global histories of slavery through the 19th century. With these foundational discussions in mind, the faculty seminar will turn to modern forms of human trafficking, exploring how 20th century political initiatives sought to globalize the suppression of slavery through human rights discourses. Narrowing the focus of the topic, the seminar will use Houston as a case study to examine the public and private philanthropic actors working to combat new forms of slave trading and labor exploitation. Examining these histories and discourses across a long-ranging historical period and through interdisciplinary approaches will result in the production and publication of innovative work that shows the intersection between local and global cultures of human trafficking.
Fellows will develop, present, and discuss original scholarship that explores past and contemporary histories of human trafficking. Their primary obligation will include participating in the seminar. Fellows are also expected to contribute to graduate and undergraduate experience of Rice University students; the nature of this engagement will be determined in consultation with the applicant. This seminar will conclude with the publication of an edited collection with a major university press, which will reflect the work and discussions of the seminar.
International applicants are encouraged to apply.