History of Art and Architecture

Fellowship Committee Guidelines

Adopted by the Faculty 2/6/04

Responsibilities:

To select and rank candidates requiring Departmental nomination (National Gallery Fellowships,  Kress, Mellon, FLAS, etc.).  For the Mellon and Provost’s Humanities Fellowships, ad hoc committees will submit a one page written report to the Director of Graduate Studies that reviews their findings and describes the strengths of each candidate put forth.

Committee Make-up:

Three members of the T/TS Faculty shall be chosen, one from each group where possible, by the Graduate Director for each selection process.  Some committees may only need two members (FLAS, for eg.).

No member of the Committee may have a student whom they are directing in the pool of candidates (ie., they cannot be selected for the Committee).

An effort shall be made to have one person from each Research Area as a member of these Committees.

Criteria:

  1. The proposal: The project statement must include a leading idea or intellectual framework that is original and a well worked-out methodology both of which are expressed in terms clear to nonspecialists.  It must also have a research or writing plan connected to that idea or framework.
  2. Letters of recommendation: Should speak directly about the strength of the project proposal and the applicant’s ability to carry it out.
  3. CV: Ideally should show evidence of professional accomplishment (conference papers and/or publications), honors, special preparation for the project.

While each grant has different requirements, for most grants (in particular the Mellon) the proposal is the most heavily weighted factor.

Candidates with incomplete files or lacking in any of the above may be dropped from the competition.

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