Humanities postdocs 2007-2008

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Note: These postdocs begin in 2008.

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Fellowship Listings
PLEASE DON'T DELETE ENTRIES FROM THIS PAGE!!! (even with the purpose of 'cleaning up') (x8) (further discussion moved to bottom)

AAUW American Fellowships
(Deadline: 11/15/2007, information)

ACLS Mellon Early Career Fellowship Program, Recent Doctoral Recipients Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/14/2007, information) Q: Were these e-mails in regard to the dissertation fellowship or the postdoc? A: The Post-doc.
 * 1/25 Received an e-mail from ACLS about possible affiliations with various humanities centers, but no indication was given about the status of the competition. (2)


 * 2/1: To the person looking for info on the predoc fellowship: Last year, the Diss Completion fellowship offer came in mid-April.


 * 3/13/08: Re: the ACLS Mellon Dissertation Completion Fellowship, the office has indicated that letters will go out in approximately two weeks by mail.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Visiting Scholars Program
(Deadline: 10/15/2007, information)
 * Q: Does anyone know if they interview before making award decisions? If so, what is the timeline for interviews and annoucements?


 * A: They did not interview last year, and I believe notifications were made in late February/early March.
 * Q: Anyone receive notification yet?
 * A: 3/15 rejection letter received.

American Antiquarian Society Post-Dissertation Fellowship
(Deadline: 10/15/2007, information)


 * 11/28 additional material requested

Amherst College, Copeland Fellows on "Violent States"
(Deadline: 03/01/2008)

Any Acknowlegment of application or other news?

Arche' Intuitions and Philosophical Methodology Fellowships
(Deadline: 2/15/08, information)

Brandeis University Digital Humanities Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)


 * The "Film and Media Studies" page reports that campus visits have been scheduled.
 * received rejection letter late Dec/early Jan
 * Offer made and accepted (2/18)

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline (first round): 10/15/2007, information)


 * 01/18 - received invitation via email to submit a second-stage application.

Brown University Cogut Humanities Center Visiting Fellows
(Deadline 2/15/2008)
 * Ack. email just said 'you will only hear from us again if you make the shortlist' - anyone have any timeline info?
 * 2/28 email saying "we are giving your dossier close consideration" and they will contact again in March (4 notifications)
 * Any news here?
 * 3/12 email confirming shortlist
 * Q: Did you email them asking them to confirm that you are on the shortlist? Was this email different from the previous "we are giving your dossier close consideration" email back in February?
 * 3/14 Although I'm not the 3/12 or 2/28 poster, I received 2/28 email saying "we are giving your dossier close consideration" and yesterday received email explaining that I was on a short list and requesting missing reference (argh!) be sent in. Perhaps 2/28 email recipients are a short list? Was told that committee will meet next week to go through short list.

Brown University Pembroke Center Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 12/7/2007, information)

Can someone confirm this?
 * 12/19 Writing sample requested. Deadline for WS 01/04/08
 * 02/07 Offer made (2; yes, for the postdoc)
 * For the post-doc? I thought they weren't letting people know about the post-doc until early March.
 * To the 2/7 poster(s): Do you know if the offers have been accepted? Thanks.
 * I got the information about the March date from the Pembroke website.
 * One offer accepted (02/11)
 * 2/19 received rejection letter (4)
 * Offer accepted (02/23)

Carnegie Mellon Fellowship in the Arts and Society
(Deadline 1/18/08)

Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity
(Deadline 1/3/08)
 * 1/31/08 - receipt of acknowledgement that application complete
 * 2/13/08 - Note: This is a duplicate entry for this position.  There are more postings relating to this position further down -- under "University of North Carolina..."

Clare College, Cambridge Junior Research Fellowship

 * according to their website, longlisting will take place on 28 January. If you don't get an email that day requesting further materials, you're out. (expect snail mail rejection to follow in next couple of weeks)
 * those on the longlist have been telephoned

Columbia University Committee on Global Thought
(Deadline: 1/15/08) - Has anyone been contacted to schedule interviews? A: I haven't heard anything. - 3/13: Any news?
 * 2/1 - Received email that interviews will be conducted in mid-March, and final decisions made at the end of March.
 * 2/29 Was told that they would be contacting candidates for interviews and conducting interviews during the week of March 10th.
 * I heard that the committee met Monday, and I'd expect that they would have contacted successful candidates for interviews by now. Can anyone confirm? (3/5)

Columbia University Society of Fellows in the Humanities
(Deadline: 10/8/2007, information)

Log


 * 10/29 - received confirmation acknowledging receipt of application
 * 12/14 - Interview Scheduled via phone
 * 12/19 - The Philosophy Wiki shows an on-campus interview invitation. Drats.
 * 1/25 - Interviews occurring (heard from faculty advisor of an interviewee)
 * 1/31 - Offers made by phone (3 offers total)
 * 2/6  - Appeltinis for all!
 * 3/4  - Do they ever bother to send out rejections?
 * Seriously. They have the balls to charge money to apply, but can't be bothered to send notes of receipt (send your own postcard!) or of rejection. Thank ye gods for the wiki. And congratulations to the three fellows!

Cornell Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in British Modernism
(deadline 3/3/2008) Any news about this, anyone? Any idea when they will decide?
 * A There was also a Cornell Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Comparative Literature, due the same day. I suppose we're talking about two different postdocs, then? I've received no acknowledgment yet for this latter competition.


 * A Yeah, I did see the Comp Lit postdoc ad too and was confused at first, but they are two different postdocs, with, I think, two different SCs. I wonder whether they'll just make an offer, or whether they'll request further materials, interview, etc. first.  Neither announcement (for Comp Lit or English Mellon) gave any idea of a timeline or procedure for their decision.  Good luck to you, comparatist, and do post if you get any news from them at all, as will I.  Hopefully others in the know will do the same.  Good luck, all.

Best of luck to you too!
 * A (from the comparatist) Thanks, British Modernist! I will definitely keep you posted, since I have a feeling that the timelines will be fairly similar, despite the different search committees. My understanding of spring postdoc searches is that they are conducted quickly and usually without an interview. The CL committee asked for a fairly extensive dossier: ws, course proposals, recs up front, etc., so I'm assuming they're going to make the decision based on these materials. And they're still in session through the end of this week (til March 15), at which point they'll break for only a week. So I would imagine something has to happen by then. ..

Cornell Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Comparative LIterature
(Deadline 3/3) Anyone have any news about this postdoc?
 * see above for general discussion and speculations concerning timeline. ..

Dartmouth Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences
(Deadline: 11/15/2007, information)


 * 1/25 received rejection letter via mail (2)


 * 2/06 those who didn't receive a rejection letter last week (possibly finalists)did you hear from them yet?


 * 2/06 I have not (California) (4). Anybody know what is going on?


 * 2/11 campus invitation - declined, sadly

Downing College, Cambridge Research Fellowship

 * 1/21 - received rejection letter

Duke University Writing Program Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/2/2007, information)


 * 11/5 - received letter acknowledging receipt of application
 * 12/3 - received rejection letter by mail 12/3, 12/4, 12/5, 12/10
 * 12/18 - on campus interview schedule for January via phone (3)
 * 2/23 - initial offers were extended earlier this month; has anyone declined, or anyone planning to?
 * 2/24 - I know of one person off the wait list. Don't know why a position opened, though.
 * 2/26 - Was the person off wait list contacted by phone or email?
 * 3/4 - I've heard of another off the WL, by phone

Duke Franklin Humanities Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 1/18/2008)

Duke Fellowship in Transnational Sexualities
(Deadline: 11/15/2007)


 * Has anyone heard anything?
 * Told there was a delay and now they are reviewing the applications (email inquiry 2/13)

European College of Liberal Arts Postdoctoral Fellowships
(Deadline 1/5/2008)
 * Has anyone heard anything?
 * 2/8 - Reply: Zilch.
 * 2/8 - Reply: They have contacted their long list to determine interest.

Fox Humanities Center, Emory University, Postdoctoral Fellowships
(Deadline 2/28/2008) A: I sent 3 (I don't have more than that!). Further Q. - wonder how many apps they have?
 * Q: Postdoc apps are an odd genre. Curious if others sent more than the requested 3 letters (I sent 3).

One slightly disturbing thing about the application for this was that they seemed to expect me to send my project proposal to three people and have them write a recommendation letter specifically for this fellowship. I didn't bother; it seemed like a big imposition. I just had three letters sent from my credentials file as usual. A: I wouldn't call that 'disturbing'. It is not uncommon for post-docs/fellowships to ask for that (some even have a form for recommenders to complete!). And some recommenders I know like to write tailored letters for each application rather than a generic one for the file. A: If my recommenders had to write a separate letter for every single pdoc I applied for, they would have no time to write monographs. Thank goodness job ads don't ask for such a thing. No one would get anything else done.


 * Has anyone received acknowledgment? (3/7) A: No (3/7) A: No (3/12)

Georgia Tech Brittain Fellow
(Deadline 2/15/2008)
 * 2/19 - Received letter acknowledgment of application
 * 2/28 - Ditto

Note-to applicants: this is an excellent postdoc, but tons of work (teaching is 3/3). If you receive a phone interview, be sure to offer an explanation as to how you would use computers to teach entry-level composition courses. The program is more than just writing instruction, it considers all aspects of communication within a technology-infused curriculum. Good luck!

Grinnell College, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Peace and Conflict Studies
(Deadline: 2/1/2008, information)
 * 2/1 email acknowledgment of receipt.
 * 2/13 received email scheduling phone interviews
 * 2/29 call for campus visit

Hamilton College Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows

 * 3/2 email acknowledgment of receipt.
 * 3/7 any better info on timeline? My ack. email just said they would start going through the apps in the next 'couple of weeks'.
 * 3/7 I got the same email, no further info

Harvard Center for the Environment Fellows
(Deadline: 1/15/08)

2/14 Received rejection by email, after request for update

Harvard Expository Writing Program Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/9/2007, information)


 * 11/20 Request for additional material
 * 12/17 Scheduled MLA interview
 * 1/7  Request to schedule non-conference interview.
 * 1/28 Received snail-mail rejection (in Chicago)
 * 2/12 Has anyone heard a peep from Expos in the past few weeks? I haven't heard anything since I sent in my additional material. There's no info on the Composition and Rhetoric wiki either.
 * 2/12 Interviews (both conference and Cambridge) have been conducted. Candidates should be notified in the next two weeks.
 * 2/14 Offer made by phone
 * 2/15 Congratulations!
 * 2/23 Any idea how many offers have been extended/accepted? Is there a kind of wait-list situation here?
 * 3/11 I got a letter today (dated 3/4) telling me I'm in the "second round" and my application is still "active." Anyone have any idea what that means? I was never interviewed.
 * 3/12 For the post above, did you ever get a rejection letter?
 * To 3/12: are you asking me (I'm the 3/11 poster)? This was the first I'd heard from Expos since I sent in my writing sample in November.

Harvard History and Literature Program Fellows
(Deadline 2/1/2008, information)


 * anyone have any more info (link to an advertisement?) on this? The form linked above doesn't say anything about eligibility etc.


 * Was told there are very A: I do not have more info on this appointment. I did get an acknowledgment that my application has been received.
 * Received acknowledgment by email in the form of Affirmative Action questionnaire
 * 2/11 Ack. postcard received (in UK)
 * 2/28 Interview scheduled (2)
 * Are you in history or literature ?
 * I'm in literature
 * 3/2 - has anyone in history been contacted for an interview?
 * emailed to ask about timeline, as going overseas on research shortly, and will be in & out of email contact. Received reply 3/10: 'hiring committee is currently reviewing applications and we will be in touch with you in the near future if you are selected for an interview'. Um, thanks. That's really cleared things up.
 * This must be rolling. I received an interview request last week (3/3) for literature.
 * Was told there were very few history spots open for this one.

Harvard Humanities Center
(Deadline: 1/15/2008, information)


 * Decisions will be made by February 22nd
 * 2/22 - Rejection email received (4)--from Homi Bhabha. That was exciting for, like, one second.
 * A letter from Homi Bhabha. That's gotta be worth $60.
 * 2/22 - Alternates selected and will be notified by March 4
 * Does this mean alternates have not gotten rejection emails? Also, has anyone gotten accepted?  From what fields?
 * 3/5 Any acceptances? Anyone else not get accepted and not get rejected by now?
 * 3/7 No acceptance, no rejection

Harvard International and Area Studies Fellowship
(Deadline: 10/12/2007, information)


 * 10/27 - received acknowledgment of complete application packet.
 * 11/14 - received rejection via email.

Harvard Newcomen Postdoc
(Deadline: 10/1/2007, information)

Harvard Program in Ethics and Health
(Deadline: 12/10/2007, information)

Harvard Society of Fellows
Deadline: 9/7/2007 (Nomination), information)

Log


 * 10/10 - received email confirming application had been received
 * 10/26 - interviews occurring.
 * 11/13 - The Philosophy Wiki notes someone claiming to have been short-listed
 * 12/9 - Offer Made
 * 12/11 - received rejection letter received via mail.

John Hopkins University Writing Program Lecturer
(Deadline 1/2/2008)


 * 2/11 interview request


 * 3/9: grapevine report of job offer

Lawrence University, Fellow in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
(Deadline: 1/28/2008, information)


 * 1/14 - Received USPS acknowledgement of application.


 * 2/2: They have a complete hiring timeline posted on their website. Finally, an organized and efficient search committee!
 * timeline


 * 2/24 - Contacted via email for a phone interview with the Department of Gender Studies


 * 2/25 - Congratulations!


 * 2/27 - Why no other information besides Gender Studies? According to the timeline, the offers for campus interviews should go out this Friday, so people must be getting phone IVs, correct? Or perhaps the folks who have received the phone IVs aren't on the wiki?
 * A: 2/27 - Maybe other departments aren't doing phone interviews? Nothing on the timeline says they will.


 * 2/29 - Email notification of finalist status in Gender Studies--name forwarded to Fellows Committee for campus interview consideration.


 * 3/7: Has anyone else heard anything? Any rejection letters?


 * 3/11: Nothing (for the gender studies position). Somehow this seems even more rude than usual coming from an institution where they took the time to tell applicants that they would hear by  now.  Hopefully we will all remember this feeling when we are the ones hiring...


 * 3/11: They are at least a week behind because the Provost was out of town last week and couldn't issue approvals for fly-outs. As far as I understand, those who are finalists for the Gender Studies position have already been contacted.


 * 3/14: Campus interview scheduled for Gender Studies position

Lucy Cavendish, Cambridge. Sutasoma Fellowship

 * 8/2 - Has anybody heard from them yet? It might be too early still - any info on when they plan to shortlist? Thanks!
 * 19/2 - No info yet. I think they said early March in the application materials. Any news?
 * 21/2 - No, none yet... Anyone else heard?
 * 22/2 - They've started to send out rejections so I assume they've short-listed.
 * 25/2 - Yep, they have. I got an email rejection today :(

National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship

 * 12/15 - Received acknowledgement of application.
 * I saw in the Newsletter that the selection committee met on Jan 18th. Anyone heard anything yet?  Also, is it only the semifinalists who will receive any notification?
 * 2/5/08 - Called to find out when semifinalists would be notified. They said letters will go out in the next few days.
 * 2/13/08 - Ok, so I appear to be the only person on the planet updating the NAE/Spencer section, but I thought I'd post anyway that I received my rejection today via snail-mail.

National Humanities Center
(Deadline: 10/15/2007, information)

2/19 - reserve candidate email notification
 * 2/22 - rejection letter received via mail

National University of Singapore postdoctoral fellowships
(Deadline: 12/31/2007, information)


 * receipt of application email 12/27
 * has anyone heard anything? The original ad said they would tell us the outcome 'by February'
 * 2/19 Received offer by email
 * 2/20 Received snail mail rejection in UK (letter dated 2/16)

Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley, Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 12.10.07, )
 * Has anyone heard back from them yet? On their site they say that awards will be announced on March 1, but I thought maybe some early announcements had gone out?   Thanks.

Should we really expect to hear on a Saturday?
 * Anybody heard yet?
 * I haven't...
 * offer made (03/05)
 * 3.5: received rejection letter for a 2006-2007 fellowship. I'm guessing they mean 2008-2009?
 * was the rejection snail mail or email?
 * it was sent by post, dated 2.27
 * 3/6 received rejection letter (east coast)
 * 3/12 received postcard apologizing for misdating the fellowship (2006-2007) in the rejection letter (!)

Northwestern University, African American/African diasporic postdoc
(Deadline: 1/18/2008)

Northwestern University, Mellon Postdoctoral fellowship, linguistics
(Deadline: 12/1/07, information) faculty were still discussing as of 2nd week of February offer has been made
 * Has anyone heard anything?

Northwestern University, Science in Human Culture Program
(Deadline: 1/15/2008, information)


 * 1/31 receipt of application email

Notre Dame, Kellogg Institute Visiting Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, )


 * 2/21 email notice that I am one of 3 unranked alternates a few weeks ago. Recipients of awards have until Feb 28 to accept or decline. Anyone turned one of these down so far?
 * offer accepted
 * 3/14 from the alternate list or from the early Feb. offers? I'm one of the 3 alternates, told I'd hear something by early March.  But, as far as I can tell, early March has just about wound down.  Any info out there?

NYU, Center for Study of Gender and Sexuality
(Deadline: 4/1/2008, information)


 * CSGS does not seem to have an announcement on their site. My info sez deadline is 1/15 -- can anyone confirm 4/1 is the deadline?
 * My info also says 01/15; I haven't seen the 04/01 deadline anywhere, and it does seem a bit late, doesn't it? Better to apply by 01/15, IMHO.
 * if you go to the website, click on "visiting scholars" and then click on "how to apply to be a visiting scholar" it says the deadline is 4/1.
 * Aha, confusion resolved. I was thinking of this one: Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow for the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, The Gender and Sexuality Studies Program.  I'll put up a new entry.

NYU, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program Fellow/Asst. Prof., Dept. of Social and Cultural Analysis
(Deadline: 1/15/2008, information)

NYU, Postdoctoral and Transition Program for Academic Diversity
(Deadline: 3/3/2008, information)
 * website promises notification by April

NYU Writing Program
(Deadline 2/22)

Penn Humanities Forum Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 10/15/2007, information)


 * 12/21 - received rejection ltr via mail (3)
 * 12/19 - received offer by phone

Penn McNeil Center for Early American Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)


 * 12/17 - AHA Interview Request
 * 1/23 - received rejection letter by mail

Penn Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/2/2007, information)

A: I called the office yesterday (2/7) and the woman I spoke with believed that all of the offers had been made. When I suggested that the rejections would be forthcoming, she seemed to think it may take a bit more time. She said there were 300 applicants.
 * 12/20 - Was told they are meeting to discuss applications in early-mid January.
 * 1/24 - Offer made
 * 2/8- Has anyone else received an offer or a rejection?
 * 2/14 - I was told I was an alternate by my advisor, who keeps in touch with faculty in one of Penn's departments. I wonder if offers have been made AND accepted at this time. Any info, anyone?
 * 3/5 - A woman in the office told me on the phone that offers have been made and accepted.

Princeton Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/15/2007, information)


 * 11/15 Email receipt of application
 * 1/11 Letter of rejection received

Princeton Society of Fellows
(Deadline: 10/9/2007, information)


 * 11/3 - received postcard acknowledging application
 * 12/7 - heard individual departments have been forwarded applications.
 * 1/9 - received interview invitation by email
 * 1/14 - rejection received in mail (4)
 * 2/15 - offers made
 * 2/19: are you sure that offers were made on 2/15? last interviews were that afternoon, so did the committee REALLY meet and offer that very day?
 * 2/19: same question; were decisions made before interviews were held?
 * 2/19: ditto, and might I ask what disciplines offerees are in?
 * 2/19: You might ask, but something tells me there's not going to be much more information forthcoming here.  Perhaps all one can do is wait for the inevitable snail-mail rejection letter.
 * 2/19: Rejection received by email.  Seems the news of offers on 2/15 was correct.  Appletinis, everyone - make it a double!
 * 2/20 - the committee meeting, in which the decisions were made, was held in the late afternoon of 2/15.
 * 2/21- rejection finally arrives via email. bummer.

Princeton Writing Program
(Deadline: 2/1/2008)


 * 2/4 - received acknowledgment by mail - review starts mid-Feb.; notification by 4/15
 * 3/7 - anyone heard anything further? (interview requests?)
 * 3/7 - I've heard nothing. I applied last year and I can't remember exactly how long it took to hear back from them, but it was a mail rejection letter, which, one imagines, would take somewhat longer to generate and arrive than an e-mail.

Rice University, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities
(Deadline: 12/10/2007, information)


 * 1/25 received email notification of semi-finalist status (2)
 * 2/13 any updates?
 * 2/14 none since semi-finalist notification.
 * 2/15 Email rejection. Too many applicants
 * 2/15 To the person above who got the email rejection: had you also received notice of semi-finalist status?
 * 2/17 Strange. I didn't get the semi-finalist email and haven't gotten an email rejection letter either.  Anyone else heard nothing?
 * 2/18 I'm in the same boat. No rejection letter, no semi-finalist email, and no initial acknowledgment email either (5).
 * 2/18 (same poster as 2/17) Did some people people get acknowledgment emails?
 * 2/18 The January notification indicated they narrowed the applicants to 20 from an initial 400.
 * 2/19 I also received no notifications, not rejection, not anything
 * 2/19 Same here - no notification/rejections etc
 * 2/19 So, could someone who has received a rejection answer the question of 2/15? Did you also receive one of the semi-finalist emails?
 * 2/19 I was not a semi-finalist, and received email rejection 2/18.
 * 2/21 Hmmmm...I've still heard nothing. (3)
 * 2/21 Me too, nothing. I can only assume (sigh...) that since a lot of people seem to have heard nothing, and sinceken them one week to make their way half-way through the alphabet (presumably, around 200 rejection email addresses), I can only conclude that they've graduated from appletinis to some much harder stuff...
 * 2/22 No, my last name begins with B, and I just got the email rejection, so who knows how they're doing it.
 * 2/22 Last name (R); rejection letter received today.
 * 2/22 Heard through the grapevine that finalists were interviewed earlier this week.
 * 2/25 It would be great if we could limit our input on this thread to actual information--that is, information received from Rice. This is all stressful enough without the addition of unconfirmed "grapevine" hearsay, however well-intended such hearsay might be.
 * 2/25 confirmed that they interviewed last week. they may interview a few more this week.
 * 2/28 rejection email - was told they tried to send it out previously and didn't resend this to me until I contacted them to inquire what was up. apparently other emails didnt get through either. congrats to the fellows.

Rice University, Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality
(Deadline: 11/30/2007, information)


 * 1/09 receipt of application email back on 11/20/07
 * 1/29 Spoke to someone in the office who said that the committee is only about half way through the apps and that it will likely take another month (rather than a couple weeks or so) to get through and make the decision.
 * 2/6 Spoke to a new person in the office today (who seemed to know more than the person with whom I spoke on 1/29). She stated that the committee met to make final decisions last night and that those receiving interviews should be notified soon. She said that everyone who applied should know their status before the end of the month.
 * 2/6 Phone interview scheduled by email.
 * 2/26 Congratulations! Any updates?
 * 2/26 offers made, acceptance expected
 * 3/07 Anyone receive a rejection? Have the offers been officially accepted?
 * 3/11 I received an email rejection two weeks ago, as did a friend of mine.
 * 3/11 That's strange - I didn't receive my rejection yet. I wonder if there was a mistake with the notices. (2)--Same here.
 * 3/11 There is something odd going on...I just contacted CSWGS at Rice and was told that their search for the two CSWGS Postdoc positions just concluded this morning and rejection letters will go out tomorrow (03/12). There must be some confusion here on the wiki. Would the 2/6, 2/26 and 3/11 posters please clarify if they were contacted specifically for the CSWGS Postdoc?
 * 3/11 I also contacted them - regrettably. They gave me the same information, including that they have not sent any letters out.  I think that the person who posted the information above was referring to a different post-doc.  That's the danger of these kind of informal sites, there is no way to know whether you can trust the information!

Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis (Vernacular Epistemologies)
(Deadline: 12/15/2007, information) Q: Let me ask this: did you all get a letter acknowledging your application when you first sent it in? I may have slipped through the cracks...
 * Anyone gotten news about the Rutgers postdoc?
 * 1/24 - I haven't heard a thing.
 * Rejection letter received 3/6
 * 3/7: Ditto the above, but it was a nice one.
 * 3/11: Hm. Nothing yet here. Anyone heard anything about a timeline, interviews, etc.?
 * 3/14 - From comments here, I get the impression that nobody got an acknowledgment. I didn't and haven't received a rejection (the inquiry of 3-11 is mine).
 * 3/16 - Darn. Rejection finally came (I'm the poster of 3/11 and 3/14). Congrats to whomever got this.

Rutgers Center for Cultural Analysis (New Media Literacies, Gutenberg to Google)
(Deadline: 1/4/2008, information)
 * 2/1 - received offer by email
 * 2/4 - notified that I was an alternate (via email)

Rutgers Center for Race and Ethnicity (New Brunswick) postdoc in race and gender studies
(Deadline: 1/31/2008)

Rutgers English Dept. PostDoc in African American Lit.
(Deadline: 2/15/08) A: I was told that decisions would be made by March 10. A: I posted that info. about March 10 (as sent them an email asking and received an email reply saying that decisions would be made by March 10), but have not yet heard anything! So, maybe that wasn't the actual notification day, but, instead, the committee simply met on the 10th (?). A: It's Sunday 3/16, and I still haven't heard anything either way.
 * Q: Does anyone know the timeline for this fellowship?
 * Q: Did anyone hear anything yet? Was 3/10 actual notificaiton day?
 * So, has anyone received news, award or rejections (3/13)?

Rutgers Geraldine R. Dodge Postdoc
(Deadline 2/28)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
(Deadline: ??/??/????, information)

St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, JRF
(Deadline: 11/30/2007)
 * People who made the longlist were notified around December, I believe.
 * Anyone heard from the St. Catharine's people?
 * I was told by a senior Fellow that they had 500+ applicants. Longlisted candidates were asked for writing samples (not me); they will not be contacting the unsuccessful. No idea where things stand for the long/short list.

St. Joseph's University, David H. Burton Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline 2/1/08)


 * 02/07 - Received email to set-up telephone interview.
 * 02/18 - Participated in telephone interview. The interviewers were very pleasant. They plan to select a fellow by mid-March 2008. Good luck to others pursuing this postdoc.
 * 02/28 - Received and accepted offer.

Stanford Asia Pacific Research Center Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: various, information)

Stanford Center for the Study of the American West Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 3/31/08, information)

Stanford Humanities Fellows
(Deadline: 12/3/2007, information)


 * Q: 1/25 - any news?
 * A: Not really, but I heard that they had 600+ applications.
 * A: 2/8: 16 finalists notified. The 6 offers will be made after a meeting on February 22nd
 * A: 2/23: The top 6 candidates have received offers.
 * Received emailed rejection letter addressed to "Dear Applicant." In the text, it stated, "But you may be pleased to know that yours was among the very top of the applications that were reviewed both by our departments and by our selection committee."  I find this hard to believe given the lack of use of my name.
 * 2/28: Actually, mine didn't say that, though it was also addressed to "Applicant" -- which, by coincidence, is my middle name -- so they really did like your application. Go have yourself an appletini!
 * 2/28: ditto on the one just above. My letter today was just a PFO with no mention of my being all that and a bag of chips. Doesn't pay the bills, but cheers anyway.

Stanford IHUM Fellows
(Deadline: 3/7/2008, information)


 * Does anyone know if this deadline is received by or postmark?


 * As the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the program's Web site states, "You may send in all materials postmarked by February 28."


 * Note: the deadline for the fellowship has been pushed back to Fri. March 7, 2008.

Clearly nepotism on appletinis jousting the windmills of course-change or deadline change flip out. Appletinis for all! Yay! Appletinis!
 * Q: Anyone have a clue why?
 * A: This usually means the search committee hopes to attract more applications for the fellowships. But in this case, the deadline was pushed back one week-not enough time to make a significant difference. Anyone else?
 * A: my paranoia says: there's an inside candidate for 1 of these, and inside candidate did not get in app on time. But maybe the chair is delayed in, like, Biarritz for a week...I dunno.
 * A: I don't know but I wish they would refund my $30.00 federal express fees.
 * A: They're still in the process of finalizing the courses for next year.  Could be that they just added new courses and want to give people who would be good for those courses a chance to send in apps.
 * A: How nice for the people who couldn't get it together to turn in their apps on time. Not so nice for those of us who responded (carefully, thoughtfully, and at length) to the choices that were given before the deadline.
 * A Well, I wouldn't worry about this too much. The courses have been in progress for the whole run-up to the due date, and surely there are people who applied quite early, before pre-Feb 28 changes were made, and presumably they're not ruled out a priori in favor of the people who may have applied during the week between the 28th and the 7th. They're looking at a whole picture of your academic self and your promise as successful teacher of their core curriculum.  Surely an applicant's general suitability for the job counts as much as his or her articulation of the ability to teach certain specific texts that have been listed in a changing list of (sometimes fairly vague) course descriptions.
 * A: I still wish they would have stuck with the original deadline. I can't think of any good reason they would have changed it, since I'm sure they received a few hundred apps, among which were many stellar ones. The suggested reason for extension (they were still finalizing courses) does not seem plausible. They wouldn't need to extend the app deadline just because they weren't sure about courses yet.
 * A: They hire Fellows to teach specific courses.  So it does matter if they added courses requiring new or particular disciplinary interests or expertise.
 * A: Well, then, they shouldn't have extended the deadline, unless they contacted everyone who applied on time and gave them the chance to revise their apps (which they did not, and the only people who know are those who read this wiki). In short, bad action on their part. Period.
 * A: I applied in time for the original deadline. Having read this discussion, I visited the site to see what the new courses were - it didn't look like any had been added since I wrote my app (maybe I am wrong?).
 * A Yes, they hire fellows to teach specific courses, but they also admit on their website that "The course information is preliminary; titles, faculty and/or texts may change." So clearly, while they do hire fellows to teach specific courses, and will be looking at applicants' descriptions of how they'd deal with the courses in an IHUM class, they also admit that their own course information is preliminary and incomplete, so I agree with the poster above, who suggests that the'll be looking at an applicant's general promise and research and pedagogical skills and preparation when considering who will be chosen to teach these courses. It's true that the courses don't seem to have changed much since 28 Feb., but, in case they have, the IHUM folks also suggest ways of updating your application, in case you want to add courses you'd be able to teach, saying ""If you are an applicant for our fellows program and would like to change the course for which you would like to be considered after you submitted your on-line form, please contact ihumprogram@stanford.edu."
 * A: Yes, these deadline extensions often have to do with accomodating an inside candidate. And they're certainly aware that most people who applied did so before 28 Feb., with all the knowledge of courses available at that time.  I can't imagine they'll hold this against anyone who applied by the original date.
 * A: In my opinion, the comment on their website that one can go ahead and change the course one would like to be considered for is not accomodating but maddening and rather funny. Yes, after spending time crafting a teaching statement and letter pursuant to teaching a specific course, I think in my spare time I'll just go ahead and craft a whole new teaching statement about another course.
 * A: I've looked at the course list a lot since January, and I just don't see that they've added new courses between the 28th of February and the 7th of March. In case I'm wrong, and there is some splendiferous new course someone thinks would be better for them to teach, I see no reason why that person shouldn't email with a short statement about one's preparation to teach it.  But could someone please state which exact course changes they claim have been made from the original closing date to the extended date?  I may be wrong, but I don't see any great difference in the list.
 * A: I don't, either, so far as I can tell it's the same. So, I don't think that's why the deadline was extended at the last minute.
 * A: Probably for some inside candidate who didn't have his/her stuff together. Which brings us back to one of the first theories above, before the course-change theory flipout.
 * A: I hate to say this, but the calls of nepotism here seem shockingly naïve, and not because of the charges. Do you know what happens when an inside candidate doesn't get their application in on time? It is accepted late! Why would you expect a program to unfairly benefit one candidate over another yet for some reason stick firmly to the "rules" of the application process in other regards?
 * A: Who's shockingly naïve? Stanford would hardly be the first to do this; in fact, it happens not infrequently.  That said, I do think we're jousting with windmills here, since I really don't think nepotism/inside candidate is the cause of the delay.  the IHUM program board has been working to change their requirements and their curriculum.  So the schedule was probably changed, the deadline extended, to accommodate the search committee members, not the applicants.  Someone might well have been stuck in Biarritz after all, enjoying the spring tides and a nice txakoli.
 * A:I think you should get the IHUM postdoc just for the txakoli reference.
 * A: ha. Chin chin. Appletini, anyone?
 * A: I may shockingly naïve but isn't Biarritz in France and txakoli a Basque wine?
 * A: no, not shockingly naïve, but Biarritz is in the French part of the Basque country (which has provinces in SW France and parts of northern Spain--where they also enjoy txakoli in rather large quantities). Gora Euskadi! Vive IHUM!

Stanford Program in Writing and Rhetoric
(Deadline: 11/16/2007, information)


 * 12/6 - received phone interview
 * 1/31 - received rejection

St John's, Christ Church and Merton JRFs, Oxford
(Deadline: 12/14/2007)

3/6/2008: Merton completed JRF search last Monday
 * 1/11 - Request for materials for Merton.
 * Q: Did anyone get prompted by Christ Church?
 * 02/06/2008: rejection received by email from Christ Church - 179 applicants
 * 02/06/2008: invitation to interview by Christ Church
 * 02/13/2008: rejection via snail mail from Merton
 * 02/15/2008: Merton is down to their short list; I got dropped after long list.

Temple Center for Humanities External Fellowship
(Deadline: 1/21/2008)


 * 1/25 - received email confirming receipt of application.
 * Successful applicant will be notified by March 7.
 * 3/10 - Has anyone been notified?
 * 3/11 - received email confirming I am not a finalist.

Trinity College, Oxford, JRF
(Deadline: 1/11/2007)
 * 1/23: email request for writing sample
 * 2/19: Snail mail rejection letter.

University of British Columbia, Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)


 * 12/6 - received rejection letter
 * 12/22 - heard through the grapevine that individual depts have selected their candidates. It's down to ~50 candidates
 * 2/2  - heard second hand that offers have been made

University of British Columbia, Department of History, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)
 * Looks like date has changed, deadline now February?
 * Has anyone received an acknowledgment? (2/25)
 * Nope (2/26)
 * Just got ack. today via email (2/25)


 * Ack. email said they would appoint in March. Has anyone been contacted for interview/further material?

Unversity of California Los Angeles Institute of American Cultures
(Deadline 1/11/2008)

There are four of these, one each in African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Chicano Studies. Any news?

Unversity of California Los Angeles Mellon Postdoctoral Program "Cultures in Transnational Perspective"
(Deadline 2/1/2008)

offer made via email 3/7

University of California Los Angeles Mellon Postdoctoral Position in Jewish American Literature
(Deadline 2/1/2008) 2/21 Offer made and accepted

University of California Los Angeles Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, "The Atlantic Imagination in the Age of Romanticism"
(Deadline 3/1/2008)

University of California Los Angeles Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, "Technologies of the Text"
(Deadline: 2/1/2008, information)

University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/15/07, information)


 * Awards will be announced on March 1, 2008. (heard by email after asking)

-I heard some lucky fellows are being contacted already. Why no posts? (2/8) - Received phone call last week but waited for award letter to arrive (2/19) -congratulations! May I ask what field? (2/26) Thanks! field: History


 * email rejection 2/26 (2)

-Are applicants from different fields notified at different times? (3/4)

University of Chicago Postdoctoral Symposia Fellowship
(Deadline was 1/7 moved to 2/11) Any word to anyone?

University of Chicago Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital History
(Deadline: applications reviewed as received, information)

University of Chicago Society of Fellows in the Lib Arts
(Deadline: 10/15/2007, information)


 * 10/20 - Received email confirmation that my application was complete
 * 12/7 - Received e-mail request for writing samples (12/7) (4)
 * Humanities (2)


 * 1/9  - Received email asking for writing samples (Social Sciences)
 * 1/28 - Received e-mail notification of on-campus interview (Humanities) (2)
 * 2/5 - Received e-mail notification of on campus interview
 * Q: for the 2/5 posting, humanities or social sciences?


 * A: in the humanities, interview to take place in Feb.
 * 2/9 - Received e-mail notification of being "an alternate for an on-campus interview" (Humanities)
 * I think that's pretty rude, telling someone s/he is an alternate. What, so you can just wait around, hoping that the main players falter or pass the ticket? Not classy at all.
 * 2/13: Sounds like Chicago is hedging its bets. Perhaps, this means that one or more of the interviewees has multiple postdocs in play and they shared that with Chicago. So, this could be good news for the "alternate." I hope so!  i'm going to turn down my interview (i got a tt). ..
 * 2/14: It seems like all the info here is coming from the Humanities...the writing sample request for Western Civ/Social Sciences was a month later than that of Humanities, so by that measure, maybe the Social Sciences requests for interviews won't be made until early March? Does that sound right, or has anybody heard anything different?
 * 2/15: received email invitation to on-campus interview (social sciences, 2)
 * 2/16, Q: Any news on Western Civ? (Is anyone else waiting to hear?)


 * 2/28: The 2/13 poster was correct; I was the 2/9 alternate, and I was just contacted for an interview next week.
 * Congrats! Any other alternates out there been contacted?


 * 3/6: Offer received for Humanities Postdoc
 * 3/6: Received notice of being an alternate, Humanities (2)
 * Question: is this an alternate for interview or for an offer?
 * A: Offer.
 * A: Yes, for an offer.


 * 3/14: Social Science SC has met and ranked candidates.

University of Georgia, Franklin Fellowship (theater and film department)
(Deadline March 7 information)

University of Miami Virtue Postdoc
(Deadline: 11/5/2007, information)


 * I see that one APA interview has been scheduled. Any others?

University of Michigan CAAS Dubois Mandela Rodney Fellowship
(Deadline: 12/01/2007, information) 2/23: offer made by mail (declined 3/03)

University of Michigan Society of Fellows
(Deadline: 10/1/2007, information)


 * 1/24 - Rejection by email after I emailed them. Email said there are 35 finalists out of 432 applicants
 * 1/25 - offer made by phone in anthropology
 * 1/25 - offer made
 * 1/28 - rejection letter received via mail (3)
 * 2/13 - Congratulations to our colleagues.

University of Michigan Sweetland Writing Center
(Deadline: ??/??/????, information)


 * 12/10 - received rejection letter

University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)

notifications next week (2/25)
 * has anyone heard anything yet?

University of Minnesota Quadrant Postdoc Fellowship
(Deadline: 1/4/08)


 * 1/7 snailmail materials confirmation


 * 2/25 Rejection by snailmail--received 30+ applications

University of North Carolina Postdoc Program for Faculty Diversity
(Deadline: 1/3/2008)


 * 1/7 Confirmation that complete application had been received. Promised final decision no later than 2/29


 * 1/10 Received an exception email detailing their review process and timeline. Decisions to be communicated by 2/29. Wow! Imagine if everyone took as much pride in their work as the Carolina folks!  Incredible.


 * 2/25 Sigh...Received a rejection email today. But, UNC handled communications and managed the process in an incredibly considerate manner.


 * 2/25 rejection by email

University of North Carolina Center for the Study of the American South
(Deadline: 1/17/08)


 * Received lovely note via USPS confirming that application had been received, 1/24.
 * Does anyone have a sense of their timeline? (3/3)
 * I have no idea what the timeline is. According to the center's website, they hosted two conferences last week.  Perhaps the staff has been slowed down by their work on the conferences.  (3/7)
 * offers have been made (3/9)

University of Rochester, Frederick Douglass Institute African American Studies postdoc
(Deadline: 1/31/2008)


 * This is supposed to be announced March 1. Any word?
 * I am also waiting on this but haven't heard yea or nay

University of Texas Austin Postdoctoral Fellowship (English)
(Deadline: 12/1/07, link no longer on dept. website or ad list)

Offer made. ** Congratulations! Did you accept it?
 * 12/18 - received email acknowledging application
 * 1/29 - received email notice of being on waiting list of 9
 * 2/5 WS request. Decisions to be made in early March (4)
 * 2/23 Received rejection letter via regular mail
 * Has anyone who submitted a WS heard anything yet?
 * 3/9 I haven't heard anything yet. ** Me neither.

University of South Carolina-Columbia, postdoctoral fellowship in Southern Studies
(Deadline: 2/15/2008)
 * Anyone have a sense of their timeline? (3/12)

University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Historical Studies, Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 2/15/2008, information)
 * 2/4 Acknowledgment email
 * Anyone have an idea of timeline here?
 * I don't know, but I received an email that expressed interest and requested that I demonstrate that I can defend by 30 June 2008. (2/22)
 * 2/22 Just received an e-mail saying that the decision-making process is underway and that they want to send announcements in the first week of March.
 * Were they responding to an inquiry from you about the timeline? Was there any previous contact? (2/23)
 * I was the poster 2/4, with acknowledgment email. I have not received the 2/22 timeline update.
 * 2/23 The e-mail I got about the early March announcements was in response to an inquiry (which I sent as a result of seeing the previous entry)--sorry if I caused a scare. The only non-solicited e-mail I've received was an acknowledgement that my application was complete.
 * 03/04: Word is that the announcement will indeed be this week. Anybody know how many final candidates are in the mix?
 * 03/06: Ughh. Just got rejected by email. Turns out there were 27 finalists. Damn.
 * 03/06: Same here. So close...argh!
 * 03/06: I'm really sorry. Were you previously notified you were a finalist?  I ask because they expressed strong interest in my project, but didn't tell me I was a finalist.  I still haven't heard anything.
 * 03/06: I haven't heard anything either. The initial confirmation thanked me for my 'outstanding proposal' but I don't know if that counts as 'expressing strong interest'...
 * 03/06: Thanks for your reply. No, the confirmation email was not the strong interest that I was referring to.  I just received a rejection email.
 * 03/06: email rejection; I was not (at least to my knowledge) a finalist. And I hadn't been notified of any strong interest. I only got an ack. email thanking me for my "outstanding proposal and CV." Congrats to the four fellows who landed this gig - it looks like a great new center!
 * 03/06: ditto. Good luck winners!
 * 03/08: Did anybody else think the Administrator who dealt with the emails was a little too enthusiastic and positive in her responses? Looks like she called everybody's initial proposal "outstanding" and when I communicated with her after that she really made it sound like I had the fellowship in the bag-- "the committee will be very excited that you are still available". Is that a Texas thing or something?
 * 3/08 No idea if it's a Texas thing. Similar messages got my hopes up too. The rejection though addressed me as 'Professor'... I've just finished my PhD and I'm unemployed.
 * 3/8: Reply. I'm PhD student finishing up at UT and the director of the Institute is on of my committee.  I can say without hesitation that although she is a kind woman, she does not exaggerate when she reviews students' work.  If many of you heard that your work was "outstanding", then, I'd suggest you accept the compliment. I am sure it is...unfortunately, there aren't enough fellowships to go around for great scholars. Oh, ya, it is a "Texas thing"...we are genuinely warm, nice people. (This concludes my advertisement for the State of Texas Dept. of Tourism.)
 * 3/9: I didn't hear anything about my proposal being "outstanding"- and frankly, I think my proposal is really outstanding... so, yeah, accept the compliment.
 * 3/9: Like the first 3/8 poster I thought the administrator was way too enthusiastic (I got a very similar e-mail to 3/8 except in my case I was told the committee would be "thrilled" that I was still available). It came off as a bit unprofessional at the time, and even more so after I was rejected! Also, note that the admin and the director of the Institute are two completely different people, so this shouldn't reflect on the director of the Institute.

University of Toronto, Jackman Humanities Institute, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 1/4/2008, information)


 * Q: Did anyone receive a confirmation after e-mailing their materials?
 * A1: nothing here. (ditto on 1/10, and I emailed my app on Dec 26, but classes only restarted 1/7)
 * A2: I emailed my application Dec 7, and recieved an email a few days later saying it had been recieved and promsing to notify me when my dossier was complete. But as of Jan 10 this promised confirmation still hasn't come.
 * 2/7: calls for shortlist
 * Any rejections? Any final decisions?
 * At least one of the candidates isn't visiting until late next week. There are six candidates altogether, for 3 slots.
 * 3/12: offer made

University of Virginia, Woodson Institute
(Deadline: 12/01/2007, information)
 * received rejection letter 3/15

University of Virginia, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture Postdoc
(Deadline: 1/15/2008)

emailed acknowledgment 1/31

offers have been made and accepted. rejection letters should soon arrive. (3/1)

University of Washington Writing Center
(Deadline: ??/??/????, information)

Valparaiso University 3 Lilly Fellowships in the Humanities and Arts
(Deadline: 12/18/2007, information)


 * 12/6, 12/18 application acknowledged


 * 1/4, Received polite rejection email.

Vassar College, Mellon Postdoc in Peace and Justice Studies
(Deadline: 2/25/08, http://www.simplyhired.com/job-id/ixbbgsmqvx/andrew-w-jobs/)
 * Does anyone have any info on the timeline here?

Washington Univ in St. Louis Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
(Deadline: 12/1/2007, information)

Commentary
 * 11/12 - Their website indicates they have two fellows hired for '06-'08.
 * 11/16 - No one was hired in 2007.

Log 2/29 - offer made and accepted (2/28)
 * 11/21 - received email confirming application was complete
 * 2/1  - received rejection letter via mail.
 * 2/4 - are there other people around who haven't received rejection letters for the Wash U. postdoc?
 * 2/5 - got rej letter today
 * 2/6 - me too and the inquiry of 2/4 was mine.
 * 2/13- I haven't received a rejection letter yet. Is anybody else in this situation?  (3)
 * 2/13 - I also have no rejection. I assume that everyone who got the mid-Jan email about still being interested is on the short-list and will be contacted for phone interviews.  This is just supposition, however.
 * 2/13 - The mid-January email looked a lot like one I got last year from another post-doc, which had whittled the pool down from a large number to a small one (say, 20). I suspect Wash U is now deliberating over just such a smaller candidate pool, which takes time.  I don't think those who got the mid-January letter should assume they'll be contacted for interviews, but only that you've made the short list (how short, no one can say).
 * 2/17 - Phone interview scheduled by phone
 * 2/25 - Anyone else? No, and I got one of the "still interested?" e-mails in Jan.
 * 3/15 - Have final decisions gone out regarding this position? Is anyone still waiting to hear?

Washington University in St. Louis Post Doc in Queer Studies
(Deadline 10/15/07, posted on MLA joblist
 * - is there a website?

Washington University in St. Louis Post Doc in AFAS
(Deadline 1/15/08), information)

Wellesley College Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cinema and Media Studies
(Deadline: 2/5/2008)

Wesleyan University Center for the Americas Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 12/4/2007, information)
 * Two fellowships: one in Latin American studies, one in Native American Studies
 * 1/31 Received email acknowledgment of application (2)
 * 2/15 Know of one person with interview scheduled for LatAm position

Wesleyan University Center for the Humanities Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)


 * 12/13 - phone interview scheduled
 * 12/20 - campus interview scheduled

Williams Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline: 11/1/2007, information)


 * 12/9 - on campus interview scheduled

Yale Agrarian Studies
(Deadline 1/4/08)


 * 1/31 - received rejection letter by mail
 * 3/6 - received rejection from second round

Yale Whitney Humanities Center Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
(Deadline 2/1/08)
 * 2/22 Anyone get an acknowledgment? I am wondering what timeline is.
 * A: No, no acknowledgement here. Anyone else?
 * A: I know of one offer made and accepted.
 * Q: Seriously?? that seems just too quick... (sure it was this postdoc, which only closed three weeks ago?) 2/22
 * A. I'm fairly certain it's the same one.
 * Q: I agree, this turn-around time seems impossible. Person posting info, can you say if the person you heard of had a campus interview with them in the space of those 3 weeks, or was campus visit bypassed? Thank you for posting.
 * I was the poster of 2/22, I emailed to enquire, and got reply (2/26) that the three posts have been offered and accepted. (Maybe they assess applications on a rolling basis as they arrive - from the opening date of Jan 1 - rather than waiting for deadline?)
 * Thank you very much for the info. (it is a shame they were too busy to acknowledge applications)
 * Rejection letter dated 2/22 reads, committee "has extended offers...and the candidates have accepted."
 * One went to an inside candidate, and only by the grace of his advisor. so for the rejectees: don't feel so badly, since unfair nepotism was at play, and not the quality and promise of your work.
 * There are way too many qualified candidates for all of these positions; there's no need for being petty and attacking those who are fortunate enough to get these competitive spots. Grow up.
 * No, you grow up. This is important information. Kudos to the person who shared it; it was already obvious to all of us that something was awry, since the speed at which they made their decisions suggested they had essentially made up their minds before the 2/1 application deadline.
 * Yes, thank you to the person above. I am the one who shared the inside information, and I did not do it to be petty. In fact, when I say "unfair nepotism" was involved I do not mean to imply that the successful candidate in question is not a good scholar. I speak instead to the decision that his advisor made. And I did want to point out that this is what happened (something widely acknowledged and known in the department in question here at Yale) because I saw from the responses above that the timeline was just not adding up. This is perhaps why, and I really did want to console the candidates who felt uneasy and uncertain about the way in which the search was being conducted, and to definitely assure them that there were obviously other factors at play.  To those of you who did not receive this fellowship, I wish you all the best with your future applications and endeavors.

Debate/Comments
Q: Is there a pre-doc page for this year (2007-2008)?

'''***Thanks to whomever consolidated and cleaned up the post-doc pages. You're a superstar!***'''

Yes, thank you!!

Absolutely, thank you!!

Kudos

Q: Hey 141.155.9.210: Thanks so much for cleaning up so many of the postings! Is there any chance you could go through the rest of the fellowship listings and clean up all the useless jibber-jabber on those, too?

Response to notice not to delete entries: I call bullcrap. The entries that were removed were a waste of space and made using this wiki far more difficult. Why do we need entries about buying apple-tinis under the Columbia postdoc listing? No actually useful information was removed; no actual postdocs were removed. Is there any justification whatsoever for leaving such completely useless information? If we're going to bitch about something, why not bitch about the fact that so many folks can't follow the suggested syntax to make the page readable and quickly scannable?

A: I'm sorry, but no. Your perception of those entries as "a waste of space" doesn't justify your deletions. It's really not so hard to scan through a couple of lines, is it? Also, don't be so nasty and rude. Seriously.

A: Useful info. was deleted, such as the fact that the Princeton SOF received 950 applications.

A: The conversation that goes on in these entries is an important part of the wiki for many of us. Please be flexible and don't impose your ideas onto everyone else. This is a very dehumanizing process and the appletini post reminded me that we're all people, in this together. (That is just one of several examples, which I'm using because the curser brought it up.) Who are you to declare a conversation between several people "useless information."

Dear Wikitas, I would like to offer a few suggestions:  • First, since there seems to be a near-consensus -- excluding, of course, 141.155.9.210 and Mr. Bullcrap -- that entries should not be deleted, even if they are deemed "useless jibber-jabber," please don't make any further deletions. And, 141.155.9.210, I respectfully request that you undo your deletions from the past week. I have started to do this, but since there have been so many intermediate edits, it's actually quite time consuming to restore these entries. • Next, it seems fine to me to re-format others' entries -- adding indents, bullets, spelling out abbreviations, etc. -- to make them more scannable. But, re-wording someone's entry because you don't like their word order (or whatever) is downright controlling. Also, creepy. Please stop. • Lastly, I suggest that this entire discussion be moved to the discussion page (or possibly even, gasp, deleted??) after this issue is resolved. I've had enough, and I suspect you all have, too. • Oh, and no more nastiness, please. If you don't like this page, well, don't use it. I would also like to thank all of you who conscientiously (and sometimes, humorously) contribute to this page. As the above poster noted, this is a dehumanizing (and, I'd add, wretched) process. This forum, for me at least, somehow takes the edge off. My sincere congratulations to those of you who have already had success, and best of luck to the rest. xoxo, hysterian

Reply to All: Since I have been dehumanizingly referred to as "Mr. Bullcrap" and "the curser", I will reply in the hope that I can appear human again. First, I am sorry that my initial note was taken to be so insulting. I do apologize for that; this process has been at least as harsh for me as for anyone, and perhaps I let that infect my comments. On reflection, my words were harsher than they seemed (to me) at the time; "jibber-jabber" was a failed attempt at humor. And I do understand the value of such comments; you are correct to point out that they are not useless.

But in some (mild) defense:
 * (1) I originally was the one who combined the wikihost and wikia pages; I sub-divided "commentary" and "log" for several postdocs for which there was a clear difference, so that one could easily find updates about the postdoc app status vs. engaging in commentary about the postdoc, the fee, etc. I was very careful to preserve all comments when I did so.  I divided because in some cases (Columbia was just one example) it was quite difficult (more than just a couple of lines - more like 50 it seems) to find up-to-date info.  (Look at last year's postdoc page for something difficult to read!)  However, at the time, I found it useful to see/hear comments, as well.  But as time went on, more than one or two folks ignored the division, and posted wherever was easiest.  Watching this continue, after I tried to make the page more user-friendly, was frustrating.
 * (2) I also provided the syntax suggestions at the top, mostly because the wikihost formatting syntax was quite different than wikia. But more and more people ignored this as well, increasing my frustration.  Combine these two issues, and certain entries were getting pretty messy.
 * (3) I assume the "anti-curser" suggested that I was imposing my views because he or she believed that I had also deleted all the comments, and wasn't suggesting that I shouldn't even express my view at all. However, I didn't delete the comments (although I was in favor of it); but when I expressed my initial request that the job be finished (see the Q: above), the first batch had already been done for a couple of days, so I figured it was acceptable that it be done. I guess there should have been more discussion in advance, but I assumed (incorrectly) that there were no objections, since nobody complained about the first batch of changes.
 * (4) Leaving aside my rude claim that many of the comments were useless, I wonder (in a way similar to Hysterian, perhaps, since he or she refers to this as a forum) whether there is a more effective way of dividing information/details between the Wiki page and a related user forum, such that the Wiki can contain only genuine updates on the application process/progress, while a related forum could allow for questions from anyone to ask for updates, or to comment on worries they have (such as the increasingly common practice of charging job market entrants (who are generally poor) an application fee of $20-$60). Wikihost, for example, has a discussion page for just this sort of purpose.  There is a discussion tab at the top of this page, too, but I haven't used it, so don't know how effective/usable it is.  On the other hand, I recognize that some might prefer to be asking questions about specific postdocs right under the entry, since some people might not be inclined to check two places rather than one.  But that is how things get so messy.  And it's not clear to me that such information needs to be retained (in at least many cases) with the postdoc listing as opposed to just having a discussion forum.  For example, if someone asks for an update, why shouldn't a respondent just delete the question and state the status update?  (That's a real question - I'm not intending it as rhetorical.)

I take it that our goal should be to maximize the usability of this while working together to do so. I apologize insofar as I failed on both counts, esp. the latter.

More in the category of worthless comments: In the immortal words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get a long?" You guys and gals are great! This whole discussion is further evidence of just how much academics, and I include myself in this group, need to be in therapy and taking our medications as directed. Hang in there everyone. It's rough out here. I've applied for about 35+ jobs and postdocs -- and have had only one nibble. This who process is dehumanizing...and it makes us say and do things that are completely out of character for ourselves. Saludos amigos.

Damn. Someone deleted some of the information I posted on the North Carolina Diversity Postdoc.

Another deleted entry from last year's list is: Dumbarton Oaks.

There is a fellowship missing - Franklin Fellowship at U of Georgia - theater and film department. I am not hip enough to make the posting - anyone up for it?
 * Done and done. p.s. you are totally hip enough.
 * Thanks but just to prove you wrong... I didn't know hwo to make it say information instead of the link...

Any information about the Yale gender/sexuality postdoc? I don't see it listed here. A: I don't have any info, try adding it to the main list

Suggestion/ question: would people agree that we should change (at least for next year's wiki) the name of this wiki to "humanities and social sciences postdocs" (or at least, "humanities and humanistic social sciences")? Many of the postdocs are overlapping and there are obviously plenty of anthropologists, etc. here.

Postdoc Resources
UC Berkeley Postdoc Resource Page

Require subscriptions (usually available through university library):

IRIS (Illinois Research Information Service)

Community of Science (COS) Funding Opportunities

SPIN Search, InfoEd International

Others:

Link to Last Year's Postdoc Wikihost Page