[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13986″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.11)” min_height=”350″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The Eccles Centre Postgraduate Fellowship provided me with the opportunity to reconstruct the history of “the family” in American politics from the 1960s to the present, writes Howell Williams. The British Library’s collections were essential for documenting transitions in rhetoric, such as how conservative anti-gay rhetoric has shifted from a public moral crusade to a matter of individual personal conscience in recent years.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The postgraduate fellowship from the Eccles Centre has been instrumental in the development of my doctoral research on rhetoric on “the family” in American politics from the 1960s to the present. My dissertation looks at the ways that familial language has changed during this time period, and the fellowship provided me the opportunity to reconstruct the history of the late-20th century using both primary archival documents and secondary scholarly sources. Over the course of the last year I have made three separate trips to the British Library, taking advantage of both the main library in London as well as the reading room on the sprawling library campus in Boston Spa,[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Yorkshire (note to future fellows: spending a day at the latter provides a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of this world-class institution).

on the sprawling library campus in Boston Spa, During my time at the library I conducted research on two projects, each comprising chapters from my doctoral thesis. The bulk of my time at the library was spent reconstructing the history of Anita Bryant’s 1977 campaign against protections for gays and lesbians in Dade County, Florida. Bryant, a spokeswoman for Florida Orange Juice, became the face of anti-gay activism in the late 70s as she successfully petitioned to have a county ordinance protecting people from homophobic discrimination overturned. Her “Save Our Children” campaign mobilized a rhetoric that portrayed gays and lesbians as inherently dangerous to children, giving rise to a major theme in conservative “family values” discourse. Using the library’s extensive collection of materials from the era, including her cookbook Bless This Food, I determined the particular mix of religious conviction and public activism that made Bryant such a transformational figure. In the decade following Bryant’s campaign, American conservatism would become synonymous with protecting families from the dangerous and immoral encroachment of an activist government.

Using this research I constructed a comparative analysis between Bryant and Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who made headlines in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, citing her religious beliefs. The British Library had a number of useful sources for considering religious freedom arguments in American history, including Thomas Jefferson’s “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.” Comparing Bryant and Davis demonstrates how conservative anti-gay rhetoric has shifted from a public moral crusade to a matter of individual personal conscience.

The second project I undertook through the Eccles Centre fellowship was a history of the American welfare system. Scholars have written volumes on the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) welfare system, which Bill Clinton famously campaigned to end in 1992. For this research I treated secondary sources as primary documents, determining how scholars write about welfare and how their approach to the topic changed over the course of the 20th century. This research revealed a number of interesting findings about the role of familial discourse in changing attitudes around welfare both in the scholarly community as well as in the broader public. For example, mid-century experts argued forcefully for welfare reform from a liberal perspective. Culminating in Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, the liberal case against AFDC was transmogrified by conservatives in the 1970s as a justification for gutting welfare entirely. The British Library’s collections were essential for documenting this historical transition.

Over three trips to the British Library I immersed myself in the intellectual and cultural construction of American conservatism during the 1970s. This research provides important background for understanding contemporary uses of familial language. President Barack Obama has made family a central element of his political persona, and my research provides a genealogy of these familial invocations. Using the Library’s vast collection, I charted shifts in language, emergence of new concepts, and co-optation of themes by various actors in American politics. I am very grateful to the Eccles Centre for the opportunity to conduct this research.

Howell Williams is a PhD candidate in Politics at the New School for Social Research.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13977″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.11)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The John D. Lees Award has contributed to my research on the political life of Senator Bob Dole whose career I use as a lens to view changes in the GOP during the last quarter of the twentieth century, writes Jonathan Bartho. The award funded a month stay at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence, Kansas where I was also able to interview the Institute’s director, Bill Lacy which gave me a better understanding of the political character of a man who has often been viewed as enigmatic.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The generosity of BAAS in awarding me the 2016 John D. Lees Award was very important in enabling me to undertake a four week research trip to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence, Kansas between March and April of 2016. My thesis examined the political life of Senator Bob Dole as a way to understand his impact on the Republican Party, as well as using his career in Congress as a lens on to the changing GOP during the last quarter of the twentieth century. The Dole Institute holds one of the biggest US political archives outside the presidential library system and receiving the John D. Lees Award enabled me to extend my trip from my original plan of three weeks to four, allowing more time to explore the vast collections.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The scale of the collected material at the Dole Institute reflects Senator Dole’s long political career as well as his life and work outside the political sphere, including his service in World War Two and his life in Kansas before entering politics. It was notable how the archives also offer opportunities for research across a number of topics not directly connected to Senator Dole – other researchers visit the archives to conduct research into the World War Two era, the Vietnam War and the state politics of Kansas. The impressive building which houses the Dole Institute also has many exhibits on display which place Senator Dole’s life and career in the context of American political history throughout the 20^th century.

In addition to receiving very friendly, knowledgeable and patient assistance (considering my countless requests for boxes of material) from the archivists and other staff at the Dole Institute, I also had the opportunity to interview the Institute’s director, Bill Lacy. As a former campaign strategist for Bob Dole and advisor in the Reagan White House, Mr Lacy provided me with insights into Bob Dole’s personality, his political outlook and impact, and the reasons why his campaigns for president in 1988 and 1996 were ultimately unsuccessful. Bill Lacy’s thoughts on his personal relationship with Senator Dole – and the Senator’s relationships with figures such as Ronald Reagan – were fascinating and allowed me some understanding of the political character of a man who has often been viewed as enigmatic.

In addition to the lengthy interview I conducted with Mr Lacy, I returned from Kansas with thousands of photographed documents relating to Senator Dole’s Congressional career. Unfortunately, after spending time reviewing the material I had gathered, I came to the decision that it did not contain enough of the insight I required to enable me to continue with my political biography of Senator Dole. While the material was valuable in tracing Senator Dole’s Congressional career in areas such as media interviews and his voting record, I did encounter a lack of personal opinions and thoughts. This was reflected in the brevity of personal correspondence with other political figures and relative absence of internal memos discussing policy and decision making. This is perhaps a consequence of Senator Dole’s political and personal way of working. In Congress he was a man who much preferred holding meetings in person – sometimes moving between multiple meetings at a time – and in his personal life he did not keep a diary. As I learned from Bill Lacy, Senator Dole always prioritised action and hard work over theorising and ideology. Sadly, the lack of personal insight and comment in the documents I photographed has meant that I have had to change the focus of my thesis. However, I remain committed to studying the evolution of the Republican Party during the latter half of the 20^th century, as I believe it is a fascinating subject which can reveal much about the current political landscape in the United States. Although my research trip was not as successful as I originally hoped it would be, I am extremely grateful to have received the John D. Lees Award from BAAS and for the opportunity it provided to spend four weeks conducting archival research at the Dole Institute.

Jonathan Bartho is a PhD student at the University College London.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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The 2021 award will open for applications on 1 October 2020.

BAAS welcomes proposals from Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers in any field of American studies for its Public Engagement and Impact Award.

Recognizing the diversity of public engagement and impact projects by its Postgraduate and Early Career members, this award seeks to encourage and enhance good practice.

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One award of up to £750 will be made available to a project the purpose of which is to either i) disseminate new research to non-academic audience or ii) work collaboratively with an external organization. Any and all events should take place between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.

Please note that the award is not primarily intended to defray routine research costs such as archive trips or attendance at academic conferences. Awards may be used to cover the costs of meetings including organizing workshops or conferences designed to bring together project partners and to showcase the project.

This award is open to all Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers who are BAAS members at the time of application.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity and applicants are expected to demonstrate similar consideration when submitting bids to this scheme.

The deadline for submissions is 19 February 2021.

You can find the application form here

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Past Winners of the Public Engagement and Impact Award

2020: Jessica Mehta, University of Exeter. “White Alliahs:” The Creation & Perpetuation of the Wise Indian Trope

2019: Andrew Rowcroft, University of Lincoln. Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of The Grapes of Wrath and North American Fiction Since 1900

2018: Emily Charnock and Hilde Restad, University of Cambridge

2017: Hannah-Rose Murray, University of Nottingham
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For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk. Applications for these awards should be submitted electronically to awards@baas.ac.uk.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

The 2020 awards will open for submissions on 1 October 2020.

We are looking for essays that explore any aspect of the American experience, from the perspective of history, literature, film, politics or any other related or inter-related discipline. Submissions that engage with some aspect of social justice, such as (but not limited to ) voting rights, environmental justice, Indigenous rights, racial justice, healthcare, gender justice, immigration, or equality, are of particular interest to the awarding panel.

Essays may be adapted from coursework or ongoing research projects that students are engaged in, but they must conform to word length and the appropriate presentation style required by the judging panel for each award.

For the undergraduate essay prize, we request that no more than six essays per undergraduate department or programme should be submitted, each with a signed note by the Head of Department or tutor certifying the applicant’s registered status.

The prize for the winning author will be £500.

The essay must not exceed 2,500 words in length (excluding footnotes and bibliography).
Authors should use an appropriate bibliographic referencing system.

Essays and supporting letters certifying the applicant’s status should be sent by e-mail to: awards@baas.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions is 25 January 2021.

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Undergraduate Essay Prize Winners

2020:

Siobhan Owen, University of Exeter

(Honourable mention to Mark Parker, University of Bristol)

2019:

Adam Lawrence, University of Sussex

2018:

Jac Lewis, University of Exeter

Honourable mention to Robyn Wilson, University of Leicester

2017:

Nathaniel Sikand-Youngs, University of East Anglia

You can view the Submission Guidelines here.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.

For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk

The 2021 award will open for submissions on 1 October 2020.

We are looking for essays that explore any aspect of the American experience, from the perspective of history, literature, film, politics or any other related or inter-related discipline. If you would rather respond to a specific question, you can choose from one of the following:

• Explore the use of gender roles in an American novel or play of your choosing.
• How far do you agree that the election of Barack Obama in 2008 was the sign the US had entered a “postracial” era?

No preference will be given, whether you choose to write on a topic of your own choosing, or if you respond to one of these questions.

Submissions that engage with some aspect of social justice, such as (but not limited to) voting rights, environmental justice, Indigenous rights, racial justice, healthcare, gender justice, immigration, or equality, are of particular interest to the awarding panel. 

Essays may be adapted from coursework or ongoing research projects that students are engaged in, but they must conform to the word length required by the judging panel for each award.

In addition, we request that each entry for the School Essay prize should be accompanied by a signed letter from the student’s teacher, certifying the applicant’s status. This must include a contact email address for that teacher.

The award for the winning author will be £150, with two runner-up prizes of £50 each.

The essay must not exceed 1,500 words in length. You are encouraged to include references and a bibliography, but this is not essential and will have no bearing on the award. However, any materials used should be listed and the award panel will not tolerate any form of plagiarism. The 1,500 word count only refers to the body of the essay, and not any details of sources used.

Essays and a teacher’s letter certifying the applicant’s status should be sent by e-mail to: awards@baas.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions is 18 January 2021.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.

For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk

You can view the Submission Guidelines here.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.

For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”14096″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.12)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]In August 2016 Katie McGettigan attended a workshop on ‘Academics in the Classroom’ at the University of Oxford. In this report Katie summarises the main outcomes of the workshop, including some insight into the most effective ways to work with teachers and support the teaching of American texts in schools.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]At the centre of the recent ‘Academics in the Classroom’ workshop, organised by Dr Catherine Redford with funding from a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award, were two large questions: what does successful outreach with schools look like, and how can academics work together with teachers to deliver it?

The workshop, held at Hertford College, Oxford on August 15th and 16^th, brought together Early Career Researchers in English and allied departments, and teachers of GCSE and[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”12″][vc_column][vc_column_text]A Level English Literature and English Language. As a specialist in nineteenth-century American writing, I attended in order to find out how academics might support the teaching of American Literature in schools, especially in the wake of curriculum reforms under Michael Gove that removed the teaching of American texts at GCSE. More broadly, I wanted to get ideas about how to inform and get students enthused about topics that they might not necessarily encounter in the classroom – a challenge that also faces those in American History, Politics, and Studies when trying to recruit students and guarantee the future health of their subjects.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”10″][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]The workshop was structured around talks on different aspects of outreach. Professor Emma Smith of Oxford University opened by demonstrating how academics can support the teaching of historical and literary contexts, and critical interpretations. Context and interpretation cover two of the five Assessment Objectives at A Level, and are areas in which teachers, who often have no access to online databases, struggle to find accurate and up-to-date resources.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][dt_quote]Teachers often have no access to online databases and struggle to find accurate and up-to-date resources.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Professor Smith also emphasised that, rather than being “stardust”, academics should always support the day-to-day work of teachers. Her talk was followed by reflections on outreach projects from Dr Laura Varnam, Dr Natasha Alden and Dr James Castell, who talked about University-based initiatives at Oxford, Aberystwyth and Cardiff, and from Michael Amess, a teacher from Hampstead School.

A panel on the new GSCE and A Level curricula detailed their opportunities and challenges for teachers and academics. At GSCE and A Level, the volume of work has increased substantially, while, in some places, the breadth of texts studies has narrowed. Jane Adams, Head of English at The Barclay School, explained that GSCE students will study a canon that is exclusively British, and overwhelmingly white and male. Dr Calum Mechie, Head of Key Stage 5 at Brentford School for Girls, suggested there are more opportunities for studying American and non-white texts at A Level, but that the sheer numbers of possible set texts makes it difficult for academics to know where their expertise might be useful. Also in this panel, PhD researcher Ushashi Dasgupta, and Dr Kate Ash-Irisarri discussed successful outreach projects around Dickens and Chaucer. Next was a session by Dr Velda Elliot, researcher in English Education at Oxford University, on Active Pedagogies, which encouraged academics as well as teachers to reflect on classroom strategies by asking them to participate in a lesson that taught interpretations of Shakespeare through drama.

Dr Gary Snapper, a former English teacher and researcher in English education, then shared his enlightening research on transitions to University. Snapper argued that although changes in expectations placed on students and in the scope of literary study at University are necessary, they can leave first years feeling lost and frustrated. The talk has encouraged me to carve out time in the first semester to discuss with students how they think studying literature has changed from A Level, and what they think we’re talking about when we talk about texts. Such discussions might be especially useful in American Studies programs, where students are being introduced to new sub-disciplines that they may not have studied at A Level, as well as a new interdisciplinary field.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=”15″ min_height=”0″][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]Before planning an event consider who you want to engage and why – engagement can be as fruitful a path to impact as economic or public policy outcomes.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Day two opened with Dr Lesley Paterson, Senior Facilitator and Co-Ordinator for Public Engagement at Oxford University, discussing public engagement with research, including, but also moving beyond, outreach in schools. She encouraged academics to think of who they wanted to engage and why before planning events, and showed that engagement could be as fruitful a path to impact as[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]economic or public policy outcomes. She was followed by a roundtable from representatives from the Globe Theatre, the Bronte Parsonage Museum and the British Library, as well as an academic blogger, Dr Eleanor Parker, who talked about their work engaging the public. BAAS Members interested in outreach might consider teaming up with a local cultural institution to offer workshops, especially as American history and literature have often left rich footprints on this side of the pond.

Providing a case study of academic-teacher collaboration, Dr Marcello Giovanelli of Nottingham University and Dr Andrea McRae of Oxford Brookes University shared their experiences of running the Integrated English blog and conferences. Their talk anticipated the keynote by Adrian Barlow of the English Association, who addressed what might happen to English in schools and universities under the new curriculum. Barlow suggested that universities should consider whether they have a responsibility toward the future teaching of school English. GCSE students now have to study early nineteenth-century poetry, yet in university curriculum engineered to give high levels of student choice, students can avoid studying poetry – sometimes altogether. Whether or not university courses give sufficient subject knowledge for secondary teaching may be a particular problem for American Studies, in which students are balancing an interdisciplinary course load.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=”15″][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]The most useful part of the workshop was, however, its opportunities for discussions between teachers and ECRs. What arose from these discussions has relevance beyond literary studies. Although most academics came to the workshop with the idea of outreach as direct student engagement, the teachers suggested that resources and workshops aimed at teachers could be more useful. An academic can work with a single class, but a teacher who works with an academic can share resources and information amongst an entire school.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][dt_quote]Teachers welcome resources on literary and historical contexts – podcasts and videos are particularly useful.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Teachers said they would particularly welcome resources and training around literary and historical contexts, and new approaches to texts, and also that podcasts and videos were particularly useful. Ideas about ways to better direct teachers to open access research, and for organising a Sixth Form conference also emerged.

BAAS does successful outreach work with schools, thanks to the dedicated work of the Schools Representative on the Exec. As well as running our own schools’ conferences, we support the Congress to Campus initiative, and smaller schools events run by members. We have started to post talks from these events on our web channel, making them a useful resource for teachers. But there is much more we could do, particularly using the BAAS website as a platform for podcasts, discussion groups, and resources. I would welcome responses from teachers, or other members of the BAAS Community who have further ideas.

Tweets from the conference and ongoing discussion are under the hashtag #EnglishOutreach. Podcasts and Videos from the Workshop are available here.

Katie McGettigan is a Lecturer in American Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London and sits on the BAAS Executive Committee.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Named after the founders of BAAS, these awards offer funding for short-term research visits to specific research sites (such as archives) or for hiring research assistance to consult archives remotely, in order to conduct American-based research. 

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Applications for the 2021 awards will open on 1 October 2020.

The awards have historically been offered to scholars in the UK who need to travel to conduct research, or who have been invited to read papers at conferences on American Studies topics. Since 2021, considering BAAS’s commitment to leading the field towards lowering its carbon emissions, as well as recent difficulties linked to overseas travels due to the pandemic, the awards are also offered to help fund research assistance to consult archives remotely. This is also in line with BAAS’s commitment to fostering greater inclusivity: for example scholars may not find archives sufficiently accessible, and scholars who have caring responsibilities may benefit from engaging with archives remotely.

Up to four awards of £1000 are available: scholars are expected to apply for an amount that reflects the amount of assistance/travel that will be undertaken. Although there is no specific time limit for the duration of the awards, and it is recognised that awards under the scheme may need to be supplemented, it is not intended that they should be used to supplement or extend much longer-term awards.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”5502″ img_size=”full” css_animation=”fadeInRight”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=”no_bg”][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][vc_column_text]The duration of the award would typically expect to be twelve weeks. Applications are invited from persons normally resident in the UK, and from scholars currently working at UK universities and institutions of higher education.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row bg_type=”no_bg”][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Closing date

The extended deadline for applications is 10 January 2021. If travel is undertaken, it must take place between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. In the case of research assistance, the contract for the hired assistant needs to be signed and sent to BAAS before 31 March 2022. Awards for travel will not be made retrospectively.

Successful candidates are required to provide a brief report of their research trip or of the research material acquired thanks to the award. These reports will be published in American Studies in Britain. Successful candidates are also requested to acknowledge the assistance of BAAS in any other publication that results from research carried out during the tenure of the award.

Membership of BAAS is mandatory in order to be eligible to receive one of these awards. Applicants will need to supply their membership number, which can be found by logging into the BAAS website and navigating to Member-BAAS Community-Profile.

Enquries

The application form can be downloaded here.

Funds for these awards come entirely from private contributions and donations in any amounts are always welcome. Please consider adding a donation to your annual BAAS subscription, or send a donation separately to the Treasurer using this form.

BAAS is a registered charity (No. 1002816)

You can view the Submission Guidelines here[/vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

FAQ

Can BAAS help me in finding a suitable research assistant?

No, BAAS does not provide help in identifying an archivist/research assistant to source and digitise material for you. Specialist librarians and archivists tend to have lists of potential research assistants. Do inquire about these possibilities with the organisations that you are interested in. Another good way to find a local person is to get in touch with the relevant university department or research centre located close to the targeted archival institution and ask whether a graduate student or an advanced undergraduate would be interested in doing some research assistance work for a fee.

See the list of independent researchers (per area of expertise) provided at archives.gov

Or this list of possible options to find an assistant on the Yale Library website

How much should I pay my research assistant?

The terms of employment are between you and your research assistant, and BAAS will have no involvement in such negotiations. However, the award panel will look favorably on applications that include a quote from a research assistant or professional. Local research assistants can usually be hired for hourly rates ranging from $25 to $45 an hour, depending on experience and expertise, as well as local cost of life.

Should I provide a quote from the research assistant I intend on employing?

If possible, yes. In any case, do your best effort to show that you have a concrete plan on how to source and obtain the archival material.

Can I use the research assistance award to fund the digitisation of images and documents with the view of reproducing them in a book or article?

No, the research assistance awards are intended to help scholars develop new research projects. They are not meant to facilitate the reproduction of material for publication purposes.

Can the BAAS research assistance award cover the individual subscription for an online resource database?

In some cases, yes. If you can prove that your institution will not fund the subscription for an essential resource database for your project (for instance because it is too narrow in its remit to interest the university community at large), then the award panel will consider the application eligible.

Previous Winners

BAAS Founders’ Research Travel Awards 2020

Sarah Barnsley, Goldsmiths, University of London. Research on Mary Barnard’s Poems

Sam Edwards, Manchester Metropolitan University. Research on the American Expeditionary Force in Britain

Jeffrey Geiger, University of Essex. Research on Colour Film

Thomas Tunstall Allcock, University of Manchester. Research on Cold War Diplomacy

BAAS Founders’ Research Travel Awards 2019

Leila Kamali, University of Liverpool for John Edgar Wideman as Black Flâneur

Katie McGettigan​, Royal Holloway, University of London for Representations of Slavery and Abolition in Juvenile Literature, 1830-1900

Emily West, University of Reading for Food, Power, and Resistance in US Slavery

Keira Williams, Queen’s University Belfast for Steel Magnolias, Velvet Hammers, and Southern Feminisms

For results 2006-2018 winners, click here

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These awards offer assistance for scholars conducting research on America for short-term visits to specific research sites (such as archives) or for hiring research assistance to consult archives remotely. They contribute considerably to fostering talent among the American Studies community in the UK.

The awards have historically been offered to PG students and ECR based in the UK who need to travel to conduct America-based research. Starting in 2021, and in line with BAAS’s commitment to leading the field towards lowering its carbon emissions, the awards are now also offered to help fund research assistance to consult archives remotely. This is also in line with BAAS’s commitment to fostering greater inclusivity: for example scholars may not find archives sufficiently accessible, and scholars who have caring responsibilities may benefit from engaging with archives remotely.

The programme depends for its funds entirely on public contributions, and can only have a long-term impact if BAAS members and other interested persons continue to be generous with donations. The Treasurer of BAAS welcomes contributions small and large, and invites anyone wishing to support BAAS in maintaining its work in this area to make contact using the link below.[/vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

The resources available are normally modest. It is envisaged that grants will be supplemented by funds from other sources.

The maximum of each grant will be £1000: scholars are expected to apply for an amount that reflects the amount of assistance/travel that will be undertaken. Although there is no specific time limit for the duration of the awards, and it is recognised that awards under the scheme may need to be supplemented, it is not intended that they should be used to supplement or extend much longer-term awards. The duration of the award would typically be up to c. twelve weeks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”5492″ img_size=”full” css_animation=”fadeInRight”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The 2021 awards will open for applications on 1 October 2020.

Applications are invited from persons normally resident in the UK, and from scholars currently working at, or registered as postgraduates at, UK universities and institutions of higher education.

For ECRs, BAAS follows the AHRC’s definition for ECR status: “ECR is defined as an individual who is within eight years of the award of their PhD or equivalent professional training, or an individual who is within six years of their first academic appointment. These durations exclude any period of career break, e.g. for family care or health reasons. The ‘first academic appointment’ is defined as the first paid contract of employment, either full-time or part-time, which lists research and/or teaching as the primary functions.”

For postgraduate students, preference will be given to those who are planning to do America-based research and who have had no previous opportunities for research-related visits. BAAS particularly welcomes applications from postgraduates needing financial assistance to conduct research on America remotely or to fund travel to specific research sites (such as archives).

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”1″ bg_type=”no_bg”][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][vc_column_text]

Some of the travel grants relate to named awards:

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• POSTGRADUATE TRAVEL AWARD will be given to the best proposal in any area of American Studies.

• THE MALCOLM BRADBURY AWARD will be given to the best proposal in the field of American literary studies.

• THE MARCUS CUNLIFFE AWARD will be given to the best proposal in the field of American Studies.

• THE JOHN D. LEES AWARD will be given to the best proposal in the field of American political studies.

• THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN AWARD will be given to the best proposal in the field of nineteenth-century century US history and culture

• THE PETER PARISH AWARD will be given to the best proposal in the field of American history
• ECR TRAVEL AWARD will be given to the best proposal in any area of American Studies.

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Closing date

The closing date for applications for the PG/ECR Research Assistance Awards has now been extended to 10 January 2021.

Guidelines for submission (https://www.baas.ac.uk/opportunities-awards-2/students-2/prizes-awards/baas-awards-guidelines-for-submission/)

If travel is undertaken, it must take place between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. Awards for travel will not be made retrospectively. In the case of research assistance, the contract for the hired assistant needs to be signed and sent to BAAS before 31 March 2022. Awards for travel will not be made retrospectively.

Successful candidates are required to provide a brief report of their research trip or of the research material acquired thanks to the award. These reports will be published in American Studies in Britain. Successful candidates are also requested to acknowledge the assistance of BAAS in any other publication that results from research carried out during the tenure of the award.

Membership of BAAS is mandatory in order to be eligible to receive these awards. Applicants will need to supply their membership number, which can be found by logging into the BAAS website and navigating to Member-BAAS Community-Profile.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Enquiries

You can view the Submission Guidelines here.

For enquiries about the awards, contact awards@baas.ac.uk

Applications for these awards should be submitted electronically to awards@baas.ac.uk. ECR and PGR applicants should use this form.

Funds for these awards come entirely from private contributions and donations in any amounts are always welcome. Please consider adding a donation to your annual BAAS subscription, or send a donation separately to the Treasurer using this form.

BAAS is a registered charity (No. 1002816)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”3″ bg_type=”no_bg”][vc_column][dt_gap height=”20″][vc_column_text]

FAQ

Can BAAS help me in finding a suitable research assistant?

No, BAAS does not provide help in identifying an archivist/research assistant to source and digitise material for you. Specialist librarians and archivists tend to have lists of potential research assistants. Do inquire about these possibilities with the organisations that you are interested in. Another good way to find a local person is to get in touch with the relevant university department or research centre located close to the targeted archival institution and ask whether a graduate student or an advanced undergraduate would be interested in doing some research assistance work for a fee.

See the list of independent researchers (per area of expertise) provided at archives.gov

Or this list of possible options to find an assistant on the Yale Library website

How much should I pay my research assistant?

The terms of employment are between you and your research assistant, and BAAS will have no involvement in such negotiations. However, the award panel will look favorably on applications that include a quote from a research assistant or  professional. Local research assistants can usually be hired for hourly rates ranging from USD $25 to USD $45 an hour, depending on experience and expertise, as well as local cost of life.

Should I provide a quote from the research assistant I intend on employing?

If possible, yes. In any case, do your best effort to show that you have a concrete plan on how to source and obtain the archival material.

Can I use the research assistance award to fund the digitisation of images and documents with the view of reproducing them in a book or article?

No, the research assistance awards are intended to help scholars develop new research projects. They are not meant to facilitate the reproduction of material for publication purposes.

Can the BAAS research assistance award cover the individual subscription for an online resource database?

In some cases, yes. If you can prove that your institution will not fund the subscription for an essential resource database for your project (for instance because it is too narrow in its remit to interest the university community at large), then the award panel will consider the application eligible.

Past Winners:

2020:

Early Career Short-Term Travel Awards

Rachael Alexander, University of Strathclyde. Research on Anne Harriet Fish and Gordon Conway

Alex Ferguson, University of Southampton. Research on U.S. Policy in Vietnam

Postgraduate Short-Term Travel Awards

Peter Parish Award: Ellie Armon Azoulay, University of Kent. Collectors of African American Folk Music in the U.S. South

John D Lees Award: Steven K. Driver, University College London. U.S. Foreign Policy and Religion during the Occupation Era, 1912-1934

Abraham Lincoln Award: Katherine Burns, The University of Edinburgh. “Keep this Unwritten History”: African American Families’ Search for Identity in “Information Wanted” Advertisements, 1880-1902

Marcus Cunliffe Award: Ya’ara Notea, King’s College London. American Girls’ Fiction in the Twentieth Century

Malcolm Bradbury Award: Deborah Snow Molloy, University of Glasgow. The Literary Geography of Female Mental Illness in New York Women’s Literature, 1920-1945

BAAS Postgraduate Travel Awards

Rebecca Slatcher, The University of Hull. North American Indigenous Languages in the British Library’s (BL) post-1850 Collections

2019:

Postgraduate Short-Term Travel Awards 

Peter Parish Award: Melanie Khuddro, University of Reading: Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science

John D Lees Award: Stephen Colbrook, University of Cambridge: Policy-making responses to the AIDS crisis in California in the 1980s

Abraham Lincoln Award: Sylvia Broeckx, University of Sheffield: The prevalence, prosecution, and consequences of rape perpetrated by the Union Army during the Civil War

Marcus Cunliffe Award: Eleanor Whitcroft, University of Sussex: Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland: Childhood, dreams, and race in American newspaper comic strips

Malcolm Bradbury Award: Shihoko Inoue, University of Exeter: Sylvia Plath, Maternity, and Medicine

Winners of the BAAS Postgraduate Short-Term Travel Awards 2019

Heather Hatton, University of Hull: Bridging the Divide: The Language of Diplomacy in Early America, 1701-1774

Nathaniel Sikand-Youngs, University of Nottingham: Place and space in literary representations of Californian landscapes, 1880-1917

2018:

Early Career Short-Term Travel Awards

Kate Ballantyne, University of Cambridge

Owen Clayton, University of Lincoln

John Tiplady, New York University/University of Nottingham

Postgraduate Short-Term Travel Awards 2018

Peter Parish Award: Jodie Collins, University of Sussex and the British Library

John D Lees Award: Mark Eastwood, University of Nottingham

Abraham Lincoln Award: Elizabeth Barnes, University of Reading

Marcus Cunliffe Award: Kimberley Weir, University of Nottingham

Malcolm Bradbury Award: Jake Barrett-Mills, University of East Anglia

BAAS Postgraduate Travel Awards

Sage Goodwin, University of Oxford

Owen Walsh, University of Leeds

Winners of the BAAS Postgraduate Short-Term Travel Awards 2017

Peter Parish Award: Ruth Lawlor, University of Cambridge

John D Lees Award: Darius Wainwright, University of Reading

Abraham Lincoln Award: Juliane Schlag, University of Hull

Marcus Cunliffe Award: Janet Aspley, University of Brighton

Malcolm Bradbury Award: Francesca White, University of Leicester

BAAS Postgraduate Travel Awards

Michael Docherty, University of Kent

Quintijn Kat, Institute of the Americas, University College, London

Toby Lanyon Jones, University of Leeds

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[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13967″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.11)” min_height=”200″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The Eccles Centre Visiting European Postgraduate Award 2015 allowed me to delve into the Library’s collection on American print culture, which proved invaluable for my study on the textual evolution of advertisements, writes Sonja Molnar. Accessing the Library’s rich periodical collections and wealth of advertising literature enabled me to expand and complete my corpus of primary sources on the early years of American advertising.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Determined to make the most of my generously funded research trip, I set out early on Monday morning to ensure I would arrive at the British Library well in advance before its doors opened. To my great surprise I was already greeted by a long line of students, researchers and scholars, who were eager to enter this repository of knowledge. With excitement I realized that for the following two weeks of May 2016 I would join this information-seeking flock – an opportunity for which I am extremely grateful.

The Eccles Centre Visiting European Postgraduate Award 2015 allowed me to delve into the Library’s collection on American print culture, which proved invaluable for the progress of my paper.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Being a PhD student of English linguistics at the University of Salzburg (Department of English and American Studies), I am currently writing my doctoral thesis on the textual evolution of advertisements. The aim of my empirical project is to outline the thematic, structural and stylistic changes that have shaped this particular genre from the late seventeenth century to date. As I intend to correlate these linguistic transformations with the economic and sociological conditions of their occurrence, my results will present a novel perspective on the motivations for such genre modifications. Thanks to the Eccles Award I was granted access to an abundance of key material, which would have otherwise been unobtainable. Following the framework of Hallidayan functional grammar (Halliday 1994, Halliday/Matthiessen 2014 and Thompson 2014), an approach which has hardly been applied to investigate highly persuasive texts[1], my interdisciplinary dissertation project examines the interpersonal as well as experiential meanings conveyed in consumer goods advertisements. Despite the wealth of advertising research, especially in regard to history, social and communication/media studies, the diachronic systemic functional development of ad copies remains largely unexplored. The majority of linguistic research has so far concentrated on the most overt textual metamorphoses such as sentence length, integration of humor, or use of adjectives within a specific newspaper or period e.g. Leech (1966), Gieszinger (2001), Görlach (2002). Due to the financial support of BAAS, BACS and Eccles I am now one step closer to filling this gap apparent in the current research situation.

Dedicating the first half of my research stay to the study of text linguistic and sociohistorical sources, I browsed through various handbooks on systemic functional linguistics and multimodality – both of which are academic disciplines that have been studied more extensively in the United Kingdom and in particular in London than in Austria. The theoretical insights gained from these works helped deepen my methodological understanding in several aspects. Still more beneficial was the input provided by the Library’s holdings on the printing history of the United States. Contrasting the rhetorical strategies used in American, British and Australian print ads, my research traces the visual-verbal development of promotional discourse across continents and cultures. Its assessment of the preferred tactics of each region will thus not only advance current knowledge on the variation in argumentative techniques, but further allow reflections on societal norms and values. The great extent of information on American advertising practices as well as its rapid availability propelled my writing immensely. The most exciting finds, however, were those unplanned and completely unexpected treasures that landed on my reading desk simply because I had the time and resources to follow bibliographic references. Having recently presented some of my preliminary findings on sweets advertisements, I was ecstatic to stumble upon several compendia on the history of chocolate and cocoa. These documentations will be a perfect complement to my chapter.

During the second half of my research period, I focused on expanding the basis of my textual analysis: my corpus data. Compiled from a variety of historical newspaper and advertising archives, public and private collections as well as advertising anthologies e.g. Heimann (2001), my US sample had thus far contained a number of gaps, particularly for the early years of American advertising. Access to the Library’s electronic archives as well as its Newsroom, providing a substantial collection of microfilm, digital and print newspapers, enabled me to complete my corpus – an accomplishment which would not have been possible without the Library’s rich periodical collections and wealth of advertising literature.

Words can hardly express how grateful I am for the opportunity to pursue research as one of the ten recipients of The Eccles Centre Visiting European Postgraduate Award 2015. The generosity of BAAS, BACS and the Eccles Centre, the amazing support of the Library’s staff as well as the excellence of its resources deserve utmost praise. And as if that was not enough, the Eccles Centre brings a wide range of marvelous events and lectures for everyone to enjoy – including me.

Referenced works:

Gieszinger, Sabine (2001) The history of advertising language: the advertisements in The Times from 1788 to 1996. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Görlach, Manfred (2002) A linguistic history of advertising, 1700-1890, in: Fanego, Teresa; Méndez-Naya, Belén and Seoane, Elena (eds.) Sounds, words, texts and change. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 83-104.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1994) An introduction to functional grammar (2^nd ed.) London: Arnold.

Halliday, M.A.K. and Matthiessen, Christian (2014) Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar (4^th ed.) London: Routledge.

Heimann, Jim (ed.) (2001) 40s – all American-ads. Köln: Taschen.

Leech, Geoffrey (1966) English in advertising: a linguistic study of advertising in Great Britain. London: Longman.

Purba, Jasawitten B. (2013) Thematic realization of car advertisements in Kompas newspapers [unpubl. MA thesis] Medan: University of Medan [WWW document].

<http://jurnal.unimed.ac.id/2012/index.php/LTBI/article/download/1185/948> [6 Aug. 2014].

Stöckl, Hartmut (2014) “He begs to inform every person interested” – a diachronic study of address and interaction in print advertising, Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies 25.2, 81–106.

Thompson, Geoff (2014) Introducing functional grammar (3^rd ed.) London: Routledge.

Endnotes

[1] Only Purba (2013) and Stöckl (2014) have yet used a systemic functional framework to analyse advertisements.

Sonja Molnar is a PhD student of English linguistics in the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Salzburg.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13952″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.1)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The Eccles Centre Visiting Fellowship in North American Studies allowed me to conduct research on the early Chinese experience in the American West, writes Emily J. Trafford. By accessing the Western Americana microfiche collection I was able to further examine the significance of world’s fairs to Chinese Americans, and to consider how this immigrant group used the Chinese exhibitions to negotiate the terms of their inclusion in American society.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]With generous support from BAAS and the Eccles Centre, I was able to spend five weeks in June and July 2016 at the British Library. The Eccles Centre Visiting Fellowship in North American Studies allowed me to conduct research that expanded on a chapter of my recently completed doctoral thesis, which I intend to write up as an article to submit for publication this year. The article focuses on the live displays of Chinese people at the Progressive Era world’s fairs on the West Coast, and argues that the fairs became key sites of battle for the ways in which the Chinese and China were represented in this period. While the thesis chapter concentrated on the role of white[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Americans in organising and interpreting these displays, my research at the British Library aimed to further examine the significance of the world’s fairs to Chinese Americans, and to consider how this immigrant group used the Chinese exhibitions to negotiate the terms of their inclusion in American society.

The British Library holds many primary materials relating to this topic. The Western Americana microfiche collection contains documents on the early Chinese experience in the American West, including state legislature reports that contributed to the push for exclusion, and historical and fictional accounts of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Other resources include early studies on the causes and impact of nineteenth century Chinese immigration, reports on efforts to assimilate Chinese communities, and early twentieth century letters from a Chinese official on his views of Western civilization. These sources help to contextualise the significance of the world’s fairs as spaces in which white Americans, Chinese Americans, and Chinese foreign officials could compete over representations of ‘Chinese-ness’. As events that prized international participation and expressions of national pride, world’s fairs presented a unique opportunity for the Chinese immigrant community to celebrate their national heritage in front of a receptive American audience, and to shape representations of China and ‘Chinese-ness’ through the organisation of fair exhibits.

In addition, the British Library provides access to a range of new and specialised secondary literature that is unrivalled in any UK institution. Asian American Studies and the new discipline of Transpacific Studies are currently underrepresented in UK American Studies and History departments, which makes engagement with these topics challenging. During my fellowship, I was able to tap into this literature and broaden my understanding of the Chinese American experience at the turn of the twentieth century. In particular, scholars such as Shehong Chen and Mae Ngai point to the truly transpacific nature of San Francisco’s Chinatown, and the significant role played by the Chinese community in America in shaping events in both America and China. As China refused to contribute to many of the world’s fairs of this period in an official capacity, Ngai sees the Chinese Americans that did participate as ‘culture brokers’ that sought to improve their standing in American society by presenting a form of ‘Chinese-ness’ to American audiences. Regarding their home nation as internationally weak, Chinese Americans used American institutions to negotiate the terms of their inclusion.

During the period of my award, I was also able to participate in the Eccles Centre’s fantastic Summer Scholars programme, presenting my research to a public audience in the British Library’s conference centre. As an early career researcher based in the North West, the opportunity to research and present at such a well-resourced and supportive national institution has been hugely rewarding. Being able to undertake the fellowship shortly after the completion of my PhD, and in a period between academic posts (and the library access that comes with them), has been incredibly helpful. I am extremely grateful to BAAS and the Eccles Centre for creating these opportunities and supporting researchers at crucial stages in their careers, and to all of the staff at the British Library who made my fellowship so productive and enjoyable.

Emily J. Trafford is a University Teacher in the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]