Freedom on the Move, a digital history project based in Cornell University’s Department of History, is working in partnership with the Cornell University Library to hire five data fellows for the summer of 2024.

In this eight-week program, data fellows will work with scholars of slavery, resistance, marronage, and emancipation to help deepen the data of freedomonthemove.org. This database is working to make all extant “runaway slave ads” from North American history free and accessible to researchers, students, and the public.

Data fellows will participate in twice-weekly seminars led by faculty scholars and digital-humanities librarians, will add full metadata to a block of 2000 source ads, and will work with a faculty mentor to generate a research paper proposal. Those who complete the paper in the six months after the 2023 summer program will be eligible to participate in a Freedom on the Move symposium to be held in 2025.  The FOTM faculty team hopes to nourish a growing research community focused on these and related sources, which document self-liberation, marronage, racialized policing, and the histories of culture, society, and demography.

Any graduate student in history or another relevant discipline, whether enrolled in a PhD or MA program, is eligible to apply. Data fellows must be in residence in Ithaca for the duration of the summer program (June 3-July 27).  They will be appointed as Cornell interns, will receive on-campus housing and a meal plan, and will receive an additional stipend of $5,500.  Participants must provide proof of health insurance before beginning their appointments.

To apply, please send the following documents to Professor Ed Baptist at FOTM@cornell.edu.

• 1000-word statement of purpose (What are your research goals for your graduate career? Why are they your goals, and how do you plan to accomplish them?)
• Curriculum vitae
• Letter of support,* to be sent separately by your major adviser/graduate mentor.

Documents must be received by March 31, 2024 for full consideration.

 

*Please reach out to me (jdaniels@hunter.cuny.edu) soon if you’re interested in applying and would like me to write a letter of support. I’m happy to do it, I just need some advanced notice, typically six weeks. 

Freedom on the Move, a digital history project based in Cornell University’s Department of History, is working in partnership with the Cornell University Library to hire five data fellows for the summer of 2024.

In this eight-week program, data fellows will work with scholars of slavery, resistance, marronage, and emancipation to help deepen the data of freedomonthemove.org. This database is working to make all extant “runaway slave ads” from North American history free and accessible to researchers, students, and the public.

Data fellows will participate in twice-weekly seminars led by faculty scholars and digital-humanities librarians, will add full metadata to a block of 2000 source ads, and will work with a faculty mentor to generate a research paper proposal. Those who complete the paper in the six months after the 2023 summer program will be eligible to participate in a Freedom on the Move symposium to be held in 2025.  The FOTM faculty team hopes to nourish a growing research community focused on these and related sources, which document self-liberation, marronage, racialized policing, and the histories of culture, society, and demography.

Any graduate student in history or another relevant discipline, whether enrolled in a PhD or MA program, is eligible to apply. Data fellows must be in residence in Ithaca for the duration of the summer program (June 3-July 27).  They will be appointed as Cornell interns, will receive on-campus housing and a meal plan, and will receive an additional stipend of $5,500.  Participants must provide proof of health insurance before beginning their appointments.

To apply, please send the following documents to Professor Ed Baptist at FOTM@cornell.edu.

• 1000-word statement of purpose (What are your research goals for your graduate career? Why are they your goals, and how do you plan to accomplish them?)
• Curriculum vitae
• Letter of support,* to be sent separately by your major adviser/graduate mentor.

Documents must be received by March 31, 2024 for full consideration.

 

*Please reach out to me (jdaniels@hunter.cuny.edu) soon if you’re interested in applying and would like me to write a letter of support. I’m happy to do it, I just need some advanced notice, typically six weeks.