International Visitors Program
The Stanford Humanities Center, in collaboration with the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), brings high profile international scholars to Stanford for short-term residencies of one to two months. Stanford departments, research institutes, and programs nominate leading scholars who have not had significant exposure to U.S. universities or to Stanford in particular. Often, these experts are working in similar fields or on complementary projects to their campus counterparts. A selection committee, made up of faculty and administrators from Stanford’s humanities and social science disciplines, appoints approximately five scholars per year to come to Stanford. Visitors are chosen for their ability to expose the campus to new and relevant research agendas or geographic regions, and the likelihood that the residency will result in lasting scholarly contributions.
Visitors are fully integrated into campus life, leading sections in Stanford undergraduate and graduate classes, giving lectures and presentations on their areas of expertise, carrying out joint projects with Stanford colleagues, and spending time in the research libraries and archives.
International visitors are awarded a generous stipend, which encompasses housing and travel expenses, for the duration of their one-month residency. As active participants in Stanford’s intellectual community, they have an office at the Humanities Center, eat lunch daily with the Center fellows, and take part in workshops, meetings and lectures at both the Humanities Center and FSI.
Q&As with international visitors
International Visitors Program is the Humanities Center's highest fundraising priority. Expendable gifts and permanent endowments are crucial to the program's existence.
Naming Opportunities
A pledge of $20,000 a year for three years will name an international visitor each year during that period. This amount provides comprehensive support for the visitor’s residency.
Expendable Gifts
Expendable funds are critical to sustaining core aspects of this vital program. Gifts of $10,000 will fund the stipend for one international visitor. Gifts of $5,000 will fund housing or travel expenses for one international visitor.
General Gifts
Gifts of any amount are gratefully accepted and provide essential programmatic support. These can be made online.
Eligibility
Stanford departments, programs, and research centers and institutes are each eligible to nominate one candidate for a residency for the following academic year through their chair or director. Preference will be given to departments, programs and research centers that did not host an FSI/Humanities Center visitor during the previous year.
Nominating units are asked to commit to hosting at least one activity (and preferably more) with the candidate, should the nomination be successful. Examples of such activities include: student workshops, faculty discussion sessions, departmental lectures, participation in departmental colloquia, etc. Visitors may not offer courses for credit.
Selections will be made by a committee convened by the Humanities Center and FSI. Especially appropriate are candidates who are finishing a project and are in a position to share the results with colleagues on campus.
Nomination Process
Nominations by Stanford organizations should include:
- Brief (500-1000 words) rationale for nomination, including a summary of the candidateʼs profile and an explanation of how the candidate would fit with the respective missions of the Stanford Humanities Center and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).
- Candidateʼs CV. Candidates typically will be scholars affiliated with a non- U.S. university or research institution. Candidates must be non-U.S. nationals working abroad. Candidates are expected to be able to function in an English-speaking academic context, although at the departmentʼs discretion, their departmental activity may be conducted in another language.
- A commitment from the nominating unit to host at least one activity (and preferably more) with the candidate if he or she is selected, along with a brief proposal for a possible activity (no more than one paragraph).
Nominations should be sent as an email attachment to Kelda Jamison.
The nomination deadline for FSI-Humanities Center International Visitors 2015-16 is October 27, 2014.
Please direct all questions to Kelda Jamison.
Stipends
International scholars in residence will be given shared office space at the Humanities Center and are invited to weekday lunches with the Humanities Center fellows. They will receive a stipend of $11,000 to cover living and housing expenses, and will need to make their own housing arrangements. The Humanities Center and FSI will cover travel expenses (economy class) for one round trip from their place of origin.
