Rhodes University Visiting Fellowships 2020 for African Researchers

Rhodes University Visiting Fellowships Eligibility

The Rhodes African Studies Centre invites academics based in any country in Africa and Overseas whose expertise is in the field of African Studies to apply for a Visiting Fellowship of between one to six months. Visiting Fellows should be willing to work closely with our colleagues based at the Centre to develop new research partnerships in at least one of the following areas: African history (with specific focus on marginalised communitiesand their networks); African politics (particularly theorising and teaching on African politics); Environmental Science and Environmental Education (preferably with a focus on environmental learning, water, and climatic change); Languages and literature (particularly multi-lingualism, Africa and African diaspora literature, issues of child, youth and trauma); African musicologies (research and performances), African philosophy more broadly, and African Arts (particularly epistemic shifts and artivisms of Arts of the Global South).

Value of Award: Our Visiting Fellowships are supported by the German Research Foundation (the DFG) through our partnership with the University of Bayreuth which is based on Reconfiguring African Studies. Successful Fellows will be based at Rhodes University and will receive a modest monthly living allowance. Additionally, the Centre will support Fellows with air and road travel as well as accommodation costs for the duration of their visit. The RASC also welcomes Fellows who bring in their own funding. For the later, we will consider longer stays at the Centre, depending on the Fellow’s ability to self-sponsor.

Aims: The purpose of the visiting scholars program is to bring to the Rhodes African Studies Centre senior scholars who will contribute to and enrich our intellectual and research endeavours of reconfiguring African Studies. We also hope that this Fellowship establishes longer term future collaborations and networks as well as strengthen our institutional research footprint in African Studies. As such, we expect the Visiting Fellow to prepare and submit for publication an academic paper for a journal or an edited collection under the auspices of the RASC.

Fellows will benefit from our extensive historical archival collections of African music based at the International Library of African Music; our archival documents at the Cory Archives; the biggest national collection of English literature archives and unpublished manuscripts at the Amazvi Literature Archives which is in our city, as well as benefit from our tranquil research and study environment. In addition to conducting their own research, our esteemed visiting scholars will actively participate in other endeavours, such as:

Delivering at least a public lecture at the Centre
Engaging in formal or informal discussions with graduate or postgraduate research students to enrich their research interests
Undertaking collaborative research with some of our RASC members
Presenting seminars at the Centre and/or to the faculty

Duration of Award: Between one to six months.

How to Apply for Rhodes University Visiting Fellowships

In your application, please provide the following: A letter of application; a short research proposal (less than 4 pages) which includes the following mandatory items: An Abstract, key research questions, proposed deliverables, an indication of how your proposed research links to the themes/research fields stated above, lastly, state the proposed length of stay. Please also provide a Curriculum Vitae and a copy of your National Identity document.

Your application should be addressed to Prof. Enocent Msindo, the Director, Rhodes African Studies Centre, by 15 July 2020 at the latest.The application process is through theRhodes Online Submission Engine at:

https://ru.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1816318

Information about the African Studies Centre can be found at: https://www.ru.ac.za/africanstudiescentre/

For any pre-application enquiries, please email Enocent Msindo, e.msindo@ru.ac.za copying it to rasc@ru.ac.za Fellows will negotiate their start dates in 2021, which we expect to vary from person to person. You will be informed of the result of your application by 15 September 2020 at the latest. If you are not contacted by then, please feel free to contact us.

For more information, visit the Rhodes University Visiting Fellowships.

Application Deadline: 15th July 2020