UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Five College African Scholars Residency Program, 2003-2007

Five College African Scholars Residency Program, 2003-2007



The Five College African Scholars Program

Summary: The Five College African Scholars Residency Program works to strengthen intellectual capacity in African universities and to enrich Africa-focused scholarship at the Five Colleges and internationally. It does so by bringing junior and mid-level African scholars, employed by and teaching in African universities and with active research projects with an African focus, for 5- and 10-month research residencies at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, neighboring institutions associated in the Five College Consortium centered in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Program Requirements: Residents will be expected to complete scholarly projects aimed to result in publication. Each scholar will be provided with a laptop computer, which s/he may retain once the residency is complete, so as to sustain subsequent contact by e-mail. Each scholar will be hosted by one of the five institutions, which will supply office space, telephone and web access, and partnership with a local faculty sponsor. Each resident will have access to library and other research facilities at all five institutions. All residents will participate in an interdisciplinary Residents Research Seminar including fellow >residents and Africanist faculty from the five colleges, and will be expected to present their work to the seminar, which will be conducted in English. Teaching is not a requirement of the residency, although residents may be invited as guest speakers in courses offered at the five campuses.

Eligibility: Eligibility for Residencies is limited to junior and mid-level African scholars employed by and teaching at African universities who intend to return to their institutions in Africa upon completion of their residencies. Academic leave authorization must be certified by the applicant s home institution at the time of application, as well as the right of the Resident to return to his or her position upon completion of the Residency. Applications are welcome from scholars in all disciplines and may be comparative in nature with an African focus. Applicants must submit with their application a proposal describing a research project to be completed during the residency term. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged. Note: We will ask the US Immigration authorities to issue a J-1 visa for those whom we invite to be Residents. Please be aware that current US immigration regulations require that an individual who leaves the United States, having been here on a J-1 visa, may not return under another J-1 visa until twelve months have elapsed.

Timing: The first residencies begin in January 2003 and the program is expected to continue at least into 2007.

Application deadlines:
------------------------------------------------- ! Residency ! Deadline ! ------------------------------------------------- ! January 1 - May 31 ! preceding June 1 ! ! August 1 - December 31 ! preceding December 1! ! August 1 - May 31 ! preceding December 1! -------------------------------------------------

Support includes airfare to and from Africa, a monthly stipend of $3,000, housing or a housing allowance, and health insurance for Residents who meet the U.S. Department of State requirements for J-1 exchange visitors. Reimbursement of certain research expenses (books, research materials, travel to conferences within the United States, etc.) is also available up to $600 for five-month Residencies and up to $1200 for ten-month Residencies

The Five College African Scholars Residency Program is generously supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and by the five colleges. The Program is administered by the Five College African Studies Council, representing 30 Africanists from a range of fields at all five institutions. The Council sustains an intensive collaboration, allowing the institutions to combine the substantial resources available to support African studies at each of the campuses. Members of the Council edit the African Studies Review, the principal journal of the African Studies Association.

For more information and application details, go to the African Scholars Program website at http://www.fivecolleges.edu/asp/, or call, write, or fax the program at:

Five College African Scholars Program
Herter Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA 01003
USA
Telephone: 413/577-3778
Fax: 413/577-3781
E-mail: asp@fivecolleges.edu



Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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