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The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge is inviting applications for funded Visiting Fellowships for scholars from the Global South. The purpose of these Fellowships is to provide opportunities for scholars working at higher education institutions in the Global South to exchange ideas with other researchers based at CRASSH and elsewhere in the University of Cambridge and to draw benefit from access to the University’s collections and resources. It is hoped that these visits will lead on to future collaborations and exchanges.

Themed call for applications: Religious Boundaries

For 2025, CRASSH will partner with the Faculty of Divinity and the Cambridge Interfaith Programme. Applications are invited from scholars whose research is connected to the theme of inter-religious relations, with a particular focus on religious boundary-making. This invites projects that study how two or more religious groups form one another in their mutual encounter, when and how they demarcate difference, and how boundaries between them remain mutable through various activities of exchange such as dialogue or missionary endeavours. The call also welcomes projects that are interested in how religious boundary-constructions relate to other articulations of identity, such as ethnicity, class, politics, or gender.

We invite applications from any discipline, including anthropology, history, philosophy, political science, sociology and theology. Projects should aim to advance current understandings of interfaith conflict and dialogue through concrete case studies of religious boundary-making or ideas about them, situated in the Global South.

Who is eligible?

Up to three Visiting Fellows will be selected each year from different countries in the Global South whose research proposals respond to the call set out above. Check the further information tab on this page for more details on eligibility.

When will the Fellowships take place?

Visiting Fellows will be appointed for Lent Term 2025 (from mid-January to mid-March: see term dates for each year).

What is provided?

Return (economy fare) travel, single ensuite accommodation in Wolfson College, a stipend to help with additional everyday costs, desk space and access to a computer at CRASSH, full access to the University’s libraries and other collections, and to events and seminars run by CRASSH or other institutions in the University. The three-month in-person Fellowship will be followed by a nine-month digital Fellowship, allowing continued access to the University’s online events and resources.

What is the closing date for applications?

Applications are now closed. The results of the selection process will be communicated to all applicants before the end of March 2024.

Further information

Eligibility criteria

  • Applicants must be currently employed at a higher education institution or a research institute located in the Global South, on at least a 50% contract, and working primarily within the arts, humanities, or social sciences. For the purposes of this Fellowship scheme, ‘Global South’ is defined as those countries that are included in the OECD’s list of countries receiving Official Development Assistance.
  • Applicants should have been awarded a PhD at least five years before the date of application.

Provisions for Visiting Fellows

  • Single ensuite accommodation will be booked for Visiting Fellows at Wolfson College, with the cost covered by CRASSH. Wolfson College will waive their usual membership fee for Visiting Fellows, and provide free access to the library, the gym, social spaces in college, and to activities open to college members. Visiting Fellows may also take meals in the college’s Dining Hall (at a cost charged to them).
  • CRASSH will cover the cost of a visa (check if required) and economy return travel from the scholar’s home, in line with the University’s travel policy.
  • As this scheme is open to scholars already in employment at a higher education institution, it is assumed that they will be able to cover most other everyday expenses through their salary. However, an additional stipend of £140 per week may be claimed (against receipts) to help with the costs of food and local travel, which may be higher in the UK than in the applicant’s country of residence.
  • Visiting Fellows will be provided with desk space and the use of a computer at CRASSH, and given full access to the University’s libraries and other collections.
  • At the Faculty of Divinity, Visiting Fellows will be able to join the Cambridge Interfaith Research Forum and may choose to join its Alumni Network subsequent to their fellowship period.

Selection process

  • The Selection Panel will include the Director of CRASSH and other members of academic staff at the University of Cambridge with expertise in different disciplines and different regions of the Global South.
  • Preference may be given to applicants who received their PhD from, and have pursued their academic career in, an institution located in the Global South.
  • Applicants will be asked to provide a CV (to include a list of publications) and and to answer the questions listed below.
  • No references will be sought, but applicants will be asked to supply a letter of support from their Head of Department (or equivalent), confirming that leave of absence will be granted by their institution for the full period of the Fellowship.

Questions for applicants

  • Why do you wish to apply for this Visiting Fellowship? What benefits would spending a term at CRASSH and the University of Cambridge bring you? (max. 500 words)
  • What research will you be conducting while in Cambridge? Please give an outline of your current project and explain which part(s) of it you intend to carry out during the term of your Visiting Fellowship. (max. 1000 words)
  • The Visiting Fellows appointed under this scheme will be asked to work together to design an event, to take place during the term you are in Cambridge, which will provide an opportunity for you to present your own research, alongside others. What ideas would you suggest for the theme and format or such an event? (max. 400 words)

Conditions of the Fellowship

  • This is a residential fellowship: scholars should be resident in Cambridge for the full term (just over eight weeks). Up to one week during the term may be spent elsewhere, by prior arrangement, for research, family or other personal reasons. A subsistence allowance will not be payable for time spent outside of the UK for non-academic reasons during the Fellowship.
  • Fellows will be expected to take part in Research Practice seminar at CRASSH during the term.
  • All Fellows selected under this scheme will be asked to work together to design an event related to the theme of this call, to take place during the term they are resident in Cambridge, and to present their own research at this event. Some of this preparatory work will take place online before the start of the Fellowship.
  • Applicants must undertake to confirm their dates of travel at least five months before arrival in Cambridge and to apply for a visa (where required) at least four months before the start of their Fellowship.
  • Successful applicants will need to confirm that they have taken out travel insurance (at their own cost).
  • A successful applicant wishing to bring one or more dependants with them should inform CRASSH before the official letter of invitation is issued. We are able to include dependants in the letter of invitation, but applicants should be aware that we are not able to cover any additional costs involved in bringing dependants to Cambridge. Single accommodation will be provided as standard; it may be possible to book double accommodation for a Fellow who wishes to bring a partner, but availability is not guaranteed and the additional cost would be charged to the Fellow. We regret that we are not able to book accommodation for Fellows with children, which is more challenging to find in Cambridge. If Fellows choose to book family accommodation separately, CRASSH will make a contribution that equals the cost of the single accommodation we would have provided.

Please email fellowships@crassh.cam.ac.uk for enquiries.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is 12:00 (midday) UCT  on 26 February 2024. Late applications cannot be accepted. The results of the selection process will be communicated to all applicants before the end of March 2024.

Apply via the button below or to the right of this section.

Apply for the fellowship

Please email fellowships@crassh.cam.ac.uk for enquiries.

 

CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN THE ARTS, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Tel: +44 1223 766886
Email enquiries@crassh.cam.ac.uk