Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Download the PDF Guidelines

A. Description

The Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere (CHPS), with the support of the Robert and Margaret Rothman Endowment for the Humanities, offers fellowships to support ongoing or new research projects to faculty in humanities disciplines. Rothman Faculty Summer Fellowships in the Humanities will be awarded as a lump-sum payment of up to $5,000 to be used in summer 2025 for travel or research expenses or as salary. (Fellowships taken as summer salary are subject to UF withholding of taxes and fringe).

B. Eligibility

Faculty of all ranks, including non-tenure accruing faculty and those with “visiting faculty” status are eligible. Courtesy and adjunct faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members in Smathers Libraries are not eligible. All UF faculty who have received a Rothman Faculty Summer Fellowship in summer 2023 or 2024 are ineligible. CHPS uses a definition of the humanities adapted from the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 as the basis for determining the eligibility of proposed projects. Fellowships are subject to all applicable state and federal laws, BOG and UF regulations, and university and college policies, including those related to travel and foreign activities.

C. Activities

In addition to advancing scholarly projects through research, writing, or research-related travel, the Fellowships may also be used for developing a large-scale external grant proposal or designing and planning a new research project. These summer fellowships are not for course or curriculum development or to attend conferences. Fellowships are subject to the travel regulations for UF and the respective college.

D. Deliverables

In order to continue to be eligible for funding from CHPS, successful applicants are required to:

• Write a brief summary report of their research by September 1, 2025
• Apply for at least one external fellowship or grant by April 1, 2026
• Present work-in-progress for CHPS

APPLICATION

Please provide the following information in the submission portal: https://forms.humanities.ufl.edu/rothman-faculty-fellowship/

1. Applicant Information:
   • Name, Department/School and College, Rank, and Email
   • Name and Email of Chair or Director
   • Project Title
   • Amount Requested (up to $5,000)
   • Abstract (max. 100 words, written for a general audience)
2. Upload as one PDF in the order listed below:
   1. NARRATIVE (max. 1,000 words, single-spaced). Describe your proposed project addressing the following questions:
      1. What specific work will you undertake during the fellowship period, and how will the funds be used to support this work?
      2. What is the significance of the proposed work for the humanities?
      3. How will the proposed work support your scholarly development?
   2. ONE-PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY.
   3. BUDGET. Include a formal budget for the entire amount if you plan to travel or need equipment (max. one page). Please note:
      1. If you are applying for other funding sources (including at UF), include them and clarify what each funding source would fund.
      2. Include a statement on how you would revise your budget if you do not receive the other funds.
      3. If you are applying for funding for research travel, include a statement on how you would adjust your budget if travel should not be possible.
      4. If salary is justified, then no budget is needed.
   4. Short research C.V. (max. three pages).

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The CHPS advisory board will review all applications with the following criteria:

• The significance and feasibility of the project and the justification of funding.
• The significance of the project for the humanities.
• The importance of the project for the applicant’s scholarly development.
• The feasibility and justification of the budget.
• The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression.

For applications of equal quality, the CHPS advisory board reserves the right to privilege applications by junior faculty members.

PROPOSAL ASSISTANCE

Applicants are advised to write in clear, intelligible prose for the Center’s advisory board, which is comprised of faculty members from across the humanities. We invite applicants to write to the CHPS Director Jaime Ahlberg (jlahlberg@ufl.edu) in advance with queries about the fellowship, proposal writing, or to review a draft proposal. All drafts must be submitted at least one week prior to the grant deadline. For examples of previously funded projects, visit our website: https://humanities.ufl.edu/award-recipients/summer-fellowships/